Ag Weekly: Milk Loss Program deadline extended

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - The Milk Loss Program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture was designed as a helping hand for dairy farmers who experienced a weather-related disaster that caused them to dump milk in 2020, 2021, or 2022.

In the north county, this could be due to things like tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms, floods, or the power outages and infrastructure losses that happen consequently.

The original deadline for farmers to apply for the program was Monday, but now the USDA is extending that deadline to October 30.

Farmers must submit an application and a milk marketing statement for the month prior to the disaster and the month of the disaster to show the loss. And a written statement explaining the circumstances that caused the milk to be dumped.

If approved, a payment can be calculated using the average milk production of a cow, the number of milking cows during the disaster, the number of days milk was dumped, and the price per hundredweight, which is how milk is sold.

So, if you are a dairy farmer who dumped milk due to weather between 2020 and 2022, you can find the application on the USDA website.

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