CO-OP MEMBERS APPROVE MERGER WITH DFA
Gregory J. Lamoureux
County Courier
ST. ALBANS: About two hundred people attended the St. Albans Co-operative meeting this morning, held at the American Legion in St. Albans. Top on the agenda and at the forefront of most farmers’ minds was the proposed merger with Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).
The members in attendance were asked to approve the merger but had to vote in a 2/3 majority in order for the merger to go through.
The County Courier confirmed with farmers leaving the vote that the merger had indeed gone through, although specifics had yet to be released publicly. A press conference is scheduled for 4 pm this afternoon.
According to a farmer we spoke with, the vote was overwhelmingly in support of the merger. With 99 farms approving of the merger and nine voting against it, the vote passed with 92% backing the Board’s merger plan.
The vote took place behind closed doors, barring the County Courier and numerous other media outlets from access to the meeting, discussion, and vote.
The results were announced to members at the meeting at around 1 pm Monday.
Check back here as well as our weekly print edition for more coverage of the vote.
The County Courier was the first news agency to publish the news on Monday afternoon.
The proposed merger was announced early last month after the St. Albans Co-op Board voted unanimously to advance the proposal to their entire membership.
