Contact: Marti Pupillo
mpupillo@idfa.org
(202) 220-3535

Peggy Armstrong
parmstrong@idfa.org
(202) 220-3508

 (Washington, D.C. – January 2, 2013) Connie Tipton, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, issued the following statement on the farm bill extension and fiscal cliff agreement.

"The International Dairy Foods Association congratulates Congress and President Obama for reaching an agreement on how to address the important 'fiscal cliff' legislation. We appreciate that the bill includes provisions that will avoid the resurrection of dairy policies from more than 50 years ago. This agreement allows Congress time to fully and openly consider future reforms to our nation's dairy policies.

"Dairy manufacturers are an important segment of our nation's economy, and we are committed to working with Congress this year as formulation of the 2013 Farm Bill begins. The interdependence of this industry from farmer to consumer is critical, and our nation's dairy policies deserve to be updated and supported. We commend the bipartisan effort of Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and David Scott (D-GA) in proposing a margin insurance program – a safety net – for dairy farmers that does not impose new government rules and conditions on milk production. This approach has broad support from consumer and taxpayer groups, from farm organizations and from across the food manufacturing and retail industry."

# # #

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), headquartered in Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $110-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85% of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.