Milk prices paid to Vermont's dairy farmers have plummeted this winter from a record high last year as farmers head into the spring planting season.
Following a record high of around $25 per hundred pounds of milk in September of 2014, prices have dropped to around $16 and are forecast to continue to fall through the spring.
This year some farms could get a check from a new price protection program that offers financial assistance when the difference between the price of milk and national average feed costs falls below the coverage levels selected by individual farmers.
Some farmers, like Tom Audet of Ledge Haven Farm in Orwell, planned ahead, prebuying grain, fertilizer and seed, which also provides tax advantages.
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