A deal agreed by the US Congress last week will include measures to prevent a steep rise in milk prices.
"The dairy cliff" - a reference to the automatic tax increases and spending cuts of the "fiscal cliff" - has been averted after a nine month extension to milk subsidies set in 2008 was granted.
The extension will enable legislators to forge a five-year replacement and prevent a return to subsidies set at 1949 levels. A failure to retain subsidies could have resulted in milk prices doubling to $7 a gallon.
Congress has so far been unable to approve a five-year $500 billion successor to the 2008 Farm Bill.
