[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3097 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3097

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

                            October 19, 2023

Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Baldwin, and Mrs. Gillibrand) 
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 2023'' or the ``O DAIRY Act of 
2023''.

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 2024 through 
2028--
            (1) $20,000,000 to carry out subsection (a); and
            (2) $5,000,000 to carry out subsection (b).
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