MILC program extended

Food & Drink Weekly, Sept 3, 2007

MILC program extended: The United States is to extend help to small dairy farmers under the existing payment rate of 34%, the USDA has announced. The Milk Income Loss Contract dairy subsidy, or MILC, at the 34% rate, was due to expire at the end of August and will be extended by a month to the end of September.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last month in its farm bill to extend the dairy subsidy program for five years. However, MILC has come under attack by some who contend it favors smaller herds in the Northwest and Midwest while largely ignoring the output of large Western herds.