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Dairy farmer tells Montgomery County Legislature to drop appeal, criticizes outside influencers and warns of farmland loss
Summary
A local dairy farmer urged the county to drop an appeals process affecting his operation, described pressures on the milk industry and accused outside social media influencers of misrepresenting local landowners. He asked county officials to meet with landowners and listen to their concerns.
At the June meeting of the Montgomery County Legislature, a local dairy farmer, identified in the record as Mister Deggeman, used the public-comment period to urge the body to drop an appeals process affecting his farm and to meet with landowners before taking actions that could affect agricultural operations.
"I would like to see the appeals process dropped," Deggeman said, describing long hours on the farm and the financial pressures facing dairy operations. He cited recent milk-plant closures in the region, saying one St. Albans processing plant closed immediately with 80 workers and that another (named in the comments as the Franklin co-op) was preparing to close with about 100 employees. Deggeman said the market for milk is overproduced and argued that broader economic trends—not local landowners—are driving agricultural stress.
Deggeman also addressed local debates about solar development on farmland, saying much of the negative information he had seen about solar “is unsubstantiated” and calling solar "the absolute cleanest way of producing power that we know of." At the same time, he criticized what he described as outside influencers who, he said, have no ties to the community and who he believes are motivated by compensation. He named an influencer in his remarks and said, "She's making about 50,000 a month" and owns property in Florida worth over $1,000,000, implying a financial motive for her public stance. The transcript records no response or verification for those statements during the meeting.
Deggeman closed by asking the legislature to meet with farmers, inviting officials to visit his farm, and repeating his request that the appeals process be dropped or that officials at least sit down and discuss compromises with landowners.
The chair thanked the commenter and the meeting moved on to routine agenda business.
Provenance: Public comment begins at the transcript segment where the clerk invited speakers and Deggeman spoke; his remarks occupy the public-comment block and conclude before the clerk returned to communications and motions.
