Texas County dairy operators – facing low prices for their product – will receive some relief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The agency released funds under the Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment (DELAP) program. These monies were part of USDA’s fiscal year 2010 appropriations approved by Congress.
“We are very appreciative to our congressional delegation for their support in recognizing the financial crisis facing our dairy farmers,” said Larry Purdom, Missouri Dairy Association president and a dairy farmer from Purdy. “We visited with our delegation in September and it was one of the best rounds of visits I have ever had in one day.
“Each office was important to us and particularly Sen. Kit Bond and Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson since they served on the congressional conference committee, which concluded the final recommendations on the USDA spending bill.”
“This one time DELAP payment will be calculated on each dairy operation’s total pounds of milk production from February through July multiplied by two up to a maximum production of 6 million pounds per operation,” said Dave Drennan, MDA executive director. “The expected payment rate is approximately $0.32 per hundredweight.
“This will not make our dairy farmers solvent when you consider most dairy farmers have been losing $5 per hundredweight since Jan. 1 but any and all support certainly helps. It’s a crucial time for most dairy farmers with winter coming on and their need to lay in an adequate feed supply to get through until spring.
“Missouri dairy cow numbers have dropped by 5,000 since Jan. 1, resulting in an economic hit to the state of approximately $68.7 million. So anything that can be done to stem the tide of dairy farmers disappearing is a plus for our state and its consumers. We appreciate the support of our Congressional delegation during these tough economic times,” concludes Drennan.