Washington, D.C. – The International Dairy Foods Association issued the following statement by Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO, regarding House and Senate letters sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue urging timely implementation of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 dairy provisions. The House letter, led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Congressman G.T. Thompson (R-PA) was signed by over 70 members of the House, while the Senate letter, led by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) was signed by 37 senators.
“U.S. dairy processors are very pleased with the dairy provisions in this new farm bill. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) not only represented a historic collaboration between the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), but it also provides processors and producers with new and improved risk management tools to better manage the current market instability and uncertainty.
“IDFA is thankful to each and every member of the House and Senate who signed these letters urging timely implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill’s dairy provisions, and IDFA is appreciative of the work USDA has already done to extend the Dairy Forward Pricing Program and implement the new update to the Class I pricing formula. We encourage USDA to prioritize the implementation of the new Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program and support initiation of the SNAP Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive Project program.”
“With bipartisan support in Congress and the Administration, I am confident that dairy has a bright future ahead.”
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports nearly 3 million jobs that generate more than $161 billion in wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $628 billion. IDFA members range from multinational organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent approximately 90 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world. The diverse membership includes numerous food retailers, suppliers, cooperatives and companies that offer a wide variety of nutritional dairy products and dairy-derived ingredients.
