Welcome to the 118th Congress!
We're grateful you've taken the time to learn about the dairy industry, its impact on your state or district, and how you can champion policies that support our growing industry. The International Dairy Foods Association hopes to serve as a valuable and resourceful partner as you navigate the complexities of food and agriculture policy.
On this page, you can:
IDFA represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports 3.3 million jobs that generate $42 billion in direct wages and $753 billion in overall economic impact. Here's a look at how the dairy industry benefits your state or district economically:
IDFA’s diverse membership ranges from multinational organizations to single-plant companies, from dairy companies and cooperatives to food retailers and suppliers, all on the cutting edge of innovation and sustainable business practices. Watch the short video below to learn more about our organization, find out what IDFA members are in your state or district, and browse IDFA priorities for the 118th Congress below. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of the members of our legislative affairs team with any questions or to schedule a meeting to learn more about our growing and vibrant industry.
We support strengthening incentives to encourage SNAP families to purchase more healthy milk, cheese and yogurt. We also support preserving meaningful access to risk management tools that help dairy foods companies and farmers address price fluctuations.
According to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, milk and dairy products are under-consumed by 90% of our citizens. We support expanding milk options in schools and preserving the dairy allotment in the WIC program to ensure that all Americans have access to the 13 essential nutrients that dairy provides.
We support increased funding for the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives Projects which provides dollar-for-dollar incentives to encourage greater consumption of healthy dairy products in SNAP households.
We support legislation to modernize and streamline the rail supply chain, as well as programs to address ongoing truck driver shortages. Congress should also ensure that the Ocean Shipping Reform Act is implemented appropriately.
We support immigration reform to assure an adequate legal labor supply for dairy producers and processors.
We support the continuation of voluntary, incentive-based sustainability practices throughout the dairy supply chain, as well as the establishment of fair and consistent GHG data collection and accounting practices that reward and recognize GHG reductions within food and agricultural supply chains while still allowing voluntary offset markets to function.
U.S. dairy’s global competitiveness will suffer without new tariff-reducing trade agreements. We support passage of Trade Promotion Authority as well as a stronger Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and more ambitious agreement enforcement, starting with Canada’s commitments under USMCA.
President & CEO
Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs and Economic Policy
Senior Vice President, Trade and Workforce Policy
Vice President, Legislative Affairs
Senior Director, Legislative Affairs
Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Chief of Staff
IDFA is happy to help organize tours at our members' facilities. If you are interested in arranging a tour, please contact Colin Newman, Chief of Staff at cnewman@idfa.org.
