Dairy payments 'drop in bucket'
St. Lawrence and Jefferson county milk producers will receive $2.31 million in direct payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture before the end of the week, but Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator Jay M. Matteson says the payments are a "drop in the bucket" compared to the debts incurred by dairy farmers this year.
"No matter what size farm, this year dairy farmers have lost a tremendous amount of money and equity. Most of the farms have been struggling to find a way to pay their people for months," he said.
Mr. Matteson estimated that a producer milking 500 cows has lost approximately $30,000 per month on average for the year.
By comparison, the maximum payment any farm can receive from the USDA program is $19,269, a payment intended to supplement farmers for a year of bad milk prices.
St. Lawrence County dairy farmers currently enrolled in the Milk Income Loss Contract program will receive $1.13 million in direct payments from the USDA, while Jefferson County farmers will receive $1.18 million.
Although the payments can not make up for more than a year of consistently low milk prices, farmers will receive a fair sized check. An estimate from Farm Service Agency projected payments of $5,000 to $7,000 for a 100-cow farm with an average daily production of 60 pounds of milk per cow.
The pay rate was set by the USDA at 32 cents per 100 pounds of milk shipped, with a cap of 6 million pounds of milk per farm and a maximum payment of $19,269. Production numbers were taken for each farm from February to July and multiplied by two to account for the yearly production. In St. Lawrence County, 353 million pounds were eligible to receive the subsidy.
In Jefferson County, about 200 producers will receive payments, according to Jefferson County Farm Service Agency representative Glenn Bullock. He says the money will be a help to farmers, but agreed with Mr. Matteson that the payments aren't a fix.
"It's going to be a help, but there is no question that this money is spent," he said.
Mr. Bullock operates a 50-cow dairy farm of his own in Edwards.
He says the USDA payment is welcomed, but does little to offset growing debts for farmers.
"It's different for every farm, but we probably lost about $100 per cow each month on ours. So, we are losing about $5,000 a month and our payment is just shy of $3,000, and that's for 12 months," he said.
Although the amount paid won't offset debts, he says the payments are coming in the right season.
"It's a good time get this payment. With land taxes due in spring, it will allow farmers to catch up on bills that need to be paid," he said.
"It won't be enough to cover a whole tax bill, but it's enough to cover a decent portion," he said.
Mr. Matteson says $290 million in payments may boost the economy, but it is not a solution to problems facing dairy farmers.
"When we heard this is going to happen, we fully expected to hear people say this will solve all the farmers' problems, but it's really a drop in the bucket," he said.
He said the payments are more likely to help agri-businesses, who he says have been floating milk producers for the past year.
"It's going to roll right out the door. These payments are going to be spent on feed bills, maintenance costs, and taxes incurred for the past year. It's going to be a quick flush of money into the local economy," Mr. Matteson said.
