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Major dairy states, major weight in elections

A dairy economist and policy specialist says dairy farmers will play a critical role in the upcoming presidential election.

“Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan—those are the states that will determine who is our next president.”

Marin Bozic with the University of Minnesota tells Brownfield he hopes farmers don’t learn the wrong lesson from direct payment programs in an election year.

“The wrong lesson would be that the government will bail you out.  The government will bail you out again in 2024, in 2028, and in 2032 but in the meantime, we have 2021 and 2022 to worry about.”

Instead, he points to dairy insurance products to help protect dairy farmers and says those who don’t take advantage of risk management tools might be the ones left to balance markets when the politics are over.