As Congress prepares to return to Washington after August Recess this month, and the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee prepares to resume work on the Farm Bill, animal and agricultural producers should keep an eye on another proposal being considered as an amendment to the Farm Bill: the Milk From Family Dairies Act of 2026 (S. 4906).
Introduced by Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the legislation certainly has an appealing title and an admirable stated purpose: protecting family dairy farms, combating consolidation, and ensuring dairy farmers receive a fair price for their milk. There is no question that America’s family dairies are disappearing at an alarming rate. Senator Welch’s office reports that 75 percent of U.S. dairy farms have closed since 2000.
But this legislation is also a good reminder that we must look beyond the title of a bill and examine the authority it gives to our federal government.
The Milk From Family Dairies Act would establish a new Dairy Market Stabilization Program administered by USDA that would apply broadly to commercial dairy producers in the contiguous United States. Under the legislation, USDA would help establish national and regional production bases, determine how much milk producers may market without incurring fees, establish quarterly variable floor prices based partly on herd size, and administer fees associated with production above allowable milk marketings.
Those provisions deserve careful scrutiny.
S.4906 would give the Secretary of Agriculture significant authority over a producer’s ability to participate in the dairy marketplace. And that might seem a-okay when we have an administration that is favorable to animal agriculture, but if that were to change down the road, it could spell trouble. If passed, this legislation would allow USDA to administer national and regional production bases, while producers exceeding their allowable milk marketings could face significant market-access fees. The Secretary would also have substantial authority in establishing and administering the boards overseeing the program and would appoint members of the National Dairy Producer Board. Another slippery slope.
Supporters of S.4906 see these mechanisms as a way to stop chronic overproduction from depressing milk prices and driving smaller dairies out of business. That is a legitimate problem worthy of congressional attention. But agricultural producers should also ask a fundamental question: Do we solve excessive corporate control over family farms by giving the federal government greater control over what those farms can produce and market?
That question becomes particularly important when considering this legislation’s sponsors. Senators Welch and Sanders have generally favored a more active federal regulatory role in agricultural and economic markets, rather than approaching these issues primarily from a regulatory-reduction perspective. That does not make the legislation inherently wrong, but it is another reason producers should carefully examine the authority being delegated to USDA before embracing a bill because of its “family-farm-friendly” title.
The plight of America’s family dairy farms is real. So is the danger of consolidation. But solutions intended to save independent producers should not inadvertently leave those same producers more dependent upon decisions made by federal regulators.
As we have learned repeatedly in these legislative debates, the title tells you what Congress wants a bill to sound like. The statutory language tells you what government will actually have the power to do.
As the Farm Bill debate resumes after September 14th, the Milk From Family Dairies Act deserves our attention, and our scrutiny. We ask that you contact your U.S. Senators, and especially Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, urging them to use caution before amending The Milk From Family Dairies Act to the Farm Bill.
You can reach the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee HERE.
You can locate your U.S. Senators HERE.
