Federal assistance coming for struggling dairy farmers

ELLSWORTH, Wis. — Dairy farmers, who’ve been struggling with losses mainly due to the low prices they’ve been paid for their product, are the subjects of a federal assistance program.

The Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Program is to provide these farmers with $290 million in aid nationwide, according to Director Linda Paul of the Pierce County Farm Service Agency. Paul said Wednesday her agency’s role in the program is to verify applicants’ milk production data to the federal government.

“The FSA locally doesn’t distribute payments from Washington, D.C.,” she said, suspecting they’ll come out of Kansas City.

The director said she expects the payments to be issued in mid-December. As of last week, the program was still up for public inspection, she added.

Lee Milligan, St. Croix County Agriculture Agent who has a specialty in dairy farming, said economics have been very difficult for dairy farmers for the past year. Milligan described the prices they’ve been paid as being in a “free fall,” dipping as low as the $10 range per hundredweight. Despite those prices having more recently rebounded to the $12 range, their situation hasn’t improved all that much.

“Any gains they saw in the previous two years are gone,” he said. “Their ability to recover takes multiple years.”

Although the agent admitted futures prices now look better, he cautioned that was also the case last June, yet they were declining again by last September. Nonetheless, the latest general trend appears to be up, he said.

Meantime, expenses for dairy farmers have increased dramatically, he said. Agricultural fertilizer and nitrogen price rises have been significant, besides those for fuel.

Some attendees at a Wisconsin Farmers Union meeting in Eau Claire last month weren’t optimistic the aid will be enough to offset the damage already done. The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported WFU President Doug Caruso addressed concerns about the assistance program, with a total of $350 million instead of $290 million anticipated at that time.

Caruso was quoted as saying the dairy industry is in the most “severe economic squeeze” he can remember in more than 35 years. The assistance amount is a small percent of the $7 billion in losses dairy farmers have experienced, he also reportedly said.

A Cadott area farmer told National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson, at the meeting to discuss NFU support for health care co-ops and energy bills affecting farmers, the aid isn’t a long-term solution to dairy farmers’ problems.

“This will keep some guys going, but in real terms our price is as low as it was in the Great Depression relative to the cost,” Les Danielson was quoted as saying.

Bill Kirk is a reporter for

the Pierce County Herald

in Ellsworth, Wis.,

which is owned by

Forum Communications Co.

Tags: news, wisconsin, dairy, farm, assistance, federal