Karie Atherton is the owner of Aires Hill Farm. She said the industry has faced many challenges since the start of the pandemic, and 17 months later, the stress is still there. “But it’s scary,” Atherton said. “It seems like you always have one foot out the door.”
Atherton said the farm is having a hard time getting supplies in. And when she does place orders, prices are constantly changing. “I ordered a mixer wagon in April, and I actually held off a year to order that,” Atherton said. “It cost me an extra $6,000.”
At Shelburne Farms last week, Vilsack said the assistance payments are an effort “to try and compensate a bit those farmers who suffered the loss of value because of the distortion of the market during the pandemic.”
During the crisis, Aires Hill Farm decided to bottle milk. “White and chocolate,” Atherton said. “We got a few local stores around, but that is not going to save the farm.”
It has also been difficult to find employees. Atherton believes it’s because the farming industry can’t provide stability. “Farming now is probably not high on the list,” Atherton said. “You could go to a lot of other industries right now and get paid pretty well.”
Atherton said it’s vital for people to support local farmers. “It’s hard to say what could turn the industry around,” Atherton said. “It isn’t going to be the government, it isn’t going to be the farmers and it isn’t going to be the consumers. It’s going to be everything that works together that is going to let us survive.”
