USDA is making $104 million available to organic dairy farmers to assist them with projected marketing costs in 2023.

The funding will help mitigate market volatility, higher input and transportation costs and an unstable feed supply that have created unique hardships in the organic dairy industry, USDA stated in a press release.

“Organic dairy producers have faced significant and unique increases in their marketing costs, compounded by increases in feed and transportation costs and the limited availability of organic grain and forage commodities,” Zach Ducheneaux, the Farm Service Agency administrator, said in the press release. “This program will keep our small organic dairies in operation as they continue to weather a combination of challenges outside of their control.”

FSA began accepting applications for ODMAP on May 24. Eligible producers include certified organic dairy operations that produce milk from cows, goats and sheep.

After weathering the pandemic, organic dairy producers are now dealing with the additional challenges of unprecedented shocks to global trade, which have dramatically cut the supply and increased the costs of organic feedstuffs, the Organic Trade Association said in a press release.

Data from Mercaris, a market research firm specializing in organic agriculture, shows the average price of feed for organic dairy cows jumped by nearly $200 per head from 2018 to 2022.

“We are pleased that USDA is moving forward with this much needed program. The need is real, and the need is now,” Tom Chapman, CEO of the OTA, said in a press release.

“Family farmers are the foundation of the organic dairy sector, and we are heartened that USDA has recognized the urgency to get the resources out to those in need,” he said.

OTA is also urging USDA to release more funds to ensure the full allocated amount reaches producers in need, pointing out that the assistance would amount to $30 million if every organic dairy farmer in the country applied for the assistance.

“With unprecedented organic feed costs and inflationary pressures over the last couple of years, resources like ODMAP are really going to matter as farmers plan for the rest of this year,” Adam Warthesen, cochairman of the OTA’s feedstuffs relief task force and senior director of government and industry affairs for Organic Valley, said in the press release.

FSA is accepting applications until July 24. To apply, producers should contact FSA at their local USDA Service Center.