Reference no: EM132289943
Farm Bill Discussion Board
After listening to the 2014 farm-bill lecture and researching some on your own, please participate in the following class discussion.
Original Post - For this discussion board, choose at least two aspects of the 2014 farm bill that are of interest to you and discuss.
Reply on the given Peer post
One of the programs in the 2014 Farm Bill that I was particularly interested in was the Margin Protection Program for Dairy. This program offers dairy producers catastrophic coverage at no cost to the producer (other than the annual $100 administrative fee) and different levels of buy-up coverage.
The catastrophic coverage provides payments to producers when the difference between all milk price and the average feed costs is less than $4.00 per hundredweight. The buy-up coverage provides payments when margins are between $4.00 and $8.00 per hundredweight. This bill replaced the Milk Income Loss Contract Program, and is administered by the USDA's Farm Service Agency.
Another program that I found interesting was the Animal Health Protection Act (AHPA) and National Animal Health Laboratory Network. This program in particular helps to prevent, detect, control, and eliminate diseases and pests to protect animal health and also to respond to bioterrorist threats.
The Laboratory Network works to develop and enhance national veterinary diagnostic capabilities. Emphasis is put on surveillance planning, vulnerability analysis and technology development and validation. This program is administered by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics.