2018 Farm Bill Becomes Law

Posted on by

(Betsy Miller, Farm Viability Coordinator)

After months of negotiating the 2018 Farm bill was passed by congress and signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2018.

The bill has many components relevant to agriculture in Vermont including:

  • Legalization of hemp
  • Changes to the Margin Protection Program (MPP)  for dairy
    • Increased margin up to $9.50
    • Lower premiums for first 5 million pounds of milk from farm
    • Allows for overlap with LGM
    • Refund of portion of premiums paid from 2015 – 2017
  • Changes to NRCS EQIP Programs

For more information regarding specifics of the farm bill follow these links:

https://www.agweb.com/article/the-2018-farm-bill-what-you-need-to-know/

This agweb article includes a table with MPP premium rates.

Senator Leahy has issued a press release on the subject:

https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-hails-senate-passage-of-five-year-farm-bill