Rep. Delgado Announces USDA Disbursement to Support Dairy Farmers

Statement

Today, U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is disbursing funds to handlers to provide much-needed financial assistance to the dairy industry through the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program (PMVAP). This program is providing more than $300 million in assistance to help the dairy industry recover from the pandemic. In July 2021, Rep. Delgado led 24 lawmakers in calling on the President to reimburse dairy producers impacted by Class I mover-related losses. The USDA then announced PMVAP and now are disbursing the funds.

"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, upstate dairy farmers faced serious challenges and loss due to extreme market disruptions," said Rep. Delgado."I've consistently fought to ensure our local producers, including our dairy farmers, have access to COVID-19 relief. I am pleased to see USDA is disbursing PMVAP funding, which will provide critically-needed support to the New York dairy industry as they continue to recover."

"As a family dairy farmer, I would like to thank Congressman Antonio Delgado for working on behalf of Upstate New York dairy producers to secure the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program," said Kinderhook, NY Dairy Farmer Eric Ooms. "Thanks to his leadership, this program has provided valuable relief to farmers who endured difficult losses when the COVID-19 pandemic upended dairy markets. I commend Congressman Delgado's continued advocacy for the needs of Upstate dairy farmers."

Under PMVAP, payments will reimburse qualified dairy farmers on annual production of up to five million pounds of milk, for 80 percent of revenue losses for fluid milk sales from July 2020 through December 2020. The payment rate will vary by region based on the actual losses on pooled milk related to price volatility. After receiving the payments, handlers have 30 days to make payments to their eligible dairy farmer suppliers.

USDA is making payments through agreements with independent handlers and cooperatives. Throughout the fall and winter, handlers have been working with the department to gather and submit data needed to calculate and distribute PMVAP monies to eligible dairy farmers. Program details can be found at Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program | Agricultural Marketing Service (usda.gov).

Source