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Next Farm Bill needs better safety net for dairy

A Minnesota dairy farmer serving on a National Farmers Union committee focused on the next Farm Bill says today’s ag economy sets the stage for a stronger safety net.

Eric Hoese of Mayer tells Brownfield the 2014 Farm Bill has some shortcomings because it was written at a time when milk and grain prices were abnormally high.

“Now, commodity (prices) are half of what they used to be (and) milk is less.  So the margin is still big enough that a lot of farmers are not getting payments.  It’s not helping farmers like it was made to do.”

The current Farm Bill’s Dairy Margin Protection Program offers various levels of buy-up coverage when the gap between the all-milk price and average feed costs are between $4 and $8 dollars per hundredweight.

“So in the new Farm Bill we’re asking for a larger share of the crop size, so the margin of feed is a little higher.”

Hoese says the committee is working to ensure the 2018 Farm Bill provides an adequate safety net for dairy farms of all sizes and from all parts of the United States.

NFU passed a special order of business during last year’s convention to establish the farmer-led emergency effort.

Brownfield interviewed Hoese at the Carver County Dairy Expo in Norwood Young America Monday.