NMPF Praises Dairy Provisions in House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill
May 10, 2013
From Jerry Kozak, President and CEO, NMPF:
“The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is pleased that the Farm Bill unveiled today by the House Agriculture Committee contains dairy program reform provisions based on the Dairy Security Act (DSA). These are the same provisions that were included in last year’s bill that the committee approved. The DSA updates the badly frayed dairy safety net, and it enjoys strong support among dairy farmers nationwide.
“In addition to providing dairy farmers an effective safety net, the DSA is fiscally responsible. The alternative to the DSA, expected to be offered by Reps. Goodlatte and Scott, is unfortunately not fiscally responsible and could return us to the bad old days of huge price-depressing dairy surpluses. Goodlatte-Scott would guarantee cheap milk for processors while dulling market signals to farmers through margin insurance payments. If milk prices fall sharply or feed costs soar – both common occurrences in recent years – government costs of the dairy program could spiral out of control.
“The DSA provides the right combination of effective risk management for dairy farmers while minimizing program costs to the taxpayer. NMPF commends both Committee Chairman Frank D. Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Collin D. Peterson (D-MN) for their support of DSA over the last two years and looks forward to continuing to work with them to enact this crucial legislation in the months ahead.”
The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 30 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 32,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.
Download
