“Several weeks ago I called on the federal government to address the significant toll this pandemic has had on our dairy farms. As schools, restaurants and other food service businesses that normally make up large portions of a dairy farmers business face closures, many have been forced, for weeks, to dump excess, unusable milk due to demand shortage.

“I have been working closely with the North Country Chamber of Commerce and our local farmers to help address the shortage of supplies in grocery stores and food banks and get local farming products on the shelves to address this need, but we need action statewide, with the assistance of our federal partners. The governor announced today that the state is partnering with various dairy-related production companies to purchase excess milk and have it turned into products that can be brought to food banks.

“While I applaud this effort, this action comes long after hundreds of thousands of gallons of milk have been wasted and I refuse to stand idly by and continue to watch the hardworking men and women across this industry struggle. Agriculture is vitally important to the North Country and we must take further action to protect our farms. I will continue to work on bridging the gap between our farmers and fulfill the nutritional needs of residents across the state.”