Government Relations:
‘Beautiful’ Bill Wins Mark Dairy Legislative Progress
September 3, 2025
- Obtained long-term dairy safety net and conservation funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Won funding and authorization for mandatory dairy processing cost surveys
- Advocated successfully for permanent Section 199A tax deduction for farmers and cooperatives
- Elevated dairy’s unique ag labor needs amidst political uncertainty
NMPF worked tirelessly this year to secure success for dairy farmers and their cooperatives in the 2025 budget reconciliation package, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The package’s enactment into law by President Trump on July 4 also included the first new farm bill spending since 2018. The dairy industry welcomed provisions within the legislation that provide certainty to producers and their cooperatives.
New investments include a reauthorized Dairy Margin Coverage program through 2031 that updates the program’s production history calculation. NMPF also lauded dedicated funding for USDA to conduct mandatory processing plant cost surveys every two years and report the results to dairy stakeholders, a key part of its Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization planning that required congressional action outside USDA’s new order implemented in June. These cost studies will inform future milk pricing conversations by giving all stakeholders uniform, transparent pricing information.
The congressional spending legislation also reinvested the remaining Inflation Reduction Act conservation dollars into the Farm Bill baseline, an NMPF-backed policy that will make more funds available for dairy farmers and their cooperatives to use conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. NMPF celebrated an adjusted gross income (AGI) waiver that allows producers whose AGI is over $900,000 to use conservation programs as long as 75% or more of their income comes from farming, ranching, or forestry-related activities. Finally, the package included new trade promotion funding based on current programs that return well over $20 in export revenue for every dollar invested in the programs.
NMPF also succeeded in making the Section 199A tax deduction permanent, enabling dairy farmer-owned cooperatives to continue either passing the deduction back to their farmer owners or reinvesting it in their cooperatives. A permanent Section 199A helps farmer cooperatives stay competitive in today’s marketplace.
Beyond the tax and spending law, work continues toward another longtime priority: ag labor reform that gives dairy farmers access to the H-2A visa program and provides stability for current dairy farm workers and their families.
This year, the Trump Administration has prioritized immigration enforcement while key officials, including President Trump himself as well as Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, have stated the need to address agriculture’s workforce needs. NMPF has met with key individuals at the White House, USDA, and the Department of Labor to highlight the dire workforce uncertainty facing America’s dairies and responding to Beltway misconceptions about farm labor. Paired with dozens of meetings with members of Congress, NMPF continues to build momentum to bring relief to farmers on ag labor as soon as possible.
Many members of Congress have advanced NMPF’s message on ag labor. Members of both parties signaled their desire to work with the Trump Administration on this topic at a House Agriculture Committee hearing with Secretary Rollins in June. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. GT Thompson, R-PA, made a compelling case regarding the importance of current farm workers. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, carried a message directly from NMPF’s June Board Meeting and emphasized dairy farmers’ anxieties surrounding the current workforce situation.
NMPF will continue to push for progress on ag labor and other priorities in the 119th Congress for the betterment and prosperity of dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own.
