Legislation Strengthens Safety Net for Dairy Producers, Boosts Key Nutrition Initiatives

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), Chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, voted today to override the President's veto of the bipartisan Farm Bill, as part of an 82 to 13 margin in the Senate. Kohl supports the legislation for its provisions to extend and strengthen the safety net for dairy producers, allow interstate commerce of state-inspected meat products, and implement much-needed reforms to the federal food stamp program and other key nutrition initiatives.

"The Farm Bill is not perfect, but it includes meaningful measures to strengthen the family farms and small businesses that give life to our rural communities. Congress is on record with overwhelming bipartisan support for this bill, and I'm pleased that the Senate protected the measure from the President's veto today," Kohl said.

The Farm Bill extends by five years the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program and the payment rate for dairy farmers would be restored to its original level of 45 percent from its current level of 34 percent. Since Kohl worked to implement the program six years ago, MILC has proven to be a critical backstop for thousands of family farmers when milk prices plummet. In addition, the legislation adds a new feature to the MILC program known as the "feed cost adjuster," which would factor in feed costs when triggering payments for farmers. The Farm Bill would increase the per farm cap on eligible production to 2.985 million pounds from 2.4 million pounds. The increase would allow dairy farms of about 165 cows to be fully covered compared 120 cows under current law. For Wisconsin, that means about 92 percent of all dairy operations in the state would be fully covered.

Senator Kohl helped establish the MILC program in 2002 to end regional fighting over federal milk pricing policies as an alternative to the Northeast Dairy Compact. Wisconsin dairy producers have benefited more than $400 million since Congress implemented the program.

The Farm Bill also includes Kohl's provision to allow interstate sales of state-inspected meat products. Wisconsin has more state-inspected plants run by main street entrepreneurs than any other state in the nation. At a time of further proposed market concentration among major slaughter houses, this legislation will encourage smaller entrepreneurs to safely expand their markets and compete across state borders. Doing so will benefit livestock producers, consumers, and main street businesses.

The bill's nutrition title incorporates urgently needed updates to the food stamp program, to be known hereafter as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Over the years low income households have suffered erosion of benefits due to inflation. The current minimum food stamp benefit has not been raised in over 30 years. This bill raises the minimum benefit and indexes it to inflation. It removes disincentives for retirement and education savings and takes child care costs into consideration when calculating eligibility. It strengthens support for food banks and will help get more fresh fruits and vegetables into our schools.