WASHINGTON — Dairy farmers in Wisconsin are eying the calendar. Major parts of the federal Farm Bill are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, creating new challenges for farmers.
Tyler Wenzlaff, the director of national affairs for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, said if the legislation is not extended, “permanent law” from the 1940s kicks in. That means the government would start purchasing milk at more than double the market price, according to an American Farm Bureau analysis.
“That's going to exacerbate the problem of the loss of fluid milk demand already,” he said.
Although higher milk prices could create an immediate benefit for farmers, the higher prices could push customers away, as well as drive up the cost of other grocery products. Wenzlaff said this so-called “dairy cliff” would have a negative trickle down effect.
“Because of the potential loss of market after the government stops purchasing it,” he explained. “And consumers have to either switch back to purchasing milk, or they stay with the imitations that they've been purchasing because they've figured it out that that's works for their family now just fine.”
Wenzlaff said the government could start researching as early as Tuesday as to how much it would cost to purchase milk if the farm bill isn’t extended.
“Which is probably going to be in the hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars to start purchasing those products,” he said.
A new Farm Bill needs to be approved every five years. The current Farm Bill was originally set to expire last October, but Congress extended it another year. Lawmakers will eventually have to come to a permanent agreement, but right now, Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the delay.
“The Democrat party does not want to give the Republican party a win in an election year,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, told Spectrum News.
“We kicked the can for three months. Then, we kicked the can for nine months, and this Republican Congress simply can't get it done,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison.
In a statement to Spectrum News, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said she’s committing to working with both parties to ensure farmers, ranchers and growers get the support they need.
“I’m fighting for America’s Dairyland in the Farm Bill, including helping dairy businesses innovate, increasing mental health resources for farmers, and ensuring our rural communities have access to clean water,” she said.
Some programs expire Monday at midnight and revert back to old laws on the books, which will impact soybean farmers in Wisconsin.
“Soybeans weren't covered back in 1949 and so under the support programs, the government would normally purchase those if they fell below a certain price point,” Wenzlaff said. “For soybeans, that doesn't happen anymore.”
Other programs like crop insurance, some disaster programs and the food assistance program known as SNAP do not expire because they’re permanently authorized.