§436. Grants for technical assistance and research

The commissioner may use all or a portion of the accrued interest in the cash balance of the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund and interest all or a portion of loan repayments, up to a maximum of $250,000 per year, for grants for technical assistance and the agricultural development grant program in chapter 10. The commissioner may expend grant dollars designated to an applicant in one fiscal year during the following fiscal year.

Sec. 2. 7 MRSA §3153-A is enacted to read:

§3153-A.__Dairy stabilization subsidy

If the base price of milk falls below $16.94 per hundredweight in any month beginning September 1, 2003 and ending December 31, 2003, the administrator of the Maine Milk Pool shall distribute to Maine milk producers on a per hundredweight basis 55% of the difference between $16.94 per hundredweight and the base price of milk per hundredweight.__The amount distributed for milk produced during the period between September 1, 2003 and December 31, 2003 may not exceed $3,000,000.__The Governor shall provide these funds to the Maine milk pool administrator for distribution to Maine milk producers, as provided for in this section, during the months of October 2003 to January 2004.__The base price of milk is the Suffolk County, Massachusetts Class I price of milk as determined for each month by the Northeast Market Administrator of the United States Department of Agriculture. The Governor shall seek a General Fund appropriation during the Second Regular Session of the 121st Legislature if needed for the purposes of this section.

Sec. 3. 10 MRSA §1023-J, as amended by PL 2001, c. 471, Pt. A, §12, is further amended to read:

§1023-J. Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund

The Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund, referred to in this section as the "fund," is created. The fund must be deposited with and maintained by the Finance Authority of Maine. The fund must be administered by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources in accordance with Title 7, chapter 101, subchapter I-D 1-D. All money received by the Finance Authority of Maine from any source for the development and implementation of an improved agricultural marketing loan program must be credited to the fund. Any money credited to the fund from the