AUGUSTA, Maine — Former Gov. Paul LePage sparred with a small group of farmers at an agricultural forum on Tuesday, saying farms were not as productive as they could be and prices are too high.
The remarks came during an Agricultural Council of Maine forum in Augusta that also featured Gov. Janet Mills and independent gubernatorial candidate Sam Hunkler, though each candidate spoke independently in hour-long blocks through the morning.
While he at times tried to be conciliatory, LePage openly disagreed with attendees during a question-and-answer session at an event that had been low-key when the Democratic governor spoke earlier.
The Republican had a sharp response to a farmer’s point that the industry was operating efficiently.
“I don’t agree that you are as productive as you can be,” LePage said. “When I see two-thirds of the potato crop going to a landfill on table stock, I don’t think that’s productive.”
LePage also zeroed in on the Maine Dairy Relief Program, widely known as the “tier program,” which provides state funds to farmers when the amount they receive from the marketplace falls below the cost of production. At one point, he said prices are “artificially boosted” by the system.
He went further to tie high costs of dairy generated by the program to out-migration and brain drain that Maine has seen in recent years. The industry has suffered here in the last half-century, going from 4,600 dairy farms in 1954 to just under 200 last year.
Later on, he cited figures claiming milk was nearly twice as expensive in Maine as it was in Vermont. Comprehensive statewide figures were not available on Tuesday.
Prices are much higher here, but Walmart’s website showed smaller differences on Tuesday. A gallon of whole milk under the company’s Great Value brand was $4.58 in Scarborough, Bangor and Presque Isle. At Vermont stores in Williston, Saint Albans and Derby, it was $3.27. The southern town of Bennington was at $2.96–it is 55 percent higher in Maine.
One factor is Vermont’s status as a relative dairy giant. It is also worth noting Vermont is a dairy giant compared to this state. It produced nearly four-and-a-half times more milk than Maine did in 2021, according to federal data. The Maine Milk Commission sets a minimum price: the price floor for a retail gallon of whole milk will be $4.50 in October.
LePage’s remarks came as part of a broader statement that small farms here must scale up production and increase efficiency. Only that would allow them to decrease presently high prices, he said.
“There’s still only, in our system, two ways to make money: if you increase price or you reduce cost,” LePage. “When price is not an option, you have to find ways to get more efficient.”
Annie Watson, a 39-year-old organic dairy farmer in Whitefield, had earlier asked LePage about what he would do to improve the tier program. He responded by saying state agencies and the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension could help improve yields.
When LePage criticized milk subsidies, Watson shot back that the program had worked well in Maine. LePage reiterated his remark about the price of Vermont’s milk against Maine’s.
Speaking afterward, she said she found LePage’s remarks critical of the small farms that make up Maine’s agricultural economy. She plans to vote for Mills, who she said had been a clear advocate of farmers since becoming governor.
“Our small farms are an integral part of our rural communities,” Watson said. “This idea that Gov. LePage seems to have that bigger is better and cheaper is better kind of goes against everything I believe as a farmer, a mother and as a Mainer.”
The conversation was long-flowing, with LePage going beyond the scheduled hour. Toward the end, campaign manager John McGough signaled from the back that he needed to leave.