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Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Senator Baldwin (D-Wisc.) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support organic dairy farmers in Maine and across the country as they continue to face environmental and economical challenges. Pingree and 31 of her Congressional colleagues said steps must be taken expeditiously to extend support for organic dairy farmers through the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP). 

“Our understanding is that ODMAP has nearly $83 million in remaining, unspent funds, which should be used to continue to support our organic dairy farmers,” they wrote.“Whether it is updating the calculations for the program payment rate, initiating a sign-up for another year’s projected future marketing costs, or some other mechanism to improve coverage results, the remaining funds dedicated for ODMAP should be distributed promptly.”

“We must support these small family farms that are the foundation of the organic dairy industry and many of our rural economies. Not only will our communities lose if these farms exit the industry, but also organic consumers, who oftentimes have the purchase choice of locally sourced organic milk,” the lawmakers continued.

The full letter is available here and copied below.

The creation of ODMAP follows a push by Pingree, who wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in December 2022 urging the USDA to help U.S. organic dairy and poultry farmers amid skyrocketing feed costs that are impacting the future viability of the industry. Specifically, under the ODMAP, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) made $104 million available to organic dairy operations to assist with projected marketing costs in 2023, calculated using their marketing costs in 2022.

Pingree is a longtime organic farmer and member of the House Agriculture Committee and House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee. 

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Dear Secretary Vilsack:

We applaud USDA’s dedication of $104 million to assist organic dairy producers through the new Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP) and appreciate that nearly $20 million has been distributed to organic producers so far. The vitality of agricultural producers, specifically organic dairy producers in our communities, has been at the forefront of our minds.

Regrettably, conditions in organic dairy remain challenging with drought determinations in many organic dairy regions as well as acute flooding that devasted crop production. We continue to hear from the organic industry and their partners that the on-the-farm strain of today is difficult and the initial ODMAP payments, while necessary, didn’t adequately reflect the cost dynamics in organic dairy. Many organic dairies continue to be unable to utilize cash flow for basic inputs like grain and the routine maintenance of equipment and facilities. This has caused many to either drain what personal savings they have to stay in business or to exit the industry altogether.

Given these realities, we urge you to take all necessary steps, this calendar year, to collaborate with organic dairy stakeholders to extend support to additional organic dairy farmers using the remaining ODMAP funds. Our understanding is that ODMAP has nearly $83 million in remaining, unspent funds, which should be used to continue to support our organic dairy farmers.  

Whether it is updating the calculations for the program payment rate, initiating a sign-up for another year’s projected future marketing costs, or some other mechanism to improve coverage results, the remaining funds dedicated for ODMAP should be distributed promptly.

We must support these small family farms that are the foundation of the organic dairy industry and many of our rural economies. Not only will our communities lose if these farms exit the industry, but also organic consumers, who oftentimes have the purchase choice of locally sourced organic milk.

We urge the department to collaborate with the organic dairy industry to distribute the remaining ODMAP funds expeditiously and efficiently. Thank you for your attention to this matter and we look forward to our continued work together to support our nation’s farmers.

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