Bipartisan Push On VT Milk Prices
April 14, 2016 | 1 min to read
BARRE — Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., and Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., have introduced bipartisan legislation to bring fairness to the federal system used to determine the price dairy farmers are paid for their milk.
The Dairy Margin Insurance Location Calculation Act of 2016 introduced Monday amends the Farm Bill to require the secretary of agriculture to use data from each state to calculate average feed cost and actual dairy-production margins.
According to a statement from Welch’s office, the current margin-protection program is harmful to New York and New England dairy farms because it uses calculations based on the national average feed cost, which reflect conditions that predominate in the Midwest and elsewhere.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Times Argus