"The dairy provisions agreed to by conferees remain true to our goal of encouraging family farms and preserving dairy interests in rural parts of the Northeast. Although I would have preferred ongoing authorization of the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact, which offered similar support without cost to taxpayers, I believe this agreement will provide the type of help farmers need in this comprehensive farm legislation," said Snowe, who was instrumental in organizing negotiations last fall among Senators on the dairy provision. When opponents attempted to strike the dairy provisions from the legislation in December, Snowe cast a pivotal vote that permitted the Coalition to withstand additional challenges.

Snowe said the key to agreement on dairy provisions is that conferees agreed to maintain a price "floor" of $16.94 per hundred pounds (about 12½ gallons) of milk – the same level as the Compact – in order to assure farmers a fair return on milk. Rather than providing different price levels for the Northeast and other regions, as the Senate originally proposed, conferees set a nationwide standard for milk prices, Snowe said, and farmers will receive 45 percent of the difference.

The agreement implements dairy provisions retroactively to December 1, 2001, and they will remain in effect through September 30, 2005. Snowe said the legislation targets smaller farms, limiting payments to farms with herds producing up to 2.4 million gallons of milk annually – the equivalent of a herd of 135-140 cows – and the legislation provides for multi-family farms or those with more than one partner to be eligible for additional payment caps.

"Our goal has been to preserve dairy farms in Maine and throughout New England, where they are facing tremendous pressures from encroachment by development, increasing transportation costs. With their agreement, conferees have provided incentives for family farms, while maintaining the balance achieved in the Senate-passed legislation that treats New England farmers fairly," Snowe said.

The Senate passed the Agriculture, Conservation and Rural Enhancement Act, S.1731, in February to reauthorize a broad range of farming and conservation initiatives, and for the past two months conferees have met to work out differences between the bills. The agreement announced today lays groundwork for final Congressional consideration of the bill, with the final conference report expected to be transmitted to both bodies sometime next week. Once the House and Senate have passed identical versions of the legislation, it can be sent to the President for his signature. President Bush has indicated he will sign the bill.

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