House Ag Committee Hears from Dairy Industry at Farm Bill Hearing

Tulare, California played host to the first House Agriculture Committee hearing on the 2023 Farm Bill. Of those who testified was Tony Lopes, a fourth-generation Gustine, California dairy producer, he testified on behalf of Dairy Farmers of America. He said the current Farm Bill has provided much-needed safety net programs, including a dairy margin coverage program and a dairy revenue protection program that worked well during the pandemic and supply chain issues. However, he requests that the 2023 Farm Bill provide a level playing field for dairy producers.

“Due to inflationary pressures constraints related to how much milk volume can be enrolled in butts in these programs, as well as regionally different cost structures and calculating the milk to feed margin within the DMC $9.50 is not the same as it was years ago. And it's different in every region and every shape and size of operator and we just asked to echo speaker McCarthy's words the opportunity to produce dairy on a level playing field with other regions across the country.”

Lopes says a DFA would also like the same price coverage protection as the livestock sector.

“Additionally, when we look at the dairy Revenue Protection Program, we ask that our industry be afforded the same opportunity as our friends in the livestock sector to protect at 100% Price coverage level similar to that of the livestock risk protection program.”

In addition, Lopes asked lawmakers to continue to prioritize both beef and dairy production in the nutrition assistance piece of the Farm Bill.