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Organic dairies would benefit under proposed bill

A new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would expand assistance for organic dairy producers.

The Organic Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Reporting Yields Act, or O DAIRY, would extend the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) to cover organic feed shortages and losses of net income greater than 10% caused by increasing input costs. 

The bill also calls for improved organic dairy data collection including cost of production data and the establishment of an Organic All Milk Prices Survey to report on organic milk prices.  USDA would also be required to develop and implement a separate organic dairy safety net program.

The O DAIRY Act, if passed, would also establish programs to boost infrastructure investments, including on-farm processing.

The bill is supported by several organic dairy organizations and the Center for Food Safety.  Senators Peter Welch of Vermont, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Kirsten Gillibrand from New York are backing the legislation.