McCaskill Part of Bipartisan Effort to Restore Critical Resources for Dairy Farmers

While the U.S. House of Representatives continues to delay any action on the bipartisan Farm Bill passed by the Senate, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is calling for the renewal of a key support system for Missouri’s dairy farmers.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House John Boehner, McCaskill—along with twenty other members of Congress—is asking the leaders to find the necessary resources to restore the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC), which provides a safety net to dairy farmers during times of low milk prices and high input costs.

“Dairy farmers across the country have benefited from the MILC program during difficult times, and we fear that failure to maintain the program at its previous levels will saddle dairy farmers with significant risks as their feed prices continue to skyrocket,” the Senators and Representatives wrote. “We stand ready to work with you to address this critical issue for our nation’s dairy farmers.”

With the nation’s farmers still reeling from this summer’s drought, input costs are rising while milk prices drop. MILC previously provided 45 percent of the difference between the target price and the actual price, but in early September this was cut to 34 percent of this difference – resulting in a significant loss of income for producers across Missouri.

New programs to support dairy farmers are included in the bipartisan Farm Bill passed by the Senate in June.  However, the leadership in the House of Representatives has refused to allow a vote on the bill. McCaskill has championed the new dairy programs included in the Senate Farm Bill, and has repeatedly called on the House to support our struggling dairy farmers by passing this bill.

McCaskill has made fighting for Missouri’s farmers and ranchers a top priority, writing to President Obama and Senate leaders in August seeking additional emergency aid for Missouri’s agriculture community. In addition to providing important new protections for struggling dairy farmers, the bipartisan Farm Bill she helped to pass would reauthorize essential livestock disaster assistance programs, support agriculture jobs, strengthen resources for family farms and ranches, and reduce the national deficit by more than $23 billion.