The U.S. Senate passed its version of the Farm Bill today by a bipartisan margin of 64-35. Passage gained praise from the Dairy Farmers of America:

“The U.S. Senate sent an important message to the nation’s agriculture industry today by passing S. 3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 (Farm Bill). The Farm Bill contains dairy provisions that will provide producers with tools to better manage volatility and their margins, while keeping them competitive in the global marketplace.

“We applaud Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Pat Roberts for their leadership and perseverance in securing final passage of this important measure. This bill is a critical step toward much needed dairy policy reform.”

DFA encouraged the House of Representatives to now move forward on the bill.

Several amendments in the bill should be good for dairy, including Sen. Olympia Snowe’s (R-ME) measure that requires milk marketing order reform, eliminating the use of end-product price formulas for setting prices for Class III milk and requiring handlers to report, maintain, and make available all information and records for the administration of any milk marketing order. “Without this amendment, small dairy farmers face possible extinction due in part to excessive market volatility.”

Listen to Snowe talk on the floor about her amendment here:
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) Farm Bill amendment for dairy

In addition, Sen. Jim Demint’s (R-SC) amendment that would have made mandatory dairy checkoff programs voluntary failed.

The bill is expected to be taken up by the House after the 4th of July break. Ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), in an interview after a meeting with the American Seed Trade Association, told our own Chuck Zimmerman that he was pleased his dairy program had survived the amendment process.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Peterson here: Rep. Collin Peterson interview