U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks on Dairy Margin Coverage Program in Genesee County (June 26, 2023)
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that without federal action to protect the Dairy Margin Coverage Program, the Upstate dairy industry could face a “dairy cliff.”
The 2018 Farm Bill enacted the Dairy Margin Coverage program (DMC), which offers monthly price support payments from the federal government to dairy farmers. It offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.
Schumer said the program is set to end in September and, if no action is taken, would lead to less support for farmers, severe supply chain disruptions and an increase in the price of milk.
The Majority Leader is pushing to protect the program as Congress begins negotiations for this year’s farm bill.
If Congress doesn’t pass a 2023 Farm Bill and the DMC is allowed to lapse, the dairy industry would be the first impacted, as dairy farmers would lose out on monthly payments through the DMC, whereas farmers participating in other support programs are paid just once per year around harvest time.
Schumer is urging Congress to reauthorize these programs, as they have historically done in a bipartisan fashion, as part of the 2023 Farm Bill.
The dairy industry is one of New York’s largest contributor to the agricultural economy. According to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Dairy statistics, there are approximately 3,600 dairy farms in New York that produce over 15 billion pounds of milk annually, making New York the nation’s fourth largest dairy state.
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