The federal Farm Service Agency says a program to help hard-pressed dairy farmers is expected to be ready for enrollment in June.
Dairy farmers are in their fifth year of low milk prices that have driven thousands out of business.
Thirty-eight U.S. senators recently signed a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to implement the insurance program quickly, saying dairy farmers’ situation “is urgent.”
Farmers would pay for coverage and receive payments when the gap between milk prices and feed prices reach a certain level. The program was delayed by the partial government shutdown.
Payments will be retroactive to January.
Michigan dairy farmer Ken Nobis says after going through a four-year drought in revenue, each month the program gets put off “the more disheartened producers become.”
