119-s2442

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2442 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

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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