Idaho congressman Mike Simpson is the lead Republican in support of the House Ag Committee’s Dairy Security Act.

The legislation will replace current, outdated dairy programs with new risk management tools.

Congressman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) believes sign-up for the program will be similar to the 70% sign-up for the Cooperatives Working Together program

The dairy reform package introduced last week will save a projected $167 million over the first five years and $131 million over 10 years.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has identified a list of the programs that are available to farm families recovering from flood damage.

California congressman says it’s “time for Congress to stop picking winners and losers, which is causing a shortage of feed in our country.”

Program represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make major improvements, says National Milk Producers Federation.

Northwest Dairy Association (NDA), a dairyfarmer-owned cooperative, and Darigold, Inc., its wholly owned milk processing subsidiary, recently pledged support for the draft dairy reform legislation released by House Agriculture Committee ranking democratic member Collin Peterson (D-MN) earlier this summer. Peterson, who plans to introduce the legislation this fall, will be joined by Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID) as a co-sponsor. The proposal is based on Foundation for the Future (FFTF), a comprehensive dairy reform proposal authored by dairy leaders across the country."Our decision to support the Peterson/Simpson proposal is not one taken lightly,” according to Jim Werkhoven, Chairman of the Northwest Dairy Association and Darigold boards of directors and a dairyfarmer in Monroe, Washington. “We began our evaluation of the proposal more than a year ago, by presenting it to the membership at our annual meeting. Since then, we have discussed the plan in many forums, including area producer meetings. There is an industry consensus building around Foundation for the Future that promises improved economic stability for dairyfarmers and ensures food security for the nation.”

BY SHERRI ACKERMANThe Tampa TribuneTAMPA It’s the latest public education controversy to sweep the nation, and it has nothing to do with high-stakes testing or graduation rates.This debate is about chocolate milk, and it’s coming soon to a cafeteria near you.This summer, the Los Angeles Public School District banned chocolate milk from its lunchrooms. It joined a growing list of states, including Florida, that link the sugary beverage to childhood obesity.One school nutrition manager in Coloradodubbed chocolate milk “soda in drag.”

Committee members hear concerns that current dairy programs don’t provide a meaningful farm-level safety net.

National Milk Producers Federation says the plan’s Dairy Margin Protection Program helps farmers insure up to 90% of their milk production against low margins.

LOL chairman Pete Kappelman: "[The proposal] has the potential to dramatically improve the traditional approach to dairy policy...”

The website, www.StopSupplyManagement.com, explains John Pagel’s opposition to the supply management portion of Foundation for the Future

South Korea needs to craft additional measures to protect local farmers from the impact of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States before parliamentary approval, the agriculture minister said.

U.S. dairy policy must reflect global economic reality if it is to be effective in fostering an economic climate in which our dairy farm families can grow and prosper, says this California dairy producer.

House Ag Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson advocates discussion draft, rather than legislation, to achieve dairy reform.

These days, farm subsidies are blamed for lots of things, even the nation’s obesity epidemic. Critics say the billions of dollars in annual subsidies encourage farmers to grow too much grain. Prices drop, food gets cheaper, and we eat too much. Seems like a simple equation, except it’s not.

Europe’s biggest farms will see their EU agricultural subsidies capped at E300,000 a year under draft proposals to reform the bloc’s farmpolicy from 2014, according to a leaked draft.

The two congressmen pledge to build a more effective economic safety net for the U.S. dairy industry.

With the political mood in Washington focused on cutting federal programs, it’s imperative to get dairy economic safety net reforms done right, says this California dairy leader.

The U.S. is ideally positioned to take advantage of this gap if it can get dairy policies realigned to be focused on the export market.

National dairy leader Jerry Kozak points out the inadequacy of the current program and the need for better dairy policy.

“This amounts to an unexpected, unfair and unwarranted tax on dairy producers.”

Cheese-laden pizza was the food of choice when late night budget meetings dragged on beyond the dinner hour.

Livestock and poultry groups commend senators for asking Senate leadership to terminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit and tariff on imported ethanol as soon as possible.

Dairymen are calling Netanyahu’s decision cruel and idiotic, and said that it will destroy dairy farming in Israel.

The biggest concerns were over perceived unfairness of the margin protection insurance portion of the plan and market stabilization.

DBA says the solution for Wisconsin is not limiting milk supply but better risk management tools.

The three-hour meetings, in 12 locations across the country, are designed to give producers a detailed look at the proposed dairy reform package.

Supply management policies exacerbate the problem of tight and variable margins by hampering producers’ ability to manage risk