In 1991, I wrote my first column lamenting the loss of Maine's dairy farms. Six hundred farmers were still in the dairy business at that time.

In 2002, I wrote a sorrowful plea to save the 412 dairy farmers still clinging tenuously to their way of life.

Today, I bid farewell to the open fields, black and white cows and hearty farmers we've lost in the last six years, as well as those who will keep farming until all of their resources are gone.

Start the countdown with me today. Since that 2002 column, we've lost another 93 dairy farms. Another 40 or 50 will likely go out of business between now and the end of February.

When the number of farms goes that low, the viability of the infrastructure that supports dairy farming is jeopardized. Expect failures of equipment dealers, feed companies and even other farmers, such as those who provide hay to dairy farms.

Unprecedented low raw milk prices are causing the collapse of the dairy industry in the northeast.

Maine dairy farmers and state leaders worked together in the past to create common-sense safety nets to weather other similar crises. Their Maine-style solutions were applauded, if not duplicated, across the United States.

But this year, the state's financial difficulties make similar solutions more difficult and add a layer of complexity to what, at least for me, is an already incomprehensibly complex system.

Of course, this being Maine, we have a task force working on a solution and proposals may arrive later this year, but action on those proposals probably won't come until late spring, too late to help many farmers on the brink of collapse.

Unfortunately, the task force is divided on some key issues, making a unanimous set of recommendations impossible and causing further delay in our response to this crisis.

A quicker fix would come with the release of $4 million already set aside for dairy farmers to help them survive the winter, but this requires the approval of the governor and Appropriations Committee. Today, the chances of that happening are slim. Last week, the Appropriations Committee postponed action on this item.

It's important to know that dairy farmers have always been willing to self-fund their assistance programs. They are not trying to dip into your pocket for tax money. Their money comes from the sale of high quality, fresh, local milk. And they add $570 million to the state's economy every year, providing 4,000 jobs for Maine people.

But clearly, our strategies for maintaining a viable number of dairy farms to assure that Mainers always have the option of purchasing milk from Maine cows has not stopped the slow death of the Maine dairy farm.

You may not know why the loss of dairy farms is so important to you personally. Here's why.

Dairy farms define that "quality of life" we recognize as Maine's greatest asset, the scenery, environment, outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat, small villages and rugged individual lifestyles.

Quick. What comes to mind when you think of rural Maine?

I'll bet it's a visual landscape of farms, stone walls, open space and forests, homes with lots of undeveloped road frontage. Do you see a bucolic hillside scene of grazing cows and growing corn, the red-roofed barn dwarfing the white farmhouse?

Now, visualize those farm fields cluttered with new homes where once only cows grazed and corn grew, homes filled with commuters who drive to the city every day to sell gadgets in big box stores.

I've never wanted to work as hard as farmers, but I sure am glad they are my neighbors.

Neighbor Mildred Hall once told me, "You have to be stupid to be a farmer," and her son Dick, who now runs the family dairy farm, added, "or crazy."

I thought their comments were amusing at the time. Now they are coming true.

And the loss of dairy farms signals more than the loss of our rural landscape: it's the end of that marvelous rural attitude of independence, freedom and neighborliness, the place where doors are left unlocked, where a cash box sits by the roadside inviting the purchase of corn and other vegetables.

This is worth a lot. What will it take to keep it and are we willing to pay the price?

I urge you to buy Maine milk and let the governor and your legislators know that dairy farms are important to you.

Fight for our farms! Get out on the battlefield, my friends, or lose that field forever.

George Smith is executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine. He lives in Mount Vernon and can be reached at george@samcef.org.