At the request of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, IDFA held a briefing yesterday on Capitol Hill to present its recommendations for reforming U.S. dairy policy. Legislative assistants to the senators, including Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-KS), attended the briefing to learn the processors' point of view before beginning the job of crafting the 2012 Farm Bill.

IDFA's legislative team briefed the attendees on IDFA's positions regarding dairy policy, specifically outlining IDFA's opposition to the National Milk Producers Federation's Foundation for the Future proposal. IDFA opposes the proposal because it would limit exports, hinder U.S. industry growth and cost the nation jobs, potentially in the thousands. In addition, the proposal would not reduce the complexities 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, Julia Kadison, vice president of marketing for the Milk Processor Education Program, gave a short presentation detailing MilkPEP's current efforts to promote milk consumption. She also shared a variety of MilkPEP's Milk Mustache print ads.

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