Special Report

Working to revive Missouri dairy

It was a year ago that Dave Drennan with the Missouri Dairy Association was talking about what seemed to be a failed attempt to curb the decline of the dairy industry in his state. This year he is happy to report the effort was revived, approved and now awaits funding from the State Legislature.

There are three parts to the package: It will reimburse up to 70 percent of the premium a producer pays for the federal Margin Protection Program; Scholarships to anyone who attends a two or four year college in Missouri and then works on a dairy farm or processing plant for an allotted time; and support for the dairy program at the University of Missouri.

Drennan says there has been significant interest in the program from other states.