Dairy Processors Urge Congress to Update Dairy Policy
US - Executives of five major dairy companies and the head of the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) testified today before congressional agriculture committees on the need to change current dairy policies, and announced the release of IDFA's 2007 Farm Bill proposals in a report titled, "Ensuring a Healthy U.S. Dairy Industry: A Blueprint for the 2007 Farm Bill."
25 April 2007
1 minute read
In tandem with its report, IDFA unveiled a new website, http://www.healthydairyindustry.org/, dedicated to providing information on the growing consensus to improve dairy policies.
The dairy executives stressed in their testimony today that now is the time for dairy policy reform. The five leaders testifying before the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Dairy, Poultry and Livestock were Mike Reidy (IDFA chairman), Leprino Foods Company, Denver, Colo.; William Ahlem, Hilmar Cheese Company, Hilmar, Calif.; Warren Erickson, Anderson Erickson Dairy Company, Des Moines, Iowa; John Hitchell, The Kroger Company, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Doug Wells, Wells' Dairy, Inc., Le Mars, Iowa.
Connie Tipton, IDFA president and CEO, testified before the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.
"The 2007 Farm Bill presents an unprecedented opportunity to reposition dairy policies to take advantage of growing global and domestic demand for U.S. dairy products," she told the committee.
Tipton emphasized that now is the time to transition away from the Dairy Price Support Program and Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program and to build a better safety net for the nation's dairy farmers.
Source: Web Services Journal
