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Dairy farmers don’t want a Band-Aid fix

A farm group leader says the dairy margin protection program is just a Band-Aid fix.

Bobbie Wilson with the Wisconsin Farmers Union says many of their members believe the dairy margin protection program (MPP) doesn’t work and too much milk is causing a bigger issue.  “From what I’ve heard from dairy farmers, the MPP program has done nothing to help them.  It’s kind of a Band-Aid solution and that’s not what farmers need right now.”

Last year Wisconsin lost more than 500 dairy farms. This year the state is on track to lose more than 600, which Wilson says will cripple many rural communities.

While the National Milk Producers Federation had proposed supply management language in the previous farm bill, Wilson says the concept has been abandoned in the 2018 version.  “I think there is really a lack of any meaningful dairy policy reform in either versions of the farm bill and that’s something that we would like to push for, we’d really like to see an amendment proposed that would help stabilize dairy prices and do something to solve this dairy crisis.”

The Wisconsin and Michigan Farmers Unions are hosting a series of meetings in Michigan this week to see if there is interest in learning from Canada’s supply management system.

AUDIO: Interview with Bobbi Wilson