Dairy farmers who were forced to dump milk during a natural disaster are eligible for up to $250,000 in compensation from the new Milk Loss Program, said the USDA on Monday. The program covers losses in 2020, 2021, and 2022 from droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freezes, and smoke exposure.
“Frequent and widespread weather-related disasters over the past three years have impacted U.S. dairy,” said Zach Ducheneaux, head of the Farm Service Agency. “The Milk Loss Program will help offset the economic loss by producers left with no other choice but dumping their milk during disasters.”
Payments to farmers will be based on a formula that considers average milk production per cow, the number of cows in their herds, and how many days they dumped milk. Claims are limited to a maximum of 30 days of dumping in each year.