Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has voiced concern with the supply management provision included in the dairy title of the Farm Bill that passed yesterday in the Senate Agriculture Committee. He expressed hope that more reforms and refinements would be included when debate begins on the Senate floor as early as next week.

In his written statement submitted for the record after mark-up this week, Grassley said, “Another area of reform the committee has worked on over the last two years is in dairy policy. I understand current policies may not be providing the assistance needed. But after listening to many of my dairy farmers and processors in Iowa, I would also like to express concern with the proposal to put a supply management system in place. Similar to how we shouldn’t have crop farmers planting for government programs, we shouldn’t have policies that induce dairy farmers to artificially adjust production.”

• Read Grassley’s full statement here.  

For more information, contact Jerry Slominski, IDFA senior vice president of legislative and economic affairs, at jslominski@idfa.org.