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Dairy issues heard at Farm Bill hearing

A Kansas farmer says the Dairy Margin Protection Program’s original proposal should not have been cut.  “The changes that Congress made to the original MPP diluted the real cost that farmers like myself face every day.”

Fort Scott, Kansas dairy farmer Lynda Foster testified during the Senate Ag Committee’s first farm bill hearing last week, saying Congress should act this year to make changes to the program.  “The most important change needed in the MPP is a return of that 10% cut.  Other MPP adjustments include but are not limited to the feed formula calculation, as it relates to milk and feed prices.”

Foster also spoke in favor of more flexibility in choosing risk management tools.  “We want the opportunity to use both the RMA or the Risk Management Agency programs and Title I programs without any restrictions.  Give me the same opportunities to protect my dairy as my friends have to protect their crops.”

 

Foster testified that Congress needs to rapidly address immigration laws.  She says half of all dairy farm workers are foreign-born and losing immigrant workers would have far-reaching consequences.

Foster says she, her husband, and son transitioned their 170 cow dairy to robotic milkers to eliminate their labor problem.

 

 

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