Rollins touts incentives for dairy as Farm Bureau analyzes it 

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rolllins said last week that the Trump administration will support the dairy industry by incentivizing dairy consumption through changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, expected in December or early January, the National Milk Producers Federation said in a news release after Rollins spoke to the NMPF annual meeting in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday. 

NMPF did not provide details on Rollins’ comments, but an NMPF spokesperson said she was referring to whole milk. For years the Dietary Guidelines have encouraged consumption of lower fat options rather than whole milk, but Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said the Trump administration’s approach to the dietary guidelines is different. 

Meanwhile, Congress is considering The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act (H.R. 649/S. 222), which would overturn USDA’s 2012 restrictions that have limited schools to providing only fat-free or 1% milk.

The American Farm Bureau Federation’s Market Intel service this month published a report on the potential impact of putting whole milk back in the schools.

“While the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act would represent only a modest change in total milk use, it targets one of the few demand streams that can grow in the currently saturated market,” Daniel Munch, a Farm Bureau economist, wrote.

“Even small shifts in school milk sales can strengthen the Class I category, lift butterfat utilization and return more value to farmers.”