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IDFA en Espanol 		Legislation

MAKING SENSE OF THE DAIRY PROVISIONS IN THE FARM BILL
1/8/02

Senate Farm Bill
It remains to be seen what dairy provisions will become part of the final farm bill in the Senate. The Senate will resume consideration of the farm bill sometime after they return from recess, which, at this time, includes a new $2 billion federal subsidy for dairy farmers, outlined below. This provision replaces the previous dairy provision that would have created a national milk pricing floor by mandating a $14.25/cwt fixed Class I mover.

If the new $2 billion subsidy remains intact in the farm bill, here's what it would do:

  • Provide $500 million over 4 years to dairy producers in the 12 Northeastern states in ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, PA, NJ, DE, MD and WV
  • Provide $1.5 billion over 4 years in government subsidies to dairy farmers in the remaining 36 states
  • Cap payments to dairy farmers at about 400 cows per farm (8 million lbs annually)

In addition, the Senate farm bill includes these dairy provisions:

  • Continuation of the dairy price support program at $9.90/cwt through 2006 (it currently expires May, 2002)
  • Removal of the sunset date for the milk processors education and promotion program
  • Special assessments for dairy imports under the dairy producer check-off program
  • Continuation of the dairy export incentive program

House Farm Bill
As passed by the full House of Representatives, their version of the farm bill differs from the Senate in that it does not create a new government dairy subsidy program. The dairy provisions include:

  • Continuation of the dairy price support program at $9.90/cwt through 2006
  • Removal of the sunset date for the milk processors education and promotion program
  • Special assessments for dairy imports under the dairy producer check-off program
  • Continuation of the dairy export incentive program

House-Senate Conference Committee
Once the Senate passes its farm bill, it will have to be reconciled with the House version in a "conference committee". This is when a group of bipartisan members selected from the agriculture committees negotiate over which provisions to keep and which ones to discard. Once the conferees agree on one version, the final farm bill will be voted on by both the House and Senate before being sent to the President for signing into law. The existing farm bill legislation does not expire until fall 2002.

For more information on the farm bill, contact IDFA Legislative Affairs at 202-737-4332.