Milk cooperatives like Edge are working with government officials to make sure their Wisconsin members get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, which has members in Door and Kewaunee Counties, is pushing for an upfront, $9 per hundredweight lump sum payment for their milk from the next three months to help provide immediate financial relief to dairy farmers. It would also provide payments for milk losses during the month of April based on March’s production. Brey Cycle Farm co-owner and Edge member Moriah Brey says the package is not just about helping dairy farmers through a tough time.

Brey says the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection are working with the Hunger Task Force to process milk for local food banks.