Maine: David Bright

AUGUSTA, Maine — Several farm organizations are working feverishly to find options for 30 Maine organic dairy farmers who either lost their H.P. Hood milk contracts or were asked last month to cut back production.

Hood has dropped eight of Maine’s farms in Aroostook and Washington counties and asked hundreds of farmers — from New York to Bangor — to cut production by up to 15 percent.

The Maine Department of Agriculture, the Maine Farm Bureau and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association have joined together to find another processor and Maine markets to avert an organic dairy crisis.

Despite U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics that show a healthy growth rate of 24 percent in fluid organic milk sales last year, Hood spokeswoman Lynne Bohan said the cutback is due to the economic recession that has consumers spending less on organic milk.

Maine’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention are on both sides of the fence when it comes to having a roll call vote for Hillary Clinton.

A.J. Higgins of MPBN has this scoop about two Maine Democratic Party State Committee members were ousted from their posts earlier this week for supporting independent candidate Herb Hoffman.

Executive Director Arden Manning told Higgins that it was a conflict of interest for David Bright and Lu Bauer to sit on the committee while supporting an opposition candidate. Issues may arise, he said, while sitting in on leadership meetings where strategy could be discussed.