The Wisconsin Dairy Task Force 2.0 will begin meeting in August. The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation has reviewed the make-up of the selected committee, and provided some suggestions on direction the committee might go.
The following statement can be attributed to Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation President Jim Holte.
“Wisconsin Farm Bureau is proud to have multiple members serving on the newly-appointed Wisconsin Dairy Task Force 2.0. This group of 31 dairy farmers, milk processors and allied organizations will have a challenge in front of them as they look for some solutions to help the $43.4 billion dairy industry in our state.
WFBF would like to see the Dairy Task Force 2.0 discuss topics such as milk contracts, milk movement and milk research.
For months WFBF has been working on dairy concerns and we are happy that there is now a formalized effort with multiple stakeholders.
Other formalized efforts from WFBF on dairy include advocating for additional reforms to risk management programs for dairy farmers that were included in the February Congressional Disaster Package as well as both versions of the farm bill. We will continue to work through these changes while the farm bill is in conference.
Dairy-focused meetings were held both at the local level by county Farm Bureaus and state level by WFBF. Meetings included information on the status of the dairy industry and discussions on current WFBF policy.
Recently, WFBF organized a letter that was sent to the FDA in partnership with 36 other groups, making it clear we are not pleased with the lack of action on imitation dairy product labeling. We were pleased with FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s comments yesterday, explaining that his agency will soon start a formal process to redefine the rules for milk products.
WFBF also continues to look for ways to get nutritious dairy products into schools.
We will continue to address the concerns of our dairy members and hope the Dairy Task Force 2.0 can help amplify our efforts and craft a solid action plan to provide some guidance to the state’s strong dairy community.”
