The $3 trillion dollar HEROES package passed the House floor on Friday. Similar to the previous stimulus packages, the HEROES Act includes support for agriculture producers, several provisions in the new aid bill include assistance for dairy.
“I feel pretty good there is broad support for dairy in both parties and both chambers of Congress,” Paul Bleiberg, NMPF Government Relations VP, said. “We think this is very important because during this time you’ve had milk dumped at a larger rate than you would normally have, and if we can do everything we can to make milk donations as attractive as possibly and help producers through that, while getting dairy products in the hands of the food insecure, then the more we should do there, so very good language in the bill.”
The bill would also provide necessary cash flow assistance to small and midsize dairies by establishing supplemental diary margin coverage and would offer dairy margin coverage program discounts for the next three years.
“There are some loans on the processing side, modifiers around the dairy margin program that’ll be helpful, especially with the production issues...and there is some money in the bill for farm stress... there is some good provisions to that effect as well,” Bleiberg said.
Under this provision, the USDA would provide up to $500 million dollars in recourse loans. The bill would establish a direct dairy donation program, directing the USDA to reimburse participating organizations for the amount of milk they donated.
The legislation also included provisions for various other sectors of agriculture.
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