The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has released a statement that they are generally pleased with the outcome of last week’s discussion by the House Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee about what to include in the 2007 Farm Bill.
“The new Farm Bill took its first baby steps today, but it has a long way to go before it can run,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “We appreciate the hard work that Subcommittee Chairman Leonard Boswell (D-IA) and his colleagues have invested in this process, and we will continue to work with them and others on the Agriculture Committee as the bill continues its progress.”
The subcommittee included as the primary dairy producer safety net a major revision of the dairy price support program, one that NMPF had suggested to the committee earlier this spring. The panel also included other provisions supported by NMPF, including a reauthorization of the Dairy Export Incentive Program, language requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to account for its inventory reporting procedures on nonfat dry milk, and provisions that requiring the USDA to expedite the hearing process for making changes in Federal Milk Marketing Orders.
In addition, NMPF’s efforts to include a direct payment program for farmers in this Farm Bill received strong support today from Boswell and others members of the Subcommittee, such as Reps. Kagen and Gillibrand, who discussed the need for a farmer payment program, and pledged to work to secure a funding baseline for it.