Morris Represents Dairy at Congressional Briefing; Saffran Co-Hosts Thought Leaders
August 1, 2024
NMPF Executive Vice President for Trade & Global Affairs Shawna Morris represented NMPF at a House Agricultural Trade Caucus briefing for Congressional staff on July 22, underscoring the critical role of trade for U.S. dairy and agriculture. She was joined by representatives from the American Soybean Association, the North American Blueberry Council, and the National Grain and Feed Association.
The event drew over 60 congressional staff in the inaugural briefing for the caucus, which NMPF helped launch in January.
Morris emphasized the benefits of market-opening trade agreements for the U.S. dairy industry and called for more proactive congressional engagement in trade policy, highlighting the growing tariff disadvantages faced by U.S. dairy exporters as the European Union and New Zealand continue to pursue agreements advantageous to their exporters. She also touched on examples of the various trade agreement compliance and non-tariff barrier challenges the U.S. dairy industry is facing around the world.
This session marked the first in a series to be hosted on educating congressional staff on agricultural trade policy issues. And the event was one of several highlights of NMPF staff outreach in July.
Sage Saffran, NMPF’s manager for sustainability initiatives co-hosted a session at Midwest Dairy’s Sustainability Thought Leader Symposium in Rosemont, IL on July 30 with Suzanne Vold, owner of Dorrich Dairy near Glenwood, MN. The session detailed the FARM Program’s five program areas, highlighting the standardization of greenhouse gas emission measurement through the FARM Environmental Stewardship tool.
Beverly Hampton-Phifer, NMPF’s senior director of animal care, spoke with The Center for Dairy Excellence on July 12 during its monthly “Protecting Your Profits” webinar to share an overview of the FARM Program and explain how FARM serves dairy farmers.
Hampton-Phifer also discussed Animal Care Version 5 updates that launched July 1, in addition to sharing how adhering to FARM guidelines can effectively mitigate risk for dairy producers.
