Dairy farmers in Vermont earned a small victory on Friday, the state’s governor, James Douglas, signed a law that will distribute $3 million dollars in assistance to them.

The checks will be mailed to as many as 1,100 farmers by the end of March. The amount they get will be based on how much milk they produced in January and February. The goal is to give farmers — who have been strapped by weather disasters, high fuel and feed costs and low milk prices — some cash assistance in coming weeks as they make decisions whether to plant their crops this spring or go out of business.

Douglas initially opposed assistance and the objected because the House was looking at raising a property sales tax to pay for it. Ultimately, the administration and Legislature found money elsewhere in state government to be spent on farmers.