House Ag Committee Advances Farm Bill with Full DSA Provisions

By CnAgri2012-07-12 19:54:55 Print

House members will be considering a farm bill proposal that will include the controversial Dairy Security Act fully intact. On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee approved the legislation after considering dozens of amendments to the package.

One of the proposed changes was an amendment offered by Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and David Scott from Georgia, which would drop parts of the DSA and replacement it with a safety net for dairy producers without requiring them to participate in a supply management program. The amendment failed and now the full DSA policy will be included in the House bill.

The DSA was based on the National Milk Producers Federation's 'Foundation for the Future' program, which aims to eliminate the current dairy price support program and replace it with a safety net that would pay producers a settlement when milk prices fall below profitable levels. But some farm group have been blasting the initiative because it includes supply control policies that would cap the production of dairy producers during periods of low margins.

The current farm bill expires on September 30, but there only 13 legislative days before the August recess for the full package to be considered.