NMPF Lobbies on Farm Bill and Fights Mandatory Dairy Labels

The in-house team on this filing includes:

• Shawna Morris, executive vice president, trade policy and global affairs;
• Tony Rice, senior trade policy director;
• Maria Brockamp, senior government relations manager;
• Trey Forsyth, vice president, government and regulatory affairs, who previously served as a professional staff member on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee in the 118th and 119th Congresses.

Broader Context

The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Agricultural Act of 2026 on a 12-11 party-line vote on Sept. 16. A separate bill, S. 4906, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee in June, would eliminate both Dairy Margin Coverage and Dairy Revenue Protection.

S. 5026, the Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act of 2026 sponsored by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT), would require health warnings on labels and in advertisements for sweetened, processed, or high-nutrient-concern foods and beverages, prohibit marketing those products to children, and expand nutrition research. Its latest action, taken on July 16, was referral to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), and a coalition of dairy signatories including Dairy Farmers of America urged Congress in September 2026 to reject S. 5026, arguing its broad definitions could place warning labels on whole milk, cheese, ice cream and most yogurts, and citing the 2025–30 Dietary Guidelines' estimate that 67.3% to 93.9% of school-aged children fall short of recommended dairy intake.

H.R. 9535, the Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act of 2026 sponsored by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15), would expand the H-2A agricultural visa program by removing the seasonal work requirement and allowing year-round agricultural employment; the bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary on June 30. NMPF has supported legislative efforts to let dairy farmers keep their existing workforce while gaining access to new workers, including the Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act (HR 9535), and has advocated for agricultural labor reforms either before or alongside any immigration reforms that may target farms as places of employment.

In December 2025, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) led 21 colleagues in urging USDA to prioritize a poultry avian flu vaccine strategy and, once developed, a strategy for dairy cattle; NMPF endorsed the call. The filing also lists support for modernizing the North American Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank.

Competitive Landscape

Other organizations associated with H.R. 9535 include the National Turkey Federation, New York Farm Bureau Inc., Select Milk Producers Inc., Indiana Farm Bureau Inc., National Milk Producers Federation, United Egg Producers, American Horticulture Industry Association, International Fresh Produce Association, and Aurora Organic Dairy.

The Bottom Line

The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Agricultural Act of 2026 on a 12–11 party-line vote on Sept. 16, and S. 5026, the Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act of 2026, was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Meanwhile, HB Strategies zeroed out its third-quarter fees via amendment, the clearest shift in NMPF's outside-firm roster across recent complete quarters.

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