Dairy Industry Applauding Suggested MPP Changes

The Senate Appropriations Committee released details of their ag appropriations bill last week and the dairy industry is throwing their support behind changes made to the Margin Protection Program, or MPP.

The two big changes include a reduction in premiums that producers pay for the first five million pounds of milk coverage in the program and a change to the USDA’s calculation of the actual margin from a two-month average to monthly.

President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation Jim Mulhern said, “By making the dairy safety net program more affordable, this legislation will ensure that more farmers have access to better protection against catastrophic losses, likes those we experienced in 2009 and 2012.”

Mulhern said there is still work to do to improve MPP in the next farm bill, but this is a great start.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail krounce@cherrycreekradio.com.