Milk or cider?

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Apples are getting some competition from cows in the debate over what New Hampshire's state drink should be — cider or milk.

The House will weigh in this week when it votes on a bill designating apple cider as the state drink.

A lawmaker introduced the bill after Jaffrey Grade School students contacted her. Later, Gilford Elementary School students lobbied for milk.

The House Environment and Agriculture Committee is split. Some members support cider while others propose killing the bill.

Critics point out milk also is important to New Hampshire, whose state fruit is the pumpkin and whose state animal is the white-tail deer.

The New Hampshire Farm Bureau says the state has 3,400 commercial farms producing a wide variety of conventional bulk commodity crops — most significantly milk and apples.