Editor’s Note: This column is adapted from remarks given Nov. 11 at NMPF’s Annual Meeting.
I love where we are in this industry right now. We are right where we want to be.
Yes, there are going to be challenges. Yes, there’s going to be uncertainty. But we’re in expansion mode. And I love it.
What I want the theme to be today, in our industry, is growth and expansion and opportunity and optimism. I understand that that’s tough to do when you’re in Washington DC these days. It’s a tough place to do business. It’s a tough place to get anything done.
But the relationships that the National Milk Producers Federation has are unbelievably strong. Whether it’s Senator Thune or Chairman GT Thompson, up one side and down the other. The unbelievable work, unbelievable work that has gone in on getting whole milk in schools, by Senator Roger Marshall from Kansas, and Senator Welch from Vermont. Bipartisan work.
I want to give you a quick status on whole milk in schools, and where we are. We’re so close on this one, and this is a huge thing. Not just for U.S. consumers, and for all of us who have kids in school, but it’s just doing the right thing.
Meanwhile, the One Big Beautiful tax bill is a monumental accomplishment in terms of our global competitiveness. I know the tariffs are disruptive, but that’s a small piece of what amounts to a U.S. industrial policy. We have a tax policy that I think makes us really competitive globally — and not only does that help us on the farm in terms of confidence and investment, but the bill holds other benefits as well: the Section 199A depreciation, the estate tax, the increase in the reference prices for soybeans and wheat, the extension of DMC through 2031 — all were in that bill, folks. That was a critical piece that we got done.
In terms of global competitiveness, we also have to continue with trade deals. USTR is working day and night. These deals are going to matter. We’ve got deals done with Malaysia and Cambodia. And you say, “Well, my goodness, is that a really big deal?” Yes, because these deals got rid of barriers, we got rid of restrictions. We’ve got some really good trade agreements coming, too, in terms of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. If you’ve noticed, and think about where the president was recently in those countries, those are all the countries that border China, folks. And that’s the really interesting thing: In terms of strategy, the president said, “Well, I’m going to make sure that I go visit all these countries first, before I talk to President Xi in China.” That’s not by coincidence.
Having the opportunity to have duty-free access into Southeast Asia is something that we have wanted across all of agriculture, and in particular in the dairy industry, for a long, long time. That’s going to make a huge difference for us.
Along with these opportunities, we also have some of the best leaders in this industry. Our new NEXT program is an exciting part of our trade future, and the implementation and the federal milk marketing order has been really, really smooth so far. The ability for you to be unanimous in what you wanted as an industry, as you presented this to the government, made all the difference.
As a former government official, I can tell you, when you’re not unanimous, that gives that government official the ability to kind of pick and choose what they want to do. When you come in and say, “This is unanimous, this is what we want to do,” you’ve got no wiggle room as the government official. You’ve got to implement this. And that’s why you were so successful in this.
I want to talk briefly about 2026. At NMPF we have done some strategic planning, and we’ve got some work to do on government, governance, leadership development. The YC program is an unbelievable asset for us in this industry. Thank you all for participating in that. But one of the things we’re going to change at National Milk as soon as this meeting is over is, we’re going to try to have a new lease on life on state issues. You’ve got somewhere between 150 and 200 different pieces of state legislation in the food business right now, and in agriculture. We’re going to try to tackle this, not to lobby on these issues, but just to keep track of what we have going on and to be able to coordinate.
On the trade side, we’ve got the USMCA review. We’re constantly dealing with China. We’ve got a farm bill to finish, and then of course, we have a midterm election here coming this fall. And a challenge to 2026 is, you’re going to have your folks that represent you at home say, “Well, we’ll get to that after the midterm election.”
Well, this immigration issue can’t wait for that, folks. It is without question our number one issue in dairy, but across all of agriculture, in my opinion. And I think, to give you the charge today on all of this, I think we need to remind our elected officials that we’ve got to milk the cows every day. We have to do what we do every day. We don’t have time to wait for the inconvenience of an election to get things done in Washington.
So your charge today is this: We are expanding, we are growing, we are doing well. We have great relationships, and we look forward to the year we have ahead. I’m optimistic.
Gregg Doud
President & CEO, NMPF
