Washington, Sep. 30 - House and Senate negotiators approved $350 million in special aid to U.S. dairy farmers on Wednesday to help them survive the lowest farm-gate price for milk in three decades.
The assistance was included in a $121 billion annual spending bill for the Agriculture Department and related agencies in fiscal 2010, up $14 billion from the current fiscal year. Congress could vote on the bill next week at the earliest. Fiscal years open each Oct 1.
More than two-thirds of the money, $82.8 billion, will go to U.S. nutrition programs such as school lunch and food stamps.
Food stamp enrollment hit a record 35.85 million people in July, the latest month for which figures are available and the seventh month in a row to set a record. Enrollment is up by 3.65 million people since the start of the year.
Some $290 million of the dairy assistance will be spent in direct aid to dairy farmers and $60 million will be used to buy cheese and other products for use in U.S. nutrition programs. USDA will decide how to allot the money to farmers.
Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl, who was in charge of the negotiations, said "these are desperate times" for dairy farmers. Feed costs are up while milk prices are two-thirds of 2008 levels.
Negotiators met formally for less than an hour before approving the compromise spending bill on a voice vote. Last week, they agreed during private discussions to end a two-year-old ban on imports of poultry meat processed in China. Beijing challenged the ban as a violation of word trade rules.
To resolve the increasingly acrimonious dispute, lawmakers said USDA will conduct more inspections of processing plants and step up inspections of Chinese poultry products when they arrive at U.S. ports.
"Chinese poultry products must live up to American sanitary standards before they are shipped," said Connecticut Rep, Rosa DeLauro, the author of the ban.
A U.S. livestock tracking system, intended to combat disease outbreaks, would receive a minimal $5.3 million in fiscal 2010. USDA has spent $142 million to set up the voluntary program but participation is too low for it to be effective. USDA requested $14.6 million.