Dairy industry starts year with win in D.C.

The year started off with a big policy win for dairy farmers — whole milk is returning to school cafeterias, said Cassandra Kuball, vice president with the Torrey Advisory Group, which serves clients in the agriculture and food sector.

“We need to celebrate. This is something we’ve been working on for a while and to see it come to fruition is incredible,” Kuball said in a policy breakout session at Dairy Strong. “The hope is that these kids who start drinking whole milk in school will continue drinking it throughout their life.”

In the government’s newly released food pyramid, whole fat dairy was ranked at the top with other food that people should eat more of.

“That was huge for dairy, but yogurt and other dairy low- or no-fat products were de-emphasized, so we will need to see how it plays out,” Kuball said. “We’ll continue to wait and see the effect that MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) will have on the ag sector.”

Trying to determine what’s going to happen in Washington, D.C., when it comes to topics important to farmers is uncertain, said Michael Torrey, president of the Torrey Advisory Group. He said that overall, the government is moving slower due to the number of federal employees who left their roles either voluntarily or were let go. Congress also was not very active in 2025 since the government was shut down for the latter part of the year.

For 2026, the midterms election will be the focus, Torrey said. He said Democrats only need to gain three seats in the House and four seats in the Senate to win the majority.

“If Democrats win the House, there’s going to be a lot of hearings that will lock everything down,” Torrey said.

Redistricting activities has made a lot of noise, but Torrey said the Republicans will likely only gain one seat out of it. “A seal has been broken” with the redistricting, he said.

Torrey said 2026 will also include a lot of retirements, people moving to other offices, redistricting issues and party unity challenges, which can make passing legislation challenging.

Kuball said there’s been a lot of talk about getting the Farm Bill across the finish line in 2026. “People are working on it and want to bring it to the floor. We’re really hoping to see something on the Farm Bill this year,” she said.

Farmers are also waiting — and have been waiting for awhile — for Congress to do something on comprehensive immigration reform related to agricultural labor, Kuball said.

Farmers will also keep a close eye on trade and tariffs in 2026 and how it may affect their business, Kuball said. The USMCA — the trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico — is up for possible negotiation this year, which is important for farmers.

“I’m not sure what will happen with it, but it’s extremely important and something we need to keep an eye on since they are the top two markets for dairy,” Kuball said.