iPolitics By Kelsey Johnson. Published on Apr 9, 2021 11:09am Good day and welcome to the Sprout, where it’s National Chinese Almond Cookie Day and National Gin and Tonic Day. The weekend brings us National Cinnamon Crescent Day (April 10) and National Cheese Fondue Day (April 11). We’ll skip the cheese fondue. Now, here’s today’s agriculture news. The Lead The second round of payments under the Dairy Direct Payment Program, which aims to compensate dairy farmers for lost market share due to international trade deals, will be complete by the end of April. As Real Agriculture reports, the latest round of payments brings the total number of dairy farmers registered under the program to 9,682.