Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) supported an amendment to give USDA an additional $350 million to increase payments to dairy farmers through the Dairy Product Price Support Program (DPPSP).

The Senate passed the amendment offered by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to the Agriculture Appropriations bill by a vote of 60 to 37.

Dairy prices are lower today than any point in nearly 30 years, causing dairy farmers nationwide to lose money and threatening rural communities.  Dairy farmers in California lose about $7 for every hunderweight of product, and some farmers are losing up to $100 per cow every month.
 
Senator Boxer said, “We need to support our dairy farmers in these tough economic times, and this critical funding will enable the USDA to increase payments to dairy farmers in California and across the country.”

Just last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA will use existing authority to increase payments to dairy farmers through DPPSP.  Earlier this month, Senator Boxer along with 19 of her colleagues wrote to Secretary Vilsack and urged him to increase DPPSP payments to help dairy farmers recoup losses. 

Senator Boxer spoke with Secretary Vilsack shortly after he was sworn in about the need help alleviate the problems facing California’s dairy farmers due to falling milk prices.  She is committed to working with the Administration to ensure that helping dairy farmers remains a top USDA priority.

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