Between the development of the 2023 Farm Bill and the process for reforming the Federal Milk Marketing Orders, the dairy industry has a lot to keep tabs on. Jeff Lyon is the general manager of FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative which has more than 3,200 members across seven states in the Midwest. He was in Washington D.C. this week as a member of the National Milk Producers Federation board.
Part of the discussion centered around dairy protections in the 2023 Farm Bill. Lyon says there’s little opposition in Congress to the Dairy Margin Coverage program, but they’re working to improve DMC to make it even more beneficial for dairy farmers.
“A part of it we’re looking at is updating production history for farmers… and also looking at the Tier 1 coverage, which now goes to 5 million pounds of production, if we could make that higher,” Lyon says.
He notes that the determining factor is ultimately how much money will be available for these tweaks. Those are discussions happening now among federal lawmakers.
He adds debates over food assistance requirements may delay the publishing of the legislation. He reminds listeners that nutrition assistance is a key portion of the Farm Bill, taking up more than 85 percent of the total bill and making sure all of Congress stays engaged.
With regard to Federal Milk Marketing Orders, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has announced a FMMO modernization rulemaking action plan that may include a hearing start date of Aug. 23. According to NMPF, the next phase of creating a federal order system that better reflects today’s market conditions begins with an informational hearing June 16. The organization says if the entire process goes smoothly, an updated FMMO system could be actively benefiting farmers in late 2024.
See the NMPF’s release: https://www.nmpf.org/nmpf-eager-for-next-steps-in-milk-marketing-modernization-with-usda-action-plan-2/
“It frustrates people because it is a long, drawn out process, but there’s a reason to that to make sure you get things right and you hear all points of view because in the end, when you make the changes to it, it’s dairy farmers that vote on changes to federal orders,” Lyon explains.
In other news, stand alone legislation is also on the table as FarmFirst supports DAIRY PRIDE — a bill that ensures plant-based dairy alternatives are not labeled as milk.
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