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House Bill Seeks Extension of MILC Payment Program to Farmers On March 17, Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA) introduced a bill (H.R. 3990) that would extend the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) direct subsidy program for two more years. MILC was created as part of the 2002 farm bill and is set to expire on September 30, 2005. Payments are calculated by taking 45 percent of the difference between $16.94/cwt and the monthly Boston Class I price on the first 2.4 million pounds of milk production from each farm per year. H.R. 3990 does not seek to change the formulas or production caps used in the program.IDFA Senior Vice President Chip Kunde noted that "the dairy industry would benefit from a more unified, market-oriented approach to dairy policy, rather than continuing another layer of government subsidies." Enacted in May 2002, the program has cost about $1.8 billion to date in federal payments to dairy farmers. The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. David Obey (D-WI), Collin Peterson (D-MN), John Peterson (R-PA), James Oberstar (D-MN), James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Mark Green (R-WI), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Ron Kind (D-WI) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).
Posted March 22, 2004
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