Anti-‘Big Ag’ coalition pushes for passage of dairy reform bill

The National Family Farm Coalition is endorsing the Milk from Family Dairies Act, a new bill introduced by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) that aims to make important reforms to the U.S. dairy sector. To date, more than three dozen farm-related groups — including Farm Aid, Wisconsin Farmers Union, R-CALF, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, and many others — have joined NFFC in endorsing this bill. The Milk from Family Dairies Act is cosponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

The NFFC is an anti-corporate and anti-consolidation organization that says it helps independent farmers, ranchers, and fisher people to achieve fair prices and vibrant communities. It rejects the “get big or get out” model that it says has been overly pervasive for decades and generally pushes back against the use of biotech in the agricultural space.

The Milk from Family Dairies Act is intended to help stabilize the dairy market and ensure dairy farmers get a fair price for the milk they sell. Customers at the supermarket will benefit from a steady supply of reasonably priced dairy products, while rural economies will benefit from thriving local dairies and investments in regional infrastructure — all at a significant savings to taxpayers.

“Farm policy has shifted away from ensuring farmers a fair price to one that sees agribusiness profit as its sole driver. This is especially true for the dairy sector,” said Jim Goodman, co-president of the National Family Farm Coalition and a retired dairy farmer. “Farmers and their customers need a return to common-sense farm policy that stops the endless cycle of consolidation, low prices, and overreliance on export markets. The Milk from Family Dairies Act is the best dairy legislation we’ve had in many years, and we urge Congress to support this bill before we lose any more US dairy farms.”

“Vermont’s dairy farmers, organic and conventional alike, deserve a fair price for their milk and need a dairy industry that offers a viable future for the next generation,” said Maddie Kempner, Policy & Organizing Director of NOFA-VT. “The Milk from Family Dairies Act offers a pathway out from under corporate consolidation and oversupply and toward a fairer future for all dairy farmers.”

The Milk from Family Dairies Act includes the following key components:

• Price floors, based on scale of operation, that allow family-scale dairy farmers to cover their costs of production;
• Reducing volatility in the sector and better balancing the supply of dairy with domestic demand;
• Reducing the US dairy sector’s overreliance on export markets, a strategy which has largely failed small-scale producers;
• Gradually scaling down large-scale megadairies to help restore competition to the sector; and,
• Investment and incentives to rebuild regional dairy infrastructure.

The NFFC believes that the U.S. dairy sector is consolidating at an alarming rate, with fewer farms producing more milk than ever before and milk prices trapped in a slow but steady decline. There are now less than 24,000 U.S. dairy farms remaining, a 40 percent loss since 2017. Every farm closure means lost jobs, infrastructure, and rural heritage.

“It’s time for Congress to address the root causes of the dairy crisis and move on from the same band-aid solutions of subsidizing insurance schemes and expanding export markets,” the group said.

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