Washington, D.C. December 23, 2022

Today, Congress passed a massive spending bill, averting a government shutdown and funding federal government activities for the rest of fiscal year 2023. Embedded in the legislation are key provisions to advance organic agriculture.

Organic Dairy Provisions Congress is calling on USDA to provide emergency relief to organic dairy producers. The National Organic Coalition (NOC) asked Congress to address this crisis caused by severe drought conditions, supply chain backlogs, and a surge in organic feed prices. Report language accompanying the bill directs USDA to report back within 30 days on available sources of USDA funding to address the organic dairy crisis.

There is also report language focused on the need for detailed data about market conditions for organic dairy producers and enforcement of organic standards, two priority issues that impact the viability of organic dairy operations.

Mercaris

December Organic Dairy Update

Towards the end of last year, WODPA signed onto Mercaris, an organic and non-gmo commodity market data and trading company who we are working with to create a monthly market analysis specifically on organic raw milk in the West. Though we do not have any reports yet, we are optimistic that the analysis platform we are creating with them will allow WODPA members to compare raw milk price per pound of Total Solids at the farmgate, separated by region, across the entire West. Our hope is that this can be used for farmer negotiations and regional understanding of costs and Net/Gross pay prices. WODPA signing on allows for all WODPA members to gain exclusive access to Mercaris’ publications and resources. More to come on this in the very near future, so stay tuned! 

Livestock Forage Disaster Program:

The Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) provides payments to eligible livestock owners and contract growers who have covered livestock and who are also producers of grazed forage crop acreage (native and improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover, including rangeland managed by a federal agency, or certain crops planted specifically for grazing) that have suffered a loss of grazed forage due to a qualifying drought during the normal grazing period for the county. 

Dairy Margin Coverage Program:

USDA will begin accepting applications for the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Signup period ends Jan. 31, 2023 – enables producers to get coverage through this important safety-net program for another year as well as get additional assistance through the Supplemental DMC.

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