USDA Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh announced on Aug. 25 the establishment of a $400 million Dairy Donation Program (DDP) on a call with Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow. The DDP, established by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) in accordance with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, aims to facilitate timely dairy product donations while reducing food waste.
The establishment of DDP is part of $6 billion of pandemic assistance USDA announced in March and follows last week’s announcement of $350 million Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program for dairy farmers on August 19, USDA said. It is the second part of an over $2 billion comprehensive package to help the dairy industry recover from the pandemic and improve or establish programs to make it more resilient to future challenges.