Accepting an invitation to speak, IDFA went to Capitol Hill last Thursday to brief staff members of the U.S. House of Representatives Dairy Farmers Caucus on dairy policy. The caucus is a bipartisan group comprised of 97 House members from across the country.

The co-chairs of the caucus are Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Thomas Petri (D-WI), Timothy Walz (D-MN) and Peter Welch (D-VT).

IDFA's legislative team briefed the attendees on IDFA's positions on dairy policy issues, specifically outlining IDFA's opposition to the National Milk Producers Federation's Foundation for the Future because it relies upon a new mandatory government program to limit milk supplies and fails to reduce the complexity of the Federal Milk Marketing Order system. After the presentation, the IDFA team answered questions and distributed supplemental material.

Representing IDFA were Jerry Slominski, senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy; Ruth Saunders, vice president of policy and legislative affairs; and Chelsee Woodey, director of legislative affairs.

Before IDFA's presentation, Julie Buric, vice president of marketing for the Milk Processor Education Program, gave a short presentation detailing MilkPEP's current efforts to promote milk consumption. Briefing attendees also got an exclusive look at MilkPEP's upcoming advertisements for the summer.

For more information, contact Saunders at rsaunders@idfa.org or (202) 220-3553.