The National Milk Producers Federation’s Board of Directors approved a suite of farm bill policy priorities covering the commodities, conservation, trade, and nutrition titles, working to enhance federal support for producers and expand access to nutritious dairy products for consumers at home and abroad.
NMPF’s board voted to support continuing the Dairy Margin Coverage safety net while updating the program’s production history calculation. The board also voted to prioritize improving the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy and Dairy-Revenue Protection programs should new funding become available.
The board voted to support maintaining robust funding for voluntary conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program that supports dairy farmers in their ongoing land and water resource management efforts.
In the Nutrition Title, NMPF’s board voted to support the enhancement of federal nutrition programs to provide nutritious dairy products to beneficiaries. NMPF will support policies that reflect dairy’s role as an excellent source of 13 essential nutrients, some of which are under-consumed, according to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
With the current farm bill set to expire Sept. 30, Congress is working to enact a new bipartisan five-year farm bill. Randy Mooney, chairman of NMPF’s board and a dairy farmer outside Rogersville, MO., said, “We stand ready to work with lawmakers as they craft this complex, extremely important legislation that touches everyone.”
NMPF news release
Source: KFGO
