As Upstate Dairy Farmers Suffer Losses And Milk Dumping Continues, Upstate Members Lead Democrats and Republicans in Effort To Assist Dairy Farms
Brindisi & Stefanik: We As A Delegation Urge The Administration & USDA To Work Together To Provide Clarity And Support To Our Farmers
Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21) led a New York delegation letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue calling for swift and decisive action from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assist dairy farmers.
“As Members of New York’s Congressional Delegation, we represent a robust community of dairy farmers who have lost direct markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the members wrote. “Farmers across the country have suffered tremendous loss, and New York is no exception. We are writing to request that swift action be taken, including direct financial assistance, by the administration and USDA in order to provide relief to our dairy farmers and other parts of the dairy supply chain.”
The members outlined specific requests for USDA to assist dairy farmers. These requests included an equivalent program to the successful Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program in order to provide immediate relief from market effects of the coronavirus. Last year, Brindisi held workshops across the region to assist local farmers with their DMC applications.
“We are in danger of losing a critical part of our food supply when we need it most,” the members wrote. “That’s why we as a delegation urge the administration and USDA to work together to provide clarity and support to our farmers and all of those along the supply chain. Our dairy farmers are critical to the success of our local communities and economies, and they urgently need the highest level of support possible during these unprecedented times in order to keep providing a safe and wholesome product to the American consumer.”
Earlier this month, Brindisi led a bipartisan effort to urge the Small Business Administration to ensure small farms can access immediate COVID-19 relief through the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program under the recently-passed CARES Act. The CARES Act expanded the EIDL program to enable small businesses to access immediate, emergency grants and established a new Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses retain employees and pay overhead costs during the pandemic. Following the bill’s passage, SBA issued guidance making small farm operations eligible for assistance through its Paycheck Protection Program, but excludes them from EIDL loan or grant eligibility.
The delegation letter received praise from representatives of dairy farmers.
“Dairy farmers and their cooperatives are facing unprecedented economic strain marked by significant demand displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic, “said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation. “We have urged USDA to use the authority provided by Congress under the CARES Act, as well as other existing authorities, to provide immediate, robust support to dairy producers. We commend Reps. Brindisi and Stefanik for their bipartisan collaboration and strong advocacy for Upstate New York dairy producers during this challenging time.”
The letter was signed by 14 members of the New York delegation. The full letter to Perdue is below:
As Members of New York’s Congressional Delegation, we represent a robust community of dairy farmers who have lost direct markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Farmers across the country have suffered tremendous loss, and New York is no exception. Our state is home to more than 4,000 family dairy farms who work tirelessly every day to produce healthy, nutritious milk and dairy products for families across our state and our region. The situation is also creating hardship elsewhere along the dairy supply chain, negatively impacting farmer-owned cooperatives, proprietary processors, packagers, merchants and marketers. We are writing to request that swift action be taken, including direct financial assistance, by the administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in order to provide relief to our dairy farmers and other parts of the dairy supply chain.
As you know, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused a collapse of the food service industry, massive economic insecurity, and export disruptions. This, combined with a seasonally rising milk supply, has created an estimated excess of demand by at least 10%. As processors, marketers, and producers adapt to a decline in restaurant sales and a surge in grocery store demand, several processing plants are curtailing or ceasing their operations, which results in cancelled milk orders. As a result, cooperatives and dairy producers across the United States are beginning to “dump” significant quantities of milk. With prices dropping, we fear that this already-challenging situation will only get worse in the coming weeks.
While the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic could not have been predicted, the impacts on the food supply have been very real and unprecedented for America’s dairy farmers, including those in New York, the epicenter of the pandemic. Dairy is New York State’s largest agricultural commodity, and it is facing significant uncertainties as prices have been historically low for the past five years. Combined with the effects that the pandemic has had on the supply chain, farmers face significant uncertainty, and are in immediate need of relief. Financial stress is building throughout our country’s food supply, and New York’s dairy farmers are already feeling these effects. Additionally, with more than 10 million Americans already losing their jobs, food banks and similar organizations are seeing a significant increase in demand, a trend that is expected to intensify in the coming weeks.
It is essential that the administration and USDA use the resources available to provide direct aid to dairy producers, create avenues to replace lost demand, provide stability to commodity markets and mitigate systemic financial and liquidity risk. Specifically, we request USDA:
- Create a direct payment program for dairy farmers with financial support equivalent to the Dairy Margin Coverage program in order to provide immediate relief from the market effects of COVID-19
- Establish a Temporary Milk Disposal Reimbursement program through the Agricultural Marketing Service’s Federal Milk Marketing Order audit function to compensate milk producers and handlers for milk that has been disposed due to supply chain disruptions resulting directly from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Begin section 32 dairy purchases to purchase substantial volumes of dairy products for feeding programs in order to help address surging food insecurity while simultaneously stabilizing the dairy market.
- Modify all Federal Feeding Programs to eliminate restrictions that limit consumer choice, including WIC and School Lunch Programs, and allow for the purchase of whole milk by schools.
- Create a voucher program through the Milk Donation Program, as authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill, to allow for the facilitation of milk donated by grocery stores and other venues to local and regional food banks.
- Consider additional direct assistance to dairy farmers. We encourage you to consider doing this in a way that attempts to align supply and demand on a voluntary, temporary basis given the unique disparity that has arisen on account of the many closures.
- Take meaningful steps to alleviate systemic financial and liquidity risks across the supply chain by ensuring that dairy processors have access to loan programs that can help them continue to operate during this crisis.
We are in danger of losing a critical part of our food supply when we need it most. That’s why we as a delegation urge the administration and USDA to work together to provide clarity and support to our farmers and all of those along the supply chain. Our dairy farmers and processors are critical to the success of our local communities and economies, and they urgently need the highest level of support possible during these unprecedented times in order to keep providing a safe and wholesome product to the American consumer.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter, and we look forward to working with you.
