Letter to Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Agriculture - Rep. Yoho Requests USDA Set Class 1 Price Floor for Milk

Letter

As USDA responds to the needs of producers across the country during the coronavirus pandemic, I ask that the USDA take action to assist our dairy producers during this time. Specifically, I urge the USDA to convene an emergency hearing to set a temporary Class 1 price floor for fluid milk for the period of June through August. Dairy farmers across the state of Florida, and across the country, are in a precarious situation due to the coronavirus pandemic. On top of existing issues facing the industry, dairy farmers are now experiencing supply chain disruptions and have lost markets for their product. You cannot toggle milk production in dairy cows, leaving farmers no other choice but to milk their cows and dump the milk. I believe that using the average price for March through May to set the price floor, as some industry leaders have suggested, would be appropriate in this situation. A temporary price floor would be a way to support our dairy farmers during this time using authorities already permitted under law.

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