National Dairy Farmers Fairness Act of 2001 (Introduced in the Senate)

S 294 IS

107th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 294

To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to establish a program to provide dairy farmers a price safety net for small- and medium-sized dairy producers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 8, 2001

Mr. SANTORUM (for himself and Mr. KOHL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to establish a program to provide dairy farmers a price safety net for small- and medium-sized dairy producers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the `National Dairy Farmers Fairness Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
      (1) dairy farm families of the United States are enduring an unprecedented financial crisis;
      (2) the price of raw milk sent to the market by the dairy farm families has fallen to the levels received in 1978; and
      (3) the number of family-sized dairy operations has decreased by almost 75 percent in the last 2 decades, with some States losing nearly 10 percent of their dairy farmers in recent months.

SEC. 3. DAIRY FARMERS PROGRAM.

    Chapter 1 of subtitle D of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`SEC. 153. DAIRY FARMERS PROGRAM.

    `(a) DEFINITIONS- In this section:
      `(1) APPLICABLE FISCAL YEAR- The term `applicable fiscal year' means each of fiscal years 2001 through 2008.
      `(2) CLASS III MILK- The term `Class III milk' means milk classified as Class III milk under a Federal milk marketing order issued under section 8c of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c), reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937.
    `(b) PAYMENTS- For each applicable fiscal year, the Secretary shall make a payment to producers on a farm that, during the applicable fiscal year, produced milk for commercial sale, in the amount obtained by multiplying--
      `(1) the payment rate for the applicable fiscal year determined under subsection (c); by
      `(2) the payment quantity for the applicable fiscal year determined under subsection (d).
    `(c) PAYMENT RATE-
      `(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraph (2), the payment rate for a payment made to producers on a farm for an applicable fiscal year under subsection (b) shall be determined as follows:
`If the average price received by producers in the United States for Class III milk during the preceding fiscal year was (per hundredweight)--

The payment rate for a payment made to producers on a farm for the applicable fiscal year under subsection (b) shall be (per hundredweight)--

$10.50 or less

.50

$10.51 through $11.00

.42

$11.01 through $11.50

.34

$11.51 through $12.00

.26

$12.01 through $12.50

.18.

      `(2) INCREASED PAYMENT RATE- If the producers on a farm produce during an applicable fiscal year a quantity of all milk that is not more than the quantity of all milk produced by the producers on the farm during the preceding fiscal year, the payment rate for a payment to the producers on the farm for the applicable fiscal year under paragraph (1) shall be increased as follows:
`If the average price received by producers in the United States for Class III milk during the preceding fiscal year was (per hundredweight)--

The payment rate for a payment made to the producers on the farm for the applicable fiscal year under paragraph (1) shall be increased by (per hundredweight)--

$10.50 or less

.30

$10.51 through $11.00

.26

$11.01 through $11.50

.22

$11.51 through $12.00

.18

$12.01 through $12.50

.14.

    `(d) PAYMENT QUANTITY-
      `(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraph (2), the quantity of all milk for which the producers on a farm shall receive a payment for an applicable fiscal year under subsection (b) shall be equal to the quantity of all milk produced by the producers on the farm during the applicable fiscal year.
      `(2) MAXIMUM QUANTITY- The quantity of all milk for which the producers on a farm shall receive a payment for an applicable year under subsection (b) shall not exceed 26,000 hundredweight of all milk.
    `(e) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION- The Secretary shall carry out the program authorized by this section through the Commodity Credit Corporation.'.