Volume 19, Number 28 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, October 19, 2012
Join CROP Walk to stop world hunger By Jan Wenzel Special to the Town Times The Durham/Middlefield annual CROP Walk is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 28, at Peckham Park in Middlefield. This is the 22nd year United Churches of Durham, Middlefield Federated Church, Third Congregational Church, Westfield and members of other local congregations have joined together to raise monies for Church World Services. The mission is to stop world hunger and raise awareness of the needs in local food pantries. Twenty-five percent of the donations are returned to local churches to support local food banks. This year United Churches of Durham See Walk, page 5
Photo by Christopher Zajac
A farm hand scoops feed into a pile along the edge of cow pens in the barn.
Dairy crisis looms, and milk prices could more than double By Laurie Rich Salerno Special to the Town Times
Bill Currlin
Photo by Stephanie Wilcox
Middlesex Chamber honors Bill Currlin By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times
See Currlin, page 18
$3 a gallon, could go to $7 a gallon or more. Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation, calls this the “dairy cliff.” “It’s still rather theoretical at this point — we’ve never had this happen before. We’re not in the type of situation where there’s a precedent,” said Galen, who hopes the conversation remains theoretical. “Congress just needs to take appropriate action.” Though some of the price increase would go to the See Dairy, page 6
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Middlefield resident Bill Currlin puts it simply: “I like doing things for my community.” This attitude has propelled him to lead a life of service, both for his country in the Armed Forces, and his community right here at home. That’s why the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce will award Currlin
next month with the William J. Pomfret Veteran Community Service Award, presented annually to a veteran of the United States Armed Forces who has shown a selfless commitment to community and public service in Middlesex County. “I didn’t know how big an award it was, so it’s very humbling,” Currlin said about first learning of the
With milk prices low and feed costs high, the folks at Greenbacker Dairy Farm in Durham have found themselves receiving some financial assistance over the past several months, along with dairies across the country, in the form of a federal farm subsidy. It’s not all that much, “but it helps,” said Joe Greenbacker, who, with his family, runs the expansive farm on Route 68 — and whose ancestors have farmed in the region for centuries. Yet the farm is about to receive its last payment, because the program that provides the subsidy expired Oct. 1, along with several other agriculture-related programs under the federal farm law. A new five-year farm bill has been stuck for months in partisan gridlock in the U.S. House after being passed in the House Agriculture Committee and the U.S. Senate.
Though it’s already got farmers — particularly dairy producers — concerned, analysts say the absence of a farm bill could quickly affect consumers nationwide. Milk could double or triple in retail price on Jan. 1, 2013, because of another dairy program under the bill that will expire at the end of the year. The program controls how prices of the commodity are formulated. The calculations would revert to those of a 1949 law which would likely cause the price of milk to dramatically increase. The retail price, now over
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