St. Albans Dairy Co-op Elects Fairfax Man President

St. Albans dairy co-op elects new president
By Candace Page
Free Press Staff Writer

Ralph McNall of Fairfax has been elected president of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery by the organization's board of directors.

McNall and his two sons, Glenn and David, operate a 225-cow dairy farm on 400 acres. The elder McNall has been a member of the co-op board since 1986 and most recently was its vice president.

He succeeds Harold Howrigan of Fairfield who had led the co-op for 17 years.

McNall, 65. said he decided to seek the presidency because he and Howrigan shared many of the same goals for the organization. The cooperative handles the milk of 540 member farms in Vermont and New York.

He takes the reins at a time of relatively high milk prices.

"Nobody is getting rich, but certainly '04 was a good year and '05 looks promising. '06 is another question," he said. "I think one of our biggest challenges in the next five to 10 years will be to find a supply of milk to meet the demands of our customers."

While demand for milk is up slightly. McNall said he is concerned about the number of farms going out of business. The state loses an average 5 percent of its cow farms each year; about 1,300 are left.

"Looking ahead, we want to be able to meet the demands of customers like Ben & Jerry's." he said. "As they grow, we'd like to be able to grow with them."

McNall said he and other co-op members will continue to work with the state's congressional delegation on ways to bolster prices and help farmers in other ways.

Contact Candace Page at 660-1865 or cpage@bfp.burlingtonfreepress