The result of more than a year's worth of bi-partisan, multi-regional negotiation, the NDEA would create a series of Regional Marketing Boards, each of which would regulate milk pricing and marketing in their respective region. The role of these Regional Marketing Boards would be modeled on the Northeast Dairy Compact, a regional program that successfully stabilized milk prices in the Northeast until it expired in 2001. Although the NDEA program is generally based on the Northeast Dairy Compact, it has been modified so that it will be suitable for all regions of the country, including regions such as the Upper Midwest, which opposed the Northeast Dairy Compact. The NDEA program would replace the current Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program, which is scheduled to expire in September of 2005.
"The National Dairy Equity Act is a significant improvement over the current Milk Income Loss Contract program because it returns authority for the regulation of the dairy industry to a regional authority," said Senator Collins. "The NDEA would allow the Northeast to have a dairy board, represented by New England dairy farmers, to make decisions affecting the price of milk in our region. It will provide a more level playing field in the market for small, family-owned farms in New England. These farms are vital to agriculture and the economy in Maine. It is important that there be an effective federal program to help protect the interests of farmers, processors, and consumers in this sometimes volatile industry."
The NDEA is supported by the Maine Commissioner of Agriculture, Agrimark, a dairy cooperative with members in Maine, and the Council of Northeast Farmers Cooperatives. Senators Hillary Clinton, Chistopher Dodd, James Jeffords, Edward Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Jack Reed, Charles Schumer, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter are cosponsors of the bill.
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