NMPF organized the meeting at its office for the farmers and staff who work at the various state dairy policy organizations. This annual summit brings together leaders from those groups to discuss insights that can help ensure a successful future for the dairy community. Issues discussed at the 2025 state summit included farm bill policy, labor availability and immigration, trade challenges, nutrition policy, environmental regulations, and the dairy economic outlook.
Dairy farmers may have common goals and policy priorities, but each state has its own legislative and regulatory climate. However, state rules are sometimes layered on top of federal requirements and create very different regulatory obligations for farmers, cooperatives, and other supply chain stakeholders. The Stakeholder Summit allows state representatives to report on what their producers are experiencing, giving NMPF the tools and understanding to better advocate for policy solutions that work for all farmers.
Moreover, while federal programs are nationwide in scope, their implementation may vary widely as they are often administered on the ground by state and county offices. For example, the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) safety net rules are standardized, and thus should apply consistently to farmers in all 50 states, but each state has its own Farm Service Agency offices to run the program.
Family dairy farms come in varied sizes and can have unique ownership structures, so a slightly different interpretation from one state-level office to the next can mean two similarly situated producers may have very different experiences under the program. The Stakeholder Summit enables producers to give voice to these issues, positioning NMPF to work with agencies like the USDA to address any inconsistencies in implementing federal programs, DMC, or otherwise.
Lastly, while NMPF is the voice of dairy farmers nationwide, many state dairy associations maintain strong, lasting relationships with their congressional delegations. Local support is essential to securing a representative’s or senator’s support for a cause, positioning state associations to work with NMPF to provide congressional dairy champions the at-home backing they need.
Toward that end, because this meeting is held in Arlington, it affords the state participants an opportunity to visit their respective elected officials in the House of Representatives and the Senate. NMPF staff helped coordinate those Capitol Hill visits for the farmers who came from across the country to the event, where they shared what they learned at the summit meeting and advocated for dairy’s priority issues.
