Milk Producers Council in Washington D.C.

I spent the last couple of days in Washington, D.C. for the NMPF State Dairy Association Summit. MPC has been a trade group member of NMPF for many years, and it’s been a great partnership to work on issues that affect our dairy families in California. A lot of ground was covered during the

meeting on topics such as the Farm Bill, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, bird flu, milk production trends and market impacts, nutrition and labeling, trade, and labor. One statistic from the meeting that had me leaving feeling positive about the future of dairy farmer is the fact that more than $10 billion in new processing capacity investments will have been made across the U.S. from 2023 to 2027. Notably, some of that investment is being made in the Central Valley by California Dairies, Inc., Valley Milk, LLC, and Saputo.

In addition to the NMPF meeting, I had a chance to connect with our legislative leaders and their staff members on Capitol Hill about dairy-related issues. Thank you to Congressional Members David Valadao, Jim Costa, Vince Fong, Adam Gray, and Josh Harder for the opportunity to share information with your office about issues our California dairy families are facing.

In addition to the usual issues we discuss, such as labor, trade, and water, I took this opportunity to highlight a couple of timely issues with our legislative partners, including proposed cuts to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)and changes to the Endangered Species Act.

On May 2, the Trump Administration released its fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations, which included a proposed $754 million cut to the USDA NRCS’ Private Lands Conservation Operations. This would effectively eliminate funding for conservation technical assistance—a critical service that helps farmers and ranchers voluntarily improve soil health, water quality, and productivity on working lands. I made the point that there are many advantages to offering planning assistance on a

voluntary basis, however the Trump Administration’s budget proposes to eliminate a significant portion of this assistance and instead rely on local and state governments to provide the service. Shifting responsibility to state and local governments undermines the reliability, consistency, and availability of these services to our farmers and ranchers. We believe that continued federal investment ensures that they have access to trusted, qualified advisors who understand both the science of conservation and the realities of production agriculture. These relationships are built on years of collaboration and trust—and cannot be quickly or easily replaced.

As Geoff Vanden Heuvel noted in his April 25 article, the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration submitted a formal proposal to update the definition of “harm” in the federal Endangered Species Act. MPC partnered with the Family Farm Alliance to develop a one-page issue brief about this important update for our Congressional members. In it, we noted that in administering the ESA, the government should be required to clearly identify actual harm to species where they are found, not some vague, attenuated potential impact, or overall change in ecological condition. We also recommended that the government should make clear that “harm” requires a showing of objectively discernible, negative physical impact to one or more identified members of a species. We strongly support the proposed rule to restore common sense and

bring federal executive branch implementation of the Endangered Species Act more in line with the law and Congressional intent. MPC and the Family Farm Alliance will continue to work together on this issue by leading the development of a coalition comment letter signed by organizations representing famers and ranchers, businesses, communities, and local and regional public water agencies that supply municipal water to millions of western urban, suburban, and rural residents.

While in our nation’s capital, I also got to attend an annual soccer match where members of Congress take the field in support of local youth programs. The evening was a fun, bipartisan event that raised funds for local children’s charities and programs.

Representative David Valadao took the field and played a great game. I can only assume his speed and agility was developed as a youngster chasing loose calves on the dairy!