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Mark Steil

Obama to sign bill to help U.S. dairy farmers

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President Obama is expected to sign an agriculture appropriations bill which includes help for hard pressed dairy farmers.

Minnesota Milk Producers Executive Director Bob Lefebvre said the measure contains $350 million for U.S dairy farmers. He says $60 million will go to buy cheese and other dairy products and said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will decide how to spend the rest.

Lefebvre said Vilsack will name a committee to look at the issue.

"One of the roles of this dairy industry advisory committee, when it is assembled, will be to provide advice to Secretary Vilsack on how to utilize that money," Lefebvre said. "Right now one of the things they're looking at is potentially direct payments to dairy producers."

Lefebvre said low milk prices have driven some farmers out of business.

"[It] may go down as the worst year in history for dairy farmers in their lack of profitability," he said. "Virtually every dairy producer I know within the state of Minnesota has lost money every day over the last, nearly a year."