Farm Bureau Priorities for Dairy Industry Reform

Speaker: John Newton, Chief Economist, American Farm Bureau Federation

The dairy industry is changing rapidly, from consolidation among dairy farmers, dairy cooperatives and dairy processors, to shifts in consumer preferences. How should federal dairy policy and milk pricing provisions be improved to keep pace with these changes? Following a multi-year debate among Farm Bureau dairy farmer members from across the country, farmer and rancher delegates convened at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 101st and 102nd Annual Conventions to adopt policies to guide the organization’s work to improve federal dairy policy and milk pricing provisions. This session will provide an overview of these recently-adopted policies.