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FOXBORO - Ed Lawton says his family has been farming in Foxboro since England's King George II granted his ancestors more than 10,000 acres in 1730.

Most of that land is long gone, but Lawton maintains a dairy farm on North Street that is trying to survive.

Lawton said he will soldier on, but many dairy farms in Massachusetts are struggling because of rising costs, low prices and the impact of last spring's extremely wet weather.

Warren Facey, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Dairy Farmers, said eight of the state's 189 dairy farms have gone out of business just since the beginning of the year.

Over the past 25 years, 77 percent of dairy farms in the state have disappeared. "Everyone in the state is waivering," he said.

The dairy farmers have petitioned the state Department of Agricultural Resources for relief.

The commission is being asked to declare a state of emergency, and provide $12 million in financial help to the farmers.

The problems facing dairy farms are multiple, but they come down to rising costs and low prices.

Lawton said the farmers are paid about $1.15 for a gallon of milk. The dairy association maintains that the price paid to farmers is the same as it was in 1980, even though the retail price charged to customers has risen greatly.

According to the association, 52 percent of the retail price of milk went to farmers in 1980. Today the percentage is down to 27 percent.

Meanwhile, the cost of cow feed, transportation, equipment, fuel, and everything else has skyrocketed.

Lawton said his fuel costs have tripled in recent years.

The price charged to farmers by producers for hauling the milk from the farm to the plant went from 3 cents a gallon to 10 cents, he said.

And many farmers are deeply debt, especially after last spring's rains. The heavy rain delayed the growing of corn and hay.

Most dairy farmers grow much of their own cow feed, but last year they had to buy more than usual because of the weather.

Instead of getting four cuttings of hay, Lawton said the weather caused farms to produce only three.

Furthermore, he said the cost of buying corn has gone out of sight because ethanol fuel producers are buying so much corn from Iowa farmers.

And while costs were going up last year, a glut of milk on the market drove the price paid to farmers down to 83 cents per gallon.

Facey, from the dairy association, said most New England dairy farms are relatively small.

But, in the Western United States there are huge, highly mechanized farms with thousands of cows. The big farms are flooding the market and driving down prices for local farmers.

Lawton said 40 percent of dairy farmers in Massachusetts are now in arrears because they have not been able to pay for their supplies from last year.

Some suppliers are refusing to let them buy on credit, so they have no seed corn to plant this spring, he said.

Lawton said his farm is in better shape than some others, especially those in Western Massachusetts.

He said he has been able to diversify and sell vegetables and corn at a roadside stand.

In Western Massachusetts, the farms are more isolated and lack the road traffic to make vegetable stands practical, he said.

His small, family-run farm also takes better care of its cows than bigger farms with hired hands, so the cows live longer and produce milk longer, he said.

State Rep. Steve D'Amico, D-Seekonk, said he is urging the state to take action. He attended a hearing last week on the call for a state of emergency and listened to farmers at Agricultural Day at the Statehouse last Wednesday.

D'Amico, who said his district includes seven dairy farms in Rehoboth and Swansea, said the $12 million package of relief the farmers are seeking is well worth it to the state.

Keeping dairy farms viable supports other industries, such as suppliers, he said.

It also helps preserve open space that would otherwise be sold off for house lots, which in turn would mean more houses, more children and higher school costs for taxpayers, he said.

Since the king of England granted the 10,000 acres to Lawton's ancestors, the Morse family, most of the land has been subdivided among family members or sold off.

He has 26 acres off North Street and uses another 40 acres around Foxboro.

But, he and his daughter, Terri Lawton, said they have every intention of keeping the farm going by further diversifying into cheese making and other products.

"We'll be here," he said.