The Dairy Margin Coverage program will replace the Margin Protection program
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
American dairy producers should be pleased with the new Farm Bill, an ag policy specialist says.
The dairy section of the new bill is even more extensive than previously proposed, said Marin Bozic, an ag policy specialist and professor at the University of Minnesota.
“The dairy title is much more comprehensive than what we’ve seen in previous years,” he told Farms.com.
The Dairy Margin Coverage program, for example, replaces the Margin Protection program. The new program increases maximum coverage levels from US$8 to US$9 per cwt.
Marin Bozic
“The federal government has also decided to repay dairy producers for the premiums they paid for the Margin Protection program over the previous four years,” Bozic said. “They can get 50 percent of those funds back in cash.”
The dairy section of the new Farm Bill will also include the new Milk Donation Program, which could help incentivize farmers to gift milk within their communities.
“When farmers decide to donate fluid milk to foodbanks, they will be partially reimbursed for the difference between the Class 1 price and the lower of Class 3 and 4,” Bozic said. “That makes it easier for farmers to donate surplus milk. We had some cases last year where milk was spilled because there wasn’t enough processing capacity and fluid milk plants didn’t have any incentive to process that milk.”
Whether or not legislators would pass a new Farm Bill at all remains uncertain.
Negotiators released a final version of the US$867 billion bill yesterday and have sent it to the House for a vote. They hope to resolve the Farm Bill issue before Dec. 21 and before the power in the House shifts to the Democrats in January.
Passing the Farm Bill now may be an important factor in upcoming presidential campaigns, Bozic said.
“I put the chances at 50/50 that they’d get something done before the end of the year,” he said. “What I think ultimately prevailed is the fact that we’re heading into the 2020 election cycle and we could see Democratic candidates emerge by mid-January. We still don’t have trade issues with China and Mexico resolved, so getting a new Farm Bill through could be good politically (for the Republicans).”