DURHAM, Conn. -- Connecticut dairy farmers said they're hoping to keep the milk flowing with help from lawmakers.

The farmers have asked that a fund be set up to keep farms in business when milk prices drop.

At Brookfield Farm in Durham, farmer Joe Greenbacker said his team gets up at 4 a.m. to milk the cows. He said they work long hours to get the 1,300 gallons they produce daily.

But he said that work is tough, since right now they sell milk for less than it costs them to make it.

"The price we receive for our milk has dropped dramatically from a year and a half ago," Greenbacker said. "In fact, we're selling our milk now for a little over 50 percent of what it costs us to produce it."

The problem, he said, is that the price isn't set by supply and demand. He said it's set by the federal government for the entire country, so sometimes, like now, they lose money supplying milk.

"It's a formula set by the federal government that sets our price, and that's the basic problem," Greenbacker said. "We have no input or control over what our price is, yet our costs have gone up in recent years also."

That means the cash flow in New England isn't in line with the milk flow. He said he's had to hold off on making improvements and might not plant crops this year to save money.

He and other farmers said they hoped the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee would give the thumbs-up on Thursday to the bill for the dairy fund.

"What we're looking for is a safety net, so when the price of milk drops this far below the cost of production, there will be some sort of program from the state government to help cover that difference," Greenbacker said.

The appropriations vote was expected to run until early Thursday evening.

Those at Brookfield Farm, which has been in the family since 1723, said they'd hate to see low milk prices end their run.