1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Pandemic Weakening Milk Prices; Industry Calls for Policy Action Joel L. Greene Analyst in Agricultural Policy April 10, 2020 Milk price prospects for U.S. dairy producers in 2020 have weakened as the U.S. economy deterior
2、ates under the expanding Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The year began with a positive outlook for the dairy industry that included higher milk prices and increased income for dairy producers in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The dairy industry has gone through
3、several years of relatively low milk prices, leading some dairy farms to exit the industry and two large dairy processors to file for bankruptcy. In 2019, according to USDA, the number of licensed dairy herds declined from 37,468 to 34,187, a nearly 9% drop. Almost every state lost dairies last year
4、. As a safety net for dairy producers, Congress enacted Section 1401 of the 2018 farm bill (P.L. 115-334) establishing the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program. The program guarantees dairy producers could receive payments when the margin or difference narrows between the USDA-reported all milk price
