Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

National Milk Producers Federation President CEO Jim Mulhern says 2021 holds promise, with a big to-do list. In the new Congress, the organization seeks to advance dairy’s needs within COVID-19 relief legislation. Meanwhile, child nutrition programs are up for reauthorization, offering a chance to maintain and expand dairy options in school meals and build upon the strong reaffirmation of dairy’s nutritional value in the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, according to NMPF. On ag labor, Mulhern says all of agriculture continues to need legislation that provides permanent legal status for current workers, and dairy needs a guestworker program that meets its unique needs. Mulhern says climate-related legislation will give dairy the opportunity to advance the goals of the Net Zero Initiative that NMPF and partners launched in 2019 to reduce the sector’s carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050 and improve water quality. NMPF published these policy priorities, along with others, on its website, www.nmpf.org.