As milk prices stay low, a call for drastic dairy reform
More than fifty rural, agriculture, and labor organizations signed onto a letter demanding that Congress and the Department of Agriculture do more to support dairy farmers as low prices continue to threaten small and mid-size dairies across the country. The organizations include the National Family Farm Coalition, the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the Rural Coalition, Pesticide Action Network North America, and many others.
Perdue opens enrollment for ‘new and improved’ dairy insurance program
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday that enrollment is now open for the “new and improved” Dairy Margins Protection Program, a dairy insurance program run by USDA. The program has a poor reputation among many dairy farmers, who believe funds from an earlier iteration of the program were misallocated. No paywall
A senator’s efforts to return money to dairy farmers
The recently-passed federal budget contains a major revamp of the Dairy Margin Protection Program, a controversial insurance program for dairy farmers. But Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is still pushing, through new legislation, for farmers to get the money back that they previously invested in the DMPP.