[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2442 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2442
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide support for organic
dairy producers and processors, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 24, 2025
Mr. Welch (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Booker)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide support for organic
dairy producers and processors, and for other purposes.
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 ``Organic Dairy Assistance,
Investment, and Reporting Yields Act of 2025'' or the ``O DAIRY Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF ELAP TO CERTAIN LOSSES INCURRED BY ORGANIC DAIRY
FARMERS.
(a) Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised
Fish.--Section 1501(d)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C.
9081(d)(2)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``used to reduce'' and inserting the
following: ``used--
``(A) to reduce''; and
(2) in subparagraph (A) (as so designated), by striking
``fever.'' and inserting the following: ``fever; and
``(B) to reduce losses incurred by organic dairy
farmers that are beyond those covered by other disaster
programs of the Department of Agriculture, including
losses that are caused by an increase in organic feed
or other input costs that result in a cumulative
decrease in net income of more than 10 percent in any 1
calendar year.''.
(b) Streamlined Payment Process.--Section 1501 of the Agricultural
Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(g) Streamlined Payment Process.--The Secretary, to the maximum
extent practicable, shall streamline the process for making payments
under this section.''.
SEC. 3. IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION FOR ORGANIC DAIRY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this
Act as the ``Secretary'') shall provide support for regional and
national programs to collect and publish cost-of-production data for
organic milk, including data relating to--
(1) the costs of major organic feedstuffs, including--
(A) corn;
(B) corn silage;
(C) soybeans;
(D) sorghum;
(E) oilseeds;
(F) small grains;
(G) forage crops;
(H) pasture;
(I) hay; and
(J) any other major organic feedstuff, as
determined by the Secretary;
(2) with respect to the costs described in paragraph (1),
prices for--
(A) major organic feedstuffs produced domestically;
and
(B) imported major organic feedstuffs; and
(3) all other costs relating to the production of organic
milk.
(b) Organic All Milk Price Survey.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a
survey, to be known as the ``Organic All Milk Prices Survey'', which
shall be analogous to the existing All Milk Prices Survey of the
National Agricultural Statistics Service, to gather and report monthly
data about the amounts that organic dairy farmers are being paid for
the organic milk produced by those organic dairy farmers and the prices
received for organic milk cows, including--
(1) national data; and
(2) data relating to, at a minimum, the 6 regions with the
greatest quantity of organic dairy production, as determined by
the Secretary.
(c) Organic Milk Reporting.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, using data collected by
the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the Economic
Research Service, or the Agricultural Marketing Service, shall
publish new periodic reports that include, or add to existing
periodic reports, data for organic milk, which shall be
equivalent to data reported for conventionally produced milk.
(2) Requirement.--Reports published under paragraph (1)
shall include, at a minimum--
(A) organic cost-of-production data by State;
(B) regional data relating to the quantity of
organic milk production;
(C) organic mailbox price for the 6 regions with
the greatest quantity of organic dairy production, as
determined by the Secretary; and
(D) major organic feedstuff prices.
SEC. 4. SAFETY NET PROGRAM FOR ORGANIC DAIRY FARMS.
(a) Proposal.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a
proposal to establish new organic dairy safety net programs to ensure
that such programs provide adequate support for organic dairy farms
based on cost data specific to organic dairy.
(b) Considerations.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept written and
recorded comments with respect to the development of a proposal
under subsection (a).
(2) Public availability.--Comments accepted under paragraph
(1) shall be made available to the public.
(c) Requirement.--In developing a proposal under subsection (a),
the Secretary shall ensure that--
(1) all organic dairy operations are eligible to
participate in the programs proposed to be established pursuant
to that proposal; and
(2) those programs prioritize support for small dairy
operations (as determined based on the small business size
standard for the applicable North American Industry
Classification System code described in section 121.201 of
title 13, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation)).
(d) Report to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report
that--
(1) includes recommendations relating to the implementation
of the proposal developed under subsection (a); and
(2) describes any actions taken by the Secretary to
implement that proposal.
SEC. 5. INVESTMENTS IN ORGANIC DAIRY PROCESSING INFRASTRUCTURE.
(a) Infrastructure Investment Funding Program.--Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
establish a program to provide funding for investments in
infrastructure to enhance regional organic milkshed markets that seek
to drive a greater affinity for regionally sourced and processed
organic dairy products by incentivizing support for--
(1) the development of new organic dairy processing plants
that support multiple regional small dairy operations (as
determined based on the small business size standard for the
applicable North American Industry Classification System code
described in section 121.201 of title 13, Code of Federal
Regulations (or a successor regulation));
(2) initiatives that establish institutional purchasing of
local organic dairy products;
(3) investment in infrastructure on farms and in sites that
aggregate raw milk to gain transport and processing
efficiencies;
(4) the establishment of on-farm organic dairy processing
and storage;
(5) producers and processors that want to expand regional
organic processing infrastructure serving regionally produced
organic milk from multiple regional small dairy operations (as
determined based on the small business size standard for the
applicable North American Industry Classification System code
described in section 121.201 of title 13, Code of Federal
Regulations (or a successor regulation)), including by--
(A) supporting work to finalize business plans; and
(B) providing processor start-up capital; and
(6) initiatives that support increasing regional processing
capacity to facilitate co-packing and tolling for regionally
produced organic milk from multiple regional small dairy
operations (as determined based on the small business size
standard for the applicable North American Industry
Classification System code described in section 121.201 of
title 13, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation)).
(b) Regional Organic Dairy Market Specialists.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish regional
positions in each major organic dairy producing region, to be
known as ``Regional Organic Dairy Market Specialists''--
(A) to conduct research on the marketing of organic
dairy, including research relating to--
(i) quality standards, including changes in
those standards over time;
(ii) cost-of-production data;
(iii) consolidation of, and lack of
competition among, buyers;
(iv) requirements for certification,
including changes in those requirements over
time;
(v) direct marketing of value-added
products at the farm level; and
(vi) the establishment and promotion of new
or existing regional organic dairy brands that
source regional milk; and
(B) to provide reports, recommendations, and advice
to the Secretary, organic dairy producers and
processors, Congress, and the public with respect to
the matters described in clauses (i) through (vi) of
subparagraph (A) and other matters relating to the
marketing of organic dairy, including a report
describing the options, costs, and feasibility of
establishing an organic dairy insurance program through
the Department of Agriculture.
(2) Requirement.--A Regional Organic Dairy Market
Specialist may be--
(A) an employee of the Department of Agriculture;
or
(B) a position at a relevant institution of higher
education.
(3) Research teams.--A Regional Organic Dairy Market
Specialist shall establish a research team to assist the
Regional Organic Dairy Market Specialist in conducting the
research described in paragraph (1)(A).
(4) Period of support.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall enter into a
commitment to provide support for Regional Organic
Dairy Market Specialists, and the research teams
established under paragraph (3), for a period of 5
years.
(B) Renewal of support.--Subject to the
availability of appropriations, at the end of a 5-year
period of support, the Secretary may renew the support
of a Regional Organic Dairy Market Specialist (and the
research team of that Regional Organic Dairy Market
Specialist) for 1 or more successive 5-year periods,
pursuant to such commitments as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary for each of fiscal years 2025 through
2029--
(1) $20,000,000 to carry out subsection (a); and
(2) $5,000,000 to carry out subsection (b).
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