The American Dairy Coalition (ADC), a new organization representing members across the dairy industry supply chain, hosted its initial meeting with a successful fly-in focused on immigration reform and concerns over EPA regulation.
More than 40 dairy producers joined members of Congress and Obama administration officials to voice their concerns about proposed immigration reform and whether it will include a sufficient dairy labor policy.
“Dairy operations need a new dairy labor policy to guarantee that they will have the available labor force they need to maintain and grow their businesses,” says Laurie Fischer, president of the newly formed American Dairy Coalition and former executive director of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association. “We are grateful to everyone who came and participated in a productive conversation.”
The producers heard from House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Ways and Means Committee member Ron Kind (D-Wis.) at the welcome reception.
As a group, the ADC heard from the key and primary congressional immigration reform advocates: Agriculture Committee member Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee member Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Judiciary Committee Chairman and Agriculture Committee member Robert Goodlatte (R-Va.), Financial Service Committee member Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), Small Business Committee member Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), plus leading policy makers with jurisdiction over the EPA.
The producers then spent the afternoon visiting individually with their own members of Congress. PD
—From American Dairy Coalition news release
