Dairy farmers and cooperatives got off to a great start to 2026 in January.
But great times for dairy do not necessarily mean great times for individual dairy farmers. Supply and demand that is out of alignment means lower prices, lower margins and hardship for producers now. As the nation’s leading advocate for dairy farmers, we have already started conversations on Capitol Hill and with the White House on what can be done to help farmers continue producing the milk that fuels the nation.
We are optimistic that dairy advocates in the federal government understand what farmers are facing, and that meaningful assistance can be achieved. But politics remains, as they say, the “art of the possible.” We’re focusing on what policies will truly benefit producers and will be achievable in the short term, without falling into the trap of calling for nostrums that could have unintended consequences for producers and commodity markets.
Here are a few approaches we are advocating:
- Immediate, forceful support for whole milk in schools. We are incredibly encouraged by the administration’s embrace of whole milk in the Dietary Guidelines, which follows Congress’s unanimous support of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Now, the challenge is to get into school meals. That means quickly implementing the rules needed to introduce whole and 2% milk to menus and offering funding that will help schools cover any additional expense needed to make these healthy products available.
- As it did during the COVID-19 pandemic and at other times of dairy-industry turmoil, we are asking USDA to consider targeted purchases of dairy products to distribute to communities that need them. This is not a heavy lift, considering that USDA purchases of dairy under Section 32 commodity programs have declined in recent years. Simply returning butter purchases to 2021 levels, and cheese and fluid milk to 2024, would significantly reduce surpluses and boost dairy income, helping balance supply with demand.
- Bolstered support for federally supported risk management programs. Dairy farmers can help themselves by signing up for the DMC Program, which was improved in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. With updated production histories and a larger number of pounds covered, DMC is more attractive for farmers now than it was in the past; we encourage all dairy farmers to sign up for it (and potentially lock in a 25% discount on premiums) by the Feb. 26 deadline.
Still, DMC is just one part of the federally supported risk management system for dairy. Improving Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP) coverage with enhanced premium support is appropriate to consider under dairy’s current circumstances. Improvements to both DMC and DRP will ensure dairy producers of all sizes have adequate and affordable risk management tools.
- Disaster assistance. NMPF appreciates USDA’s announcement of $1 billion in September through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program to help offset increased supplemental feed costs due to floods or wildfires in 2023 and 2024. We encourage USDA to continue moving as quickly as possible to get this funding delivered to producers and to be mindful of opportunities to assist as other disaster-related needs become available.
The ideas above are by no means the only ways to assist dairy in a challenging moment, but they’re clear, they’re tangible, and we believe they are achievable, working with the team at USDA and our advocates in Congress. They go hand in hand with the work we do every day for dairy farmers, from pushing for vigilance on H5N1 and New World screwworm to support efforts to open markets and promote U.S. dairy products overseas.
We are not looking for extreme government intervention, which is neither necessary nor likely. But we do know — as support for whole milk and dairy in legislation and the Dietary Guidelines shows — that our federal government appreciates dairy farmers, and that there are tools that can effectively support markets in times of need. We look forward to working across the public and private sectors for solutions that benefit dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own. It’s what we do, in good times, in bad times, and in times when good and bad are both happening, in different ways, at once.
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