There are some major differences across the board between the House HEROES Act and the Senate HEALS Act.
The National Milk Producers Federation says that the dairy industry needs to see some additional direct payments to counter the effects of the economic slowdown. NMFP Vice President of Government Affairs Paul Bleiberg says that the HEROES Act laid out specific benefits, such as reimbursing dairy donations and funds for the Dairy Margin Coverage Program. The Senate bill was not as specific but he says that CFAP payments are helping.
“From our view, what we want to see is another round of payments that reflect the losses producers have faced that are fair to farmers of all sizes,” he said. “We want to make sure that if two dairies are right next to each other and experience the same losses, that one is not unfairly penalized by the program on account of how they are setup relative to another one.”