Revision: Jan. 11, 2010, midnight
CHAPTER 374
HB 407-FN-A – FINAL VERSION
27Mar2007… 0920h
27Mar2007… 0971h
11Apr2007… 1106h
05/10/07 1445s
05/31/07 1674s
27Jun2007… 2358eba
2007 SESSION
08/04
HOUSE BILL 407-FN-A
AN ACT relative to assistance for milk producers.
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
This bill establishes and makes an appropriation for the emergency dairy assistance program.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
27Mar2007… 0920h
27Mar2007… 0971h
11Apr2007… 1106h
05/10/07 1445s
05/31/07 1674s
27Jun2007… 2358eba
07-0058
08/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to assistance for milk producers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
374:1 New Chapter; Emergency Dairy Assistance Program. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 184-A the following new chapter:
CHAPTER 184-B
EMERGENCY DAIRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
184-B:1 Program Established. There is hereby established in the department of agriculture, markets, and food, the emergency dairy assistance program for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.
184-B:2 Program Administration.
I. In order to apply for the emergency dairy assistance program, a milk producer, as defined by RSA 184:79, IX, shall calculate his or her actual production of milk in hundredweight for November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, and February 2007. Assistance shall be calculated by multiplying a milk producer’s actual milk production times the difference between the average Suffolk county statistical uniform price (“Boston Blend”) for November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, and February 2007 and the base price of milk at $16.94 per hundredweight. Producers who were not in production in November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, and February 2007, but who were in production in the calendar year of 2006, and who wish to receive this interim assistance shall provide the commissioner verifiable production evidence by September 1, 2007 for the lowest actual 4 months’ milk production in 2006. For the purposes of this chapter, a milk producer, as defined in RSA 184:79, IX, who is receiving assistance shall not include governmental entities.
II. The milk producer shall apply to the commissioner of agriculture, markets, and food on forms provided by the commissioner for assistance by September 1, 2007 by reporting the average price. The commissioner may adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to the content and form of the application forms. In addition to reporting the average price, a producer applying for assistance shall provide the commissioner of the department of agriculture, markets, and food with 4 months’ worth of verifiable production evidence. Acceptable forms of verifiable production evidence include: milk marketing payment stubs, bulk tank records, milk handler records, and daily milk marketing records.
III. Assistance shall be distributed beginning July 15, 2007. Payment will be in the form of a check made out to the producer from the state of New Hampshire.
IV. The following milk is ineligible for calculation in a milk producer’s actual milk production for determination of assistance:
(a) Dumped milk that causes bulk load contamination for which a producer receives an insurance indemnity.
(b) Milk dumped on the farm by order of a department of agriculture, markets, and food or a department of health and human services official.
V. When applying for assistance, a milk producer shall sign an agreement to reimburse the department of agriculture, markets, and food for payments if the producer disperses the herd or reduces herd production by more than 50 percent by July 1, 2009. Funds collected by the department in the form of a reimbursement shall be deposited into the general fund.
184-B:3 Advisory Board.
I. There is hereby established for the duration of the program an emergency dairy assistance program advisory board. Such board shall manage appeals arising from RSA 184-B:4.
II. The board shall consist of the following:
(a) One member of the house of representatives who serves on the environment and agriculture committee, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
(b) One member of the senate who serves on the energy, environment, and economic development committee, appointed by the president of the senate.
(c) Three members of the public who are not milk producers or do not own a farm where milk is produced, appointed by the commissioner of the department of agriculture, markets, and food.
184-B:4 Appeals. The emergency dairy assistance program advisory board shall hear producer appeals. Appeals shall be based on unforeseen emergencies, contingencies, and extenuating circumstances.
184-B:5 Butterfat Content.
I. Producers with herds that produce milk with an average butterfat content of 4.0 percent or less shall receive assistance from the program as determined in RSA 184-B:2, I.
II. Producers with herds that produce milk with an average butterfat content between 4.01 percent and 4.5 percent shall receive assistance granted according to the formula in RSA 184-B:2, I, plus 10 percent.
III. Producers with herds that produce milk with an average butterfat content over 4.51 percent shall receive assistance granted according to the formula in RSA 184-B:2, I, plus an additional 20 percent.
374:2 Appropriation. The sum of $2,100,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, is hereby appropriated to the department of agriculture, markets, and food for the emergency dairy assistance program established in RSA 184-B:1. The governor shall draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Any moneys not expended by June 30, 2008 shall lapse into the general fund.
374:3 Price of Milk. Amend RSA 434:56 to read as follows:
434:56 Establishment of Minimum Producer Dairy Prices. The commissioner, after consulting with the agricultural advisory board, may establish by order an equitable minimum price to be paid to dairy producers for raw milk produced in New Hampshire on the basis of the use thereof in the various classes, grades and forms. The commissioner, after consulting with the agricultural advisory board, may from time to time make, amend or rescind an order if the commissioner finds that the federal milk marketing order covering New Hampshire is adequate or inadequate as the case may be to ensure a stable raw milk production and distribution system in the state. [In no case shall the commissioner establish by order a price greater than the average price established for comparable classes, grades and forms of raw milk in the contiguous states.]
374:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect June 30, 2007.
Approved: July 18, 2007
Effective: June 30, 2007