The Minnesota House Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy Division got an update on Minnesota’s Dairy Assistance, Investment and Relief Initiative or DAIRI program on Thursday. The DAIRI program was created in the 2019 legislative session to encourage enrollment in the Dairy Margin Coverage program. Lawmakers issued $8 million for the program. According to DAIRI grant supervisor Ashley Bress,1,550 farms were involved in the first round of DAIRI program payments. Altogether, $3.4 million in payments were issued, with checks ranging from $26 to $5,000. Bress says the second round of program payments are being issued to Minnesota dairy farmers. “One week ago we started to issue payments. We will issue about 180 checks.” Round two payments will total about $4.5 million. Learn more about the DAIRI program.
