Dairy operations impacted by disasters are not alone
Through the Milk Loss Program (MLP) from the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA), assistance is available for eligible dairy operations for milk that was dumped or removed, without compensation, from the commercial milk market. That could be from qualifying weather events and the consequences of those weather events, that inhibited delivery or storage of milk (power outages, impassable roads, infrastructure losses, etc.) during calendar years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), signup for the MLP began runs through Oct. 16.
“Frequent and widespread weather-related disasters over the past three years, have impacted U.S. dairy,” said FSA administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “These producers continue to face supply chain issues, high feed and input costs, labor shortages and market volatilities.”
The reality for dairy producers, is that cattle are milked at least twice a day, producing, on average, six to seven gallons of milk, per cow, per day. That milk must go somewhere, and when it can’t get where it needs to go and can’t be stored, because of circumstances beyond a producer’s control, the FSA wants to help.
The MLP will help offset the economic loss by producers left with no other choice, but dumping their milk during disasters.
Dairy operations are compensated for milk dumped or removed without compensation, from the commercial milk market from disaster events, including droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex) and smoke exposure that occurred in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 calendar years. Tornadoes are considered a qualifying disaster event for calendar year 2022, only.
To apply for the MLP, producers must submit an FSA376; MLP application; milk marketing statement from the month prior to the month milk was removed or dumped, and affected month; a detailed written statement of milk removal circumstances, including the weather event type and geographic scope, what transportation limitations occurred and any information on what was done with the removed milk; and any other information required by the regulation.
The final MLP payment is determined by factoring the MLP payment calculation, by the applicable MLP payment percentage.
For more information and a full list of eligibility requirements, producers should contact their local farm agent.
