The U.S. Senate Tuesday voted 68-32 to approve the Agricultural Act of 2014 which contains a new program for dairy producers.

“It has been a long and torturous road toward the creation of a better safety net for dairy farmers,” said National Milk Producers Federation president and CEO Jim Mulhern.

“We didn’t wind up precisely where we wanted in terms of the dairy program, but the milk glass is more than half-full. The new farm bill replaces three outmoded programs intended to help farmers – but that often failed in that effort. In their place is a new, more modern, and more comprehensive margin protection program offering dairy producers a far better and more effective safety net. Because it is designed to protect against periods of both low milk prices as well as high feed costs, margin insurance is a better risk management tool to help farmers deal with the global volatility in commodity prices in the 21st century.”

Dairy Farmers of America Senior Vice President John Wilson says while they are disappointed the bill does not include the Dairy Security Act (DSA), they “encouraged the new bill replaces outdated dairy policy and includes a margin insurance program, similar to that in the DSA.”