O DAIRY Act Expands Disaster Aid for Organic Farms, Mandates New Price Transparency Surveys, and Funds Local Processing

The Organic Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Reporting Yields Act of 2025, or the O DAIRY Act, is a major legislative push to stabilize and support the organic dairy sector. At its core, this bill establishes a targeted safety net, demands far greater market transparency from the USDA, and invests in local supply chains. For organic dairy farmers, this is a significant move toward leveling the playing field with conventional agriculture, especially regarding data and disaster aid.

The New Safety Net: Protecting Against Input Shocks

One of the biggest headaches for organic dairy farmers is the volatility of feed costs—a spike in organic corn or hay can wipe out a year’s profit fast. Section 2 addresses this by expanding the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) to cover losses caused by a surge in the cost of organic feed or supplies. If a farm’s net income drops by more than 10% in a year due to these increased costs, they are now eligible for emergency aid. This is a crucial change that recognizes the unique, often higher, cost structure of organic operations. The bill also explicitly instructs the Secretary of Agriculture to “streamline the payment process... as much as possible” to get that cash relief out quickly when disaster strikes.

Section 4 takes this safety net further by requiring the USDA to develop a brand-new Organic Dairy Safety Net Program within one year. This program must be based on cost data specific to organic operations, and here’s the kicker: it must prioritize support for small dairy operations. The bill directs the USDA to use the existing small business size standards (13 CFR § 121.201) to define who counts as “small,” ensuring the program is aimed at the family farms that often struggle the most against market consolidation.

Data Transparency: Knowing What Milk is Really Worth

If you’ve ever tried to figure out the true cost of producing organic milk, you know the data is often thin. Section 3 aims to fix this by mandating a massive upgrade in USDA data collection. Within 90 days, the Secretary must launch an "Organic All Milk Prices Survey" to collect and report monthly data on what organic dairy farmers are actually getting paid. They also have to track prices for organic milk cows and key organic feed ingredients, like corn, soybeans, and forage.

Crucially, the bill requires that within 180 days, the data published for organic milk must be just as detailed as the data currently available for conventional milk. This means state-by-state cost of production reports and regional production volumes. For any organic farmer or processor, this transparency is huge; it makes pricing negotiations and market planning much more fact-based, cutting through the guesswork that often plagues specialized markets.

Investing in Local Processing and Expertise

Section 5 tackles infrastructure and market development. It authorizes $20 million annually for five years to invest in local organic dairy processing facilities. The goal is to build new plants or expand existing ones that serve multiple small regional farms, promoting regional markets where milk is sourced and processed nearby. For consumers, this could mean more locally branded organic milk, cheese, and yogurt options, increasing resilience against national supply chain disruptions.

To back this up, the bill authorizes $5 million annually for five years to fund new Regional Organic Dairy Market Specialists. These specialists—who can be USDA employees or affiliated with a university—will conduct research on everything from quality standards and production costs to market consolidation and the feasibility of a dedicated organic dairy insurance program. They are mandated to report their findings to Congress and the public, providing a dedicated source of expertise for the sector. This is a smart investment in understanding the unique economics of organic farming and ensuring future policy decisions are well-informed.