OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Dairy farmers in Washington state say the price they get paid for milk has dropped so low they're that they're struggling to stay in business.

And some farmers are calling on a program that has lied dormant for more than 30 years that would put a floor on the price of milk. They say the floor is necessary as a form of economic stimulus.

Down on the Gordon Farm in Elma, Wash., 120 cows are doing the same work they've always done, but their milk is now bringing only half of what it costs to produce.

The diary's owner was nowhere to be found on the farm. On Tuesday Jay Gordon was miles away at the state Capitol, pleading for the lives of all dairy farmers.

"Those milk prices have collapsed to the point where virtually every farm in the state is losing a large amount of money," he told the lawmakers.

The state Senate Agriculture Committee has heard that dairy farmers are requesting a program called "pooling" to set a minimum limit on the price of milk.

"When prices are up: free market. When prices are down and we've got farms going underwater, we want to put a floor on the price of milk," Gordon said.

With the price of milk dipping so low and the price of everything else climbing so high, some dairy cows are worth more dead than alive. Desperate dairy farmers in California are selling their cows for beef.

The situation is getting just as dire here in Washington.

"There's the high cost to produce milk and there's no profit in it. It's devastated the industry," said Sunnyside dairyman Tony Veiga.

"I've had ten of my constituents call me in the last week," said Royal City dairyman Dwain Forester. "They'll be in bankruptcy in probably two, three weeks."

The dairy farmers say they've never seen in this bad before.

"When you put inflation on top of the prices we're getting this month, next month these will be some of the lowest prices anybody has ever seen," Gordon said.

But don't count them out just yet. This is a rugged bunch.

"I'm going to tough it out," said Toledo dairyman Chuck Hayes.

How long will Hayes be able to tough it out?

"That remains to be seen," he said.

The farmers say it will take cooperation by state and federal governments, as well as neighboring states to get the Senate floor set in place.

In the meantime, consumers aren't seeing any big price drops at the store. The dairy farmers say the middlemen are soaking up the extras.