On July 18, delegates to the Republican National Convention adopted the official 2016 Platform of the party. The platform, which contains the party’s principles and policies, includes an entire section on agriculture, energy and the environment that specifically calls out the need to reform federal dairy policies. This marks the second time this month that a national organization has called for reforming the Federal Milk Marketing Order system.
On page 17, under the section titled “America’s Natural Resources: Agriculture, Energy and the Environment," the platform states:
“We must also ensure that domestic policies do not compromise our global competitiveness through overregulation and undue interference in the marketplace. There is growing recognition that federal dairy policies, crafted during the Great Depression, are increasingly impediments to the ability of our dairy producers to meet the expected doubling in global demand coming by 2030.”
“Here’s yet another voice in the policy world calling for reform of the Federal Milk Marketing Order system,” said J. David Carlin, IDFA senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy. “We’re happy that the 2016 Republican Platform recognizes that current dairy policy undercuts U.S. global competitiveness and includes language that calls for reforming dairy pricing policies.”
Earlier this month, the nonprofit group Citizens Against Government Waste released its annual report on ways to cut unnecessary and ineffective federal programs and outlined the need to reform federal agricultural programs, including dairy and sugar. According to the report, eliminating the Federal Milk Marketing Orders would result in a one-year savings of $1.1 billion and $5.7 billion in savings over five years.
For more information, contact Carlin at dcarlin@idfa.org.