Sen. Charles E. Schumer is asking Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to tap emergency powers to send money directly to dairy farmers struggling to make ends meet because of plummeting milk prices.
Schumer, D-N.Y., just wrapped up a phone call with Vilsack, in which he urged the agriculture secretary to tap funds from the Agriculture Department’s Commodity Credit Corporation to immediately give financial relief to dairy farmers. Under federal law, the agriculture secretary has the authority to use CCC funds to support the prices of agricultural commodities with direct payments to farmers.
Schumer said immediate financial help is sorely needed to keep struggling dairy farmers in business. The industry has been hit hard this year by falling milk prices and high feed costs.
“I have never seen our dairy farmers in more distress,” Schumer said, adding that the pain is being felt “from one end of the state to the other.”
“We’re going to have hundreds of dairy farmers go under in the next three or four months unless there (are) immediate, quick results from Washington,” Schumer said. “We need immediate relief.”
These increases will mean a big difference for New York’s Dairy Farmers. Here is how the increases would break down across the state:
· In the Capital Region, farmers would see an annual increase of $32,827,650
· In Western New York, farmers would see an annual increase of $72,357,000
· In the Rochester Finger Lakes Area, farmers would see an annual increase of $43,400,850
· In Central new York, farmers would see an annual increase of $58,766,700
· In the Southern Tier, farmers would see an annual increase of $41,278,200
· In the Hudson Valley, farmers would see an annual increase of $9,411,750
· In the North Country, farmers would see an annual increase of $72,650,700
(Thanks Bill--we lifted this from the Oswego Democrat blog)
