Over 80 dairy industry board members and young farmers visited Capitol Hill today to lobby approximately 100 congressional offices during their yearly advocacy event, pushing for action on agricultural workforce issues and the recent reappearance of New World screwworm in America.
The Capitol Hill meetings followed the organization’s June board gathering on Tuesday, which featured presentations from Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden and Ambassador Julie Callahan discussing the agricultural economy and international trade environment.
“We know what we need to do,” stated NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud before the advocacy event began. “We will push in every way we can to make things happen.”
Additional priorities that organization members promoted during their congressional visits included:
- Securing passage of a comprehensive farm bill through Congress by 2026
- Preserving availability of all milk varieties in school nutrition programs
- Advancing the DAIRY PRIDE Act to protect milk labeling standards
- Encouraging legislators to pressure the administration to enhance dairy protections during USMCA trade agreement renewal.
The organization also announced the addition of Ted Vander Schaaf from Northwest Dairy Association/Darigold as a new board member and welcomed Illinois Farm Bureau as a new associate member.
The Young Cooperators program coordinated the congressional outreach effort. The group also conducted committee sessions and hosted an Artificial Intelligence workshop for cooperative leaders. Organization leadership will continue their meetings throughout the week, focusing on animal health and welfare alongside other critical industry matters.
