NMPF Executive Vice President, Policy Development & Strategy Jaime Castaneda shares with Dairy Radio Now listeners how NMPF has been working with the Trump administration on pressing trade issues and immigration, and how NMPF advocates for U.S. dairy.
Tag: ag labor
‘Beautiful’ Bill Wins Mark Dairy Legislative Progress
- 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.
Why Agricultural Labor Reform Is Essential for U.S. Dairy
NMPF Looks Ahead After Securing Farm, Tax Policy Wins
NMPF is building momentum on other major policy areas now that significant tax and agriculture legislation has passed Congress, with a focus on whole milk and farm workforce needs.
The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act has a chance for Senate floor action, having already passed through the Senate Agriculture Committee. The bill would provide schools with the option of serving whole and 2% milk in addition to the 1%, fat-free, and flavored options currently offered. Whole and 2% milk are the most consumed varieties at home and offer the same 13 essential nutrients, including protein, calcium and vitamin D, as lower-fat varieties.
Sens. Roger Marshall, R-KS, and Peter Welch, D-VT, the bill’s lead Senate sponsors, are working to pass the measure in the Senate by unanimous consent, a maneuver that saves time and heads off potentially problematic amendments. House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson, R-PA, and Representative Kim Schrier, D-WA, are leading the bill in the House and are working to coordinate quick passage once it moves from the Senate to the House.
NMPF also continues to urge Congress to pass legislation that meets dairy’s unique agricultural workforce needs, an increasingly pressing challenge given stepped-up deportation activity.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. GT Thompson, R-PA, is developing legislation based on last year’s House Agriculture Labor Working Group report, which recommended improving dairy’s access to the H-2A ag visa program. NMPF is also seeking stabilization for current dairy farm workers and their families, potentially in line with President Trump’s recent comments recognizing the importance of farm workers to the work producers do to feed the country and care for their animals.
NMPF has also stepped up its public and member communication on agricultural labor. NMPF hosted a members-only webinar offering guidance to farmers on immigration law on July 22. Meanwhile, Chief Veterinary Officer Meggan Hain had an opinion article on the importance of a stable foreign-born work force to animal welfare that was published in the USA Today Network wire service on July 24.
Finally, Congress is likely to turn its attention to passing a slimmed-down “Farm Bill 2.0” – items not included in the provisions of the tax legislation that included agriculture, including many programs traditionally handled in farm bills. The legislation will provide an opportunity to advance NMPF policy priorities that were unable to be included in the recent budget package, such as the bipartisan, bicameral SAFETY Act to direct USDA to partner with the U.S. Trade Representative to prioritize the protection of common food names like “parmesan” and “bologna” in international trade negotiations.
A slimmed-down bill will build on the dairy policy wins in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed July 4, which included:
- Renewing the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program through 2031; updating DMC’s production history calculation to be based on the highest production year of 2021, 2022, or 2023; and extending the ability for producers to receive a 25% premium discount for locking in their coverage for the duration of the bill;
- Providing mandatory funding for USDA to conduct mandatory dairy processing cost surveys every two years to provide better data to inform future make allowance conversations;
- Boosting the farm bill conservation baseline, resulting in increased long-term funding for popular, oversubscribed programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program;
- Providing new trade promotion funding based on current programs that return well over $20 in export revenue for every dollar invested in the programs; and
- Increasing funding for animal health programs that help to prevent, control, and eradicate animal diseases, such as the outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cattle.
The legislation also included several tax policy priorities for dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own.
- The bill made permanent the Section 199A deduction, enabling dairy farmer-owned cooperatives to continue either passing the deduction back to their farmer owners or reinvesting it in their cooperatives.
- It also extended the Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit through 2029 to support the production of low-carbon transportation fuels. The bill strengthens the credit by allowing the Treasury Department to establish specific emissions rates for fuels derived from dairy manure, with the goal of unlocking new revenue streams for dairy farmers who invest in methane digesters that reduce emissions.
Flurry of Ag Labor Reform Work Closes Out Congress
NMPF joined with other agricultural organizations and farmworker groups in one final concerted effort in December to enact agricultural labor reform by the end of 2022, an effort that ultimately stalled but may create a framework for future progress.
Since March 2021, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) had been working to negotiate a bipartisan agreement for a Senate ag labor reform bill that would build upon and improve the House-passed Farm Workforce Modernization Act. The two Senators had made progress toward a bipartisan compromise bill by December – an effort supported in a letter signed by more than 350 ag organizations sent Dec. 6 – but were unable to resolve all issues needed to introduce a bipartisan measure.
From those discussions, Senator Bennet used the points of agreement he had come to with Senator Crapo as the starting point for a Bennet-only ag labor reform bill. That bill, the Affordable and Secure Food Act, gained NMPF’s support by addressing dairy’s two overarching workforce needs – providing protection for current workers and their families, and providing dairy access to the H-2A program – in spite of other weaknesses in the bill, such as its cap on the number of year-round worker visas.
NMPF participated in Sen. Bennet’s press conference announcing the bill’s introduction Dec. 15, and NMPF’s Claudia Larson joined a panel discussion broadcast by Agri-Pulse which focused on ag labor reform and the Affordable and Secure Food Act. In addition to NMPF-targeted outreach to numerous Senate Republican offices, NMPF also continued working with the Agricultural Workforce Coalition – an umbrella organization representing farm groups – to send a clear message to Senate leadership that ag-labor reform is urgent and necessary.
Those efforts fell short. Ultimately, Sen. Bennet’s measure was not included in the government spending bill to which it needed to be attached so it could receive a Congressional vote in 2022. However, the reform efforts and public pressure built in the 117th Congress have left a nationwide impression on the urgent need for ag labor reform. These efforts have laid an important foundation for future work in DC, and NMPF will continue leading the charge to ensure dairy’s needs are represented in any future reforms.
Dairy Farmers Spotlight Ag Labor Reform Needs in Roundtable with Vilsack, Delgado
Dairy farmers are urging the government to address dairy’s acute labor shortages — and the need for the U.S. Senate to craft a counterpart to the House-passed bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act – in meetings today with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY), culminating in a roundtable discussion at SUNY-Cobleskill in Cobleskill, New York.
Vilsack and Delgado will talk with farmers and farmworkers to address the unworkability of current farm-labor policies. Dairy faces special challenges as a year-round, around-the-clock agricultural sector because the current rules of the H-2A guestworker visa program limits its use to only the temporary and seasonal labor needs of agricultural employers.
“Unfortunately, the Department of Labor hasn’t made available the current H-2A program for a commodity that ‘harvests’ its product multiple times a day, every day,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation in a statement before the event. “We commend USDA and Rep. Delgado for supporting ag labor reform legislation and organizing this important discussion.”
NMPF supports the Farm Workforce Modernization Act as a vehicle for additional policy improvements and to prod Senate legislation that can be reconciled into a final bill that can pass both houses of Congress. Delgado was an early cosponsor of the legislation, which passed the House of Representatives by a solid bipartisan margin in 2019 and again in March. To build momentum for a solution, Vilsack hosted a bipartisan roundtable last month with key Senate negotiators and agricultural stakeholders, including NMPF.
“Without Senate action, the hard-won progress lawmakers have made on ag-labor issues won’t bring the solutions farmers need,” he said. “We need this conversation to turn into action in congressional corridors so that farmers and farmworkers can benefit from a workable labor system.”
NMPF Builds Momentum for Ag Labor Reform
As a leader in ag labor reform, NMPF has been working with members of Congress and others on a bipartisan effort to enact legislation this year addressing dairy’s workforce challenges.
After helping secure House passage of the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act in March, NMPF has shifted focus to improving the bill in the Senate, with the goal of ultimately advancing legislation to the President’s desk. NMPF also has been working to build support for ag labor reform more broadly throughout the Senate, looking to increase congressional urgency. NMPF took part in two key momentum-building efforts this past month.
NMPF first worked with colleagues in the Agriculture Workforce Coalition steering committee to bring together nearly 300 groups to call on Senate Leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to take up ag labor reform in the Senate. The message noted how American agriculture’s workforce crisis has only intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the urgent need for Senate action. It also highlighted specific, longstanding problems with the H-2A agricultural guestworker visa program to be addressed in a Senate measure, including the need to grant dairy farmers and other year-round producers access to guestworkers. The coalition followed up its June 8 letter to leadership but sharing it with all Senate offices, helping to ensure agriculture’s dire need for ag labor reform is understood across the entire chamber.
NMPF, other agricultural organizations, and farmworker groups on June 16 met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) for an ag labor reform roundtable. During the forum, stakeholders underscored the need for Senate action on its answer to the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and both senators reiterated their commitment to introduce a measure that builds and improves upon the House legislation. Vilsack also pledged to prioritize ag workforce reform within the Biden Administration.
