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U.S. Sen. Gillibrand says new plan would help dairy farmers

Posted 4/2/13

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) says she will speak about a new plan to help New York dairy farmers in Washington today. As the Senate again takes up the Farm Bill in coming weeks, Gillibrand …

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U.S. Sen. Gillibrand says new plan would help dairy farmers

Posted

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) says she will speak about a new plan to help New York dairy farmers in Washington today.

As the Senate again takes up the Farm Bill in coming weeks, Gillibrand says she has a comprehensive plan to help provide long-term support and certainty for New York’s dairy farmers.

She says the idea is to make dairy pricing more accurate and improve inventory reporting and transparency for dairy farmers.

Gillibrand says that between 2002 and 2012, New York's dairy cattle stock dropped by nearly 65,000 cows, and she blames uncertainty caused by the “currently flawed and outdated dairy policy” for the decline.

In the North Country, there were 138,600 cows in 2002 and 120,400 cows in 2012, a loss of 18,200 cows.

In St. Lawrence Country, dairy herds amounted to 35,600 cows in 2002, and 30,500 in 2012, as loss of 5,100 animals.

The Farm Bill that passed the Senate last fall included many programs to help New York farmers, she said, “but the House of Representatives failed to complete their work on the bill,” and none of the new programs became law.