$40 million flows to N.Y. dairy farmers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that it has come up with a distribution plan for dairy aid to the nation’s struggling farmers, favoring smaller farms such as those in New York.
As a result, the state will get nearly $40 million of the $290 million pot set aside Oct. 21, much as New York Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand had urged. The aid came out of a $350 million amendment co-authored by Schumer to the 2009 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. Checks will be mailed within weeks, Schumer said, and farmers don’t need to apply to receive the aid.
“Dairy farmers are the backbone of New York’s agricultural economy, and they are in the middle of the worst crisis in recent memory,” Schumer said. “This congressional aid could not come a moment too soon.”
According to Schumer, the aid will be figured by pounds of milk production, capping the assistance at 6 million pounds annually. The average New York dairy farm produces about 2 million to 3 million pounds of milk annually.
Gillibrand’s office said the average dairy farm has 116 cows and a farm of that size would be eligible for about $7,400 from this aid package.
“This emergency aid comes just in the nick of time, as dairy farm families struggle through the end of the year with dramatic cash flow problems,” said Dean Norton, president of New York Farm Bureau. “We are hugely grateful to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for getting this emergency aid pumped into the industry in quick fashion. It will surely help keep some of our farms in business to the long-term benefit of the upstate rural economy.”
Dairy accounts for about two-thirds of the income produced by New York farmers.
“This increase will bring some much-needed relief for our farmers,” Gillibrand said. “While this is great for New York’s dairy farmers, this is only a temporary solution to the fundamental problems with the dairy pricing system. I will continue to work for a long term fix for our farmers.”
Schumer made a similar promise.
Robin Denniston-Keller, who has a 100-head herd in Byron, Genesee County, said she appreciated the senators’ efforts, but noted that dairy farmers aren’t thrilled about getting assistance.
“Dairy farmers are a very proud bunch of people. We like to make money by selling wholesome dairy products and milk to the market,” Denniston-Keller said. But as the government sets the price for milk, when costs exceed milk’s market price, farmers are forced to ask the government for help.
“Yes, it helps, but it doesn’t solve all of our financial issues,” she said.
DCARTER@DemocratandChronicle.com
By the numbers
Here are estimates of direct dairy aid for Rochester-area counties, ranked by dollar amount:
Wyoming: $3,436,800.
Genesee: $1,577,600.
Livingston: $1,299,200.
Ontario: $1,278,400.
Yates: $678,400.
Seneca: $428,800.
Wayne: $428,800.
Monroe: $216,000.
Orleans: $150,400.
