The dairy industry faces significant labor shortages, particularly in rural areas, making workforce accessibility and reliability a top policy priority. Dairy farms rely heavily on immigrant labor to fill essential positions, yet there is no effective system for farmers to protect their current workforce or hire new foreign-born workers. Existing programs like the TN Visa allow for hiring educated professionals from Mexico or Canada but do not address the critical shortage of entry-level labor that dairy farms require. The current H-2A visa program excludes dairy farming because it is not seasonal employment, leaving no labor solution for year-round activities like dairy farming.

Clean water and resilient farms can go hand in hand. Edge is committed to working with our farmers and like-minded groups to protect and improve water quality, the environment and the future of agriculture. We believe dairy is quickly moving toward a place where farmers can monetize these improvements. Not only do efforts to improve water quality and the environment help create resilient farms, but these initiatives also build trust and goodwill within the communities where our farms operate.

Edge supports the continued funding of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program to find innovative ways for farmers to address climate issues. These pilot programs are helping farmers identify new ways to protect and improve the environment while monetizing climate-smart practices. The practices, improvements and efficiencies should reflect that both crops and animal agriculture have a role in agriculture’s sustainability efforts and policy initiatives should mirror those efforts. With growth and widespread support, the climate-smart programs will create economic opportunity for all forward-looking farmers who want to become involved in environmentally sustainable farming practices.

U.S. dairy farmers are the most efficient in the world at providing safe and wholesome dairy products to meet growing consumer and nutritional demands around the globe. The Upper Midwest is a powerhouse for cheese production, so increasing dairy exports to existing, expanding and emerging markets ensures higher and more stable prices for our farmers. Edge urges a greater focus on negotiating new trade agreements that include market access and expansion of standard U.S. terms of trade with key partners. We also believe that international trade and global food security depend on healthy multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organization and encourage continued U.S. leadership within those organizations. As we expand our reach to international customers, we must ensure existing trade agreements are implemented as intended. Protecting products from anti-competitive trading practices that obstruct our ability to export must be a priority.

Current FMMO regulations require a third-party verification of weights, tests and samples for all pooled milk. Farmers who are part of a cooperative utilize the certified testing services of a company of the cooperative’s choosing. Farmers that ship directly to private processors utilize a certified testing cooperative or USDA to meet the requirements of the Federal Order regulations. Like ensuring timely payments, we believe dairy farmers should have the confidence and transparency with their buyers that accurate weights and tests are used to calculate milk payments.

The Federal Milk Marketing Orders have served the dairy community well over time in many aspects, including providing some safeguards for dairy farmers. Recent price volatility has resulted in the decline of participation by processors, especially in the Upper Midwest (Federal Order 30). With lack of participation, an order may be considered irrelevant and voted out. With that dissolution also go the safeguards for farmers that are part of the federal order system. Protections such as timely payments and mandatory third- party weight verification provide a structure of safeguards and trust between processors and producers and should be preserved.

Under current FMMO regulations, processors must pay their farmer patrons at least twice monthly if milk is pooled. With the current market pressure on Federal Order 30 and potentially other orders, Edge proposes extending this protection, regardless of the federal order or pooling status, as a nationwide requirement for all handlers as is currently required in federal orders. Dairy farmers should receive timely, consistent payments for their milk so they can maintain their business operation, regardless of where they sell their milk.

Dairy products are safe, wholesome, nutritious and should be accurately represented to consumers as such. Nutritionally inferior plant-based products that are wrongly labeled as milk, cheese or ice cream are ubiquitous on grocery store shelves. While there is room for a variety of products in the marketplace, it is wrong to mislead consumers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must enforce the law so consumers are protected and dairy farmers are not unfairly disadvantaged. Lawmakers should support legislation ensuring that FDA takes action to enforce existing labeling requirements and uphold existing dairy product standards, such as the previously introduced Dairy PRIDE Act. 

Edge also believes nutritional regulations should be updated to allow consumers a wider variety of dairy products in government-funded nutrition programs, including the school lunch program.

Edge also believes nutritional regulations should be updated to allow consumers a wider variety of dairy products in government-funded nutrition programs, including the school lunch program. 

Recent study results continue to prove nutritional restrictions on fuller-fat dairy products are unwarranted. Consumers and students should be given the choice to select more nutritionally dense dairy food options. Edge supports legislation allowing the option of fuller-fat and flavored dairy products in government-funded feeding programs, such as the previously introduced Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. In addition, as FDA updates the current nutrient content claim “healthy,” the agency should consider recent studies to include full-fat dairy products as part of the claim.

Tax policies have significant financial implications for dairy farmers that can have an effect on the long-term viability of the business. Protecting farms through maintenance of the current estate tax structure, advocating for farm-friendly provisions within the renewable tax credits and maintaining bonus depreciation are all tools farms use to help weather market swings and remain productive and profitable. Ensuring farmer focused reforms are maintained during tax reform discussions is essential for business consistency and certainty for dairy farmers.