New funding announced on Monday from the Department of Agriculture will help dairy producers affected by natural disasters.

The Milk Loss Program administered by the Farm Service Agency will compensate eligible dairy farms and processors for milk dumped due to qualifying disaster events from 2020 to 2022. Eligible disasters include droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms and smoke exposure. The Milk Loss Program will help farmers and, in certain cases, cooperatives, recover losses previously overlooked by disaster assistance.

The National Milk Producers Federation applauded the announcement. “We’re very appreciative of USDA’s diligent work over several months to finalize the compensation plan that will address this backlog of disaster assistance,” said NMPF president and CEO Jim Mulhern.

Dairy farmers and cooperatives can sign up for the program through October 16, 2023.