Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today proposed an amendment to this year’s Farm Bill that would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to authorize $300 million in emergency relief funding for dairy farmers immediately. Dairy farmers across New York are suffering from historically low dairy prices and are forced to shoulder an increasing amount of debt in order to continue operating their farms. This funding would be authorized through the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). The USDA has the authority to provide direct financial assistance to struggling agricultural industries, and last month, Gillibrand called on the USDA to utilize this authority once more for dairy farmers in New York and across the country. After receiving a negative response from the USDA, Gillibrand is now introducing an amendment to the Farm Bill to require the USDA to assist New York dairy farmers during this crisis. This authority was used most recently in 2016 and 2018 to support and protect cotton farmers.
“Dairy farms are at the heart of New York’s rural economy, but milk prices are so low that more than 1,200 dairy farms have shut down in just the last decade, and many more are on the brink of failing. This is a crisis right in our own backyard,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I’m proud to introduce this amendment to require the USDA to immediately provide financial assistance to our dairy producers. I want this emergency funding to go directly to the farmers who need it, so they can keep producing milk without going bankrupt. The USDA should do the right thing and give our dairy farmers the help they need now.”
Dairy farmers could receive $8,000 on average directly from the USDA if Gillibrand’s amendment were to be included in this Farm Bill. New York is the third-largest dairy producing state, with more than 4,400 dairies producing nearly 15 billion pounds of milk each year. These farms are the bedrock of the agricultural economy and rural communities throughout the state. Every dollar of on-farm milk sale generates $2.29 in the local economy, and for every full-time worker on a dairy farm, another 1.5 jobs are created in other parts of the food industry.