By Lucas Sjostrom

What goes down hopefully comes up. What we are dealing with brings along the words “unprecedented,” “unimaginable,” and “never-before-seen” to mind and in the press over and over. 

This week, Minnesota Milk sent a joint letter with the state trade associations in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota asking USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to use funds from COVID Phase III to: 

• Immediately make CCC dairy product purchases 
• Provide direct payments to dairy farmers similar to MFP 
• Ensure dumped milk is compensated 
• Consider the dairy farmers’ loss of beef markets, too 

Looking forward to COVID Phase IV federal bill, Minnesota Milk is working across commodities, state lines and with national partners to come together for an ask. There have been rumors of a subsidy tied to production cuts, as well as greater flexibility in purchases and larger payments overall. These are all very early discussions, but Minnesota Milk continues to work with our state and federal legislators to find some positive help for dairy farms.