Coalition Sends Letter to Congress Calling for Milk from Family Dairies Act Passage

Samantha CavePress Room

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Samantha Cave
Communications Coordinator, NFFC
samantha@nffc.net
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Coalition Sends Letter to Congress Calling for Milk from Family Dairies Act Passage

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 23, 2026) — The National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) and 87 farmer, rural, labor, processor, and environmental organizations sent a letter to Congress today, calling for bold reforms of the dairy industry. The letter demands passage of the Milk from Family Dairies Act (S.4906), introduced by Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) in July. The bill, widely supported by family-scale dairy farmers, offers a forward-thinking vision to stabilize the dairy market and ensure dairy farmers get a fair price for the milk they sell, and would turn the tide on a troubling national trend of dairy farm closures.

“We need a new U.S. dairy policy oriented towards small and mid-size dairy farms, and the Milk from Family Dairies Act provides a path forward,” the letter states. “The benefits of a new way forward for the dairy industry are numerous. Dairy farmers would get paid a fair price and the transparency, competition, and agency in the sector that they deserve. Consumers, workers, and dairy processors will be guaranteed a consistent, resilient, and affordable milk supply.”

According to USDA Census data, the US has lost more than 70% of its dairy farms since 1997. There are now only 24,000 dairy farms left in the US, reflecting an industry that favors export markets and ‘get big or get out’ economies of scale.

“We are losing dairy farmers every day. Farmers need a fair price in order to stay in business,” said Sarah Lloyd, a member of Family Farm Defenders and Wisconsin Farmers Union. “My family unfortunately sold our cows two years ago after struggling to stay afloat with low prices and volatility that made dairy farming no longer viable for us. My husband’s family had milked cows for 100 years. The Milk From Family Dairies Act is a beacon of hope for our remaining dairy farmers. We need it now and for the future of small- and mid-sized dairy farms.”

The Milk from Family Dairies Act would:

  • Establish a Dairy Market Stabilization Program to ensure dairy farmers get a fair price for their milk based on their costs of production and achieve a better balance between U.S. dairy supply and demand that would downsize industrial-scale mega-dairies;

  • Reform import controls to monitor and generate demand for domestic dairy through trade policy, to prevent undercutting farmer incomes and workers’ rights in the U.S. and limit dependence on foreign markets;

  • Initiate measures to restore competition to the sector, including annual reviews of and publications on the economic impacts of horizontal and vertical integration in the dairy sector on farm-gate prices for dairy producers and grocery prices for dairy consumers;

  • Invest in and incentivize regional dairy infrastructure, including through new training and apprenticeship programs, expanding access to the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives, new cost-share grants for small-scale dairy infrastructure, and more mandatory and discretionary funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program; and

  • Save taxpayers ~$1.5 billion, even after new investments, from suspending insurance and other programs that farmers would no longer need with a stabilized dairy market.

The Milk from Family Dairies Act is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Angus King, Jr. (I-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Read the letter and review its signatories here. A section-by-section of the Milk from Family Dairies Act is available here.

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Since 1986, National Family Farm Coalition has been mobilizing independent farmers, ranchers, and fisher people to achieve fair prices, vibrant communities, and nourishing food free of corporate domination. Today, NFFC includes 30 member groups representing family farmers, ranchers, fisherfolk, and rural advocates across the United States.