The House Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing Tuesday to review the state of the dairy economy. Andrei Mikhalevsky, CEO of California Dairies Inc. and an officer of IDFA’s executive council, testified on the importance of free and equitable trade to the health of the U.S. dairy industry and the American economy. He was one of five witnesses invited to present.

Mikhalevsky told committee members that a key to improving the short- and long-term outlook for U.S. dairy farmers is expanding the number of trade agreements that provide increased market access for U.S. dairy exports. IDFA provided support for Mikhalevsky’ s testimony, which specifically called for congressional approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a successful conclusion to U.S. trade negotiations with China and Japan, and expanded opportunities in other Asia-Pacific countries and the European Union.

“Andrei spoke for our IDFA members when he laid out a clear case to Congress on the importance of securing free, fair trade deals like USMCA to level the playing field for American dairy producers and processors,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA. “Nationwide, 16% of the U.S. milk supply goes to products for export, and those exports support hundreds of thousands of American jobs.”

California Dairies produces 700 million pounds of milk powder a year, and exports of milk powder account for 60% of the co-op’s total production.

“The U.S. must pursue a robust trade agenda that expands opportunities as well as preserves market access,” Mikhalevsky said in his prepared testimony.  

• Read his testimony here.

For more information, contact Dave Carlin, IDFA senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy, at dcarlin@idfa.org.