Stabenow Applauds New Dairy Manufacturing Plant Coming to St. Johns

New processing plant, paired with recent improvements in Stabenow’s 2018 Farm Bill, will create jobs and support Michigan dairy farmers

Thursday, August 09, 2018

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today welcomed the announcement of a new dairy processing plant coming to St. Johns, Mich.

 

“When we make things here and grow things here, we create jobs in Michigan," said Stabenow. “This new dairy plant and recent improvements we made in the 2018 Farm Bill are bringing new jobs to Michigan and giving our state’s top commodity a needed boost at a critical time.”

 

Dairy is Michigan’s top commodity, contributing over $15 billion to the state’s economy. Unfortunately, recent market instability and trade disruptions have caused many family dairy farms to take on additional debt or even go out of business. The financial uncertainty paired with a lack of processing capacity in the region has put Michigan’s dairy farmers at a disadvantage. The manufacturing plant will provide a new outlet for Michigan milk producers and create hundreds of manufacturing jobs in St. Johns.

 

Prior to the new plant announcement, Senator Stabenow has led the effort in Congress to support Michigan’s dairy industry and grow employment opportunities across agriculture. In June, the Senate recently passed Stabenow’s bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill, which includes unprecedented investments for Michigan’s dairy farmers and strengthens Michigan’s agricultural economy.

 

The 2018 Senate Farm Bill creates a new-and-improved safety net called Dairy Risk Coverage to help dairy farmers weather financial uncertainty and builds on the improvements Stabenow authored in the Bipartisan Budget Act that has provided nearly $10 million in support to dairy farmers this year so far. The Farm Bill also refunds farmers who received coverage under the former safety net – the Margin Protection Program – which did not live up to expectations. The bill also includes a new donation initiative that helps Michigan dairy farmers provide milk to local food banks.