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Senators Schumer, Gillibrand want to return funding to farmers who paid into protection program

Posted 10/24/16

As St. Lawrence County dairy farms continue to struggle with exceptionally low milk prices, senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer are calling for federal assistance. The senators are urging …

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Senators Schumer, Gillibrand want to return funding to farmers who paid into protection program

Posted

As St. Lawrence County dairy farms continue to struggle with exceptionally low milk prices, senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer are calling for federal assistance.

The senators are urging federal appropriators to include funding for dairy farmers across the nation in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

Most dairy farmers pay into an insurance-like program know as the Dairy Margin Protection Program, which is designed to protect farmers from low milk prices. Unlike most industries, milk producers do not set the price of their product.

Specifically, the senators in the bipartisan letter requested appropriators to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to refund farmers for the $73 million that they paid into the Dairy Margin Protection Program (DMPP) in 2015.

The senators are also calling on the committee to allow the USDA to provide emergency assistance to dairy farmers and take greater action to support dairy producers by excluding any provision preventing the USDA from implementing clause 3 of Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935 or from engaging in surplus removal and price support activities under section 5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act.

“As you know, dairy farmers across the country are struggling to stay in business. This year alone, dairy farms in a number of states have been forced to close at alarmingly high levels,” the senators wrote in their joint letter. “The Dairy Margin Protection Program has not provided the safety net for farmers that was anticipated when the program was created. We believe that there are key measures that can be taken that will provide critical near-term support to cash-strapped dairy farmers and pave the way for longer-term sustainability in the industry.”