GOT MILC!

Vermont Delegation Hails Victory For Vermont Dairy Farmers
As Congress Gives Final OK To MILC Program Extension

WASHINGTON (Wednesday, Feb. 1) – Vermont’s Congressional Delegation – Sen. Patrick Leahy (D), Sen. Jim Jeffords (I), and Rep. Bernie Sanders (I) – Wednesday hailed the final passage Wednesday night of the two-year extension of the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program they have fought for more than a year to enact.  The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget package that includes the MILC extension, sending it to the desk of President Bush, who will sign it.  The Senate had approved it in December.

The Vermont Delegation spearheaded efforts to renew the MILC program for two years through efforts led by Leahy, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a member of the budget bill’s conference committee.  In addition to extending the program, the legislation also makes MILC program payments retroactively available for Vermont farmers to Oct. 1, 2005.  The Vermont Delegation was instrumental in deleting a 2.5 percent across-the-board cut to the dairy program during conference negotiations.  Jeffords and Sanders both also strongly supported the extension.  The Delegation also had led the efforts that created the program -- which is modeled on the former Northeast Dairy Compact – in the 2002 farm bill.  Since then the MILC program has brought more than $45 million in countercyclical payments to Vermont’s dairy farmers. 

“This is a hard-won victory, against heavy odds, for the thousands of hard working dairy farmers in Vermont and around the country,” said Leahy.  “With the recent dramatic drop in milk prices, this extension is all the more timely and vital.  The MILC program has proven itself as a dependable lifeline that helps family farmers compete on a level playing field.”

“Dairy farms are critical to preserving Vermont’s rural character and way of life,” said Jeffords. “I’m delighted that the MILC program will continue to support our farmers, who deserve a fair price for their milk. This extension will provide just that.”

"This successful joint effort by the entire Vermont delegation will help keep thousands of family dairy farms in business if we see another sharp decline in milk prices,” said Sanders.  “Now we have to begin laying the groundwork for strengthening the protection for family dairy farms in the next Farm Bill."  

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