Election years always pose challenges for getting things done on Capitol Hill, but dairy is well-positioned to make gains in 2020, according to Paul Bleiberg, the National Milk Producers Federation’s vice president of government relations. 

Senate approval of the USMCA trade agreement and a Senate plan on agricultural labor are only two topics in which positive steps could occur, said Bleiberg, NMPF’s chief policy staffer for the past two years. Child nutrition, transportation could also get put on the front burner, depending on what Congress decides to take up this year. “Certainly the completion of the USMCA process and the work in the Senate on ag labor are the top two priorities,” Bleiberg said.

Bleiberg also discusses dairy’s role in the 2020 elections and how dairy producers and allies can affect policy.