Idaho delegation welcomes use of dairy products in nutrition programs

Washington, DC – Idaho’s Congressional Delegation lauded a plan announced by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today to utilize approximately 200 million pounds of nonfat dry milk for nutrition programs and assist the dairy industry to withstand current challenges with decreased dairy prices and high input costs.
 
In February, Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Representatives Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick wrote U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to urge assistance for the Idaho dairy industry through enhanced utilization of existing federal programs.  The delegation cited the importance of Idaho’s dairy industry to the economy and expressed a need to review existing programs to ensure they are best utilized or improved to enable dairy producers and processors to endure the difficulty the industry is facing and maintain needed jobs.    
 
“Secretary Vilsack’s response to calls for action from the Idaho delegation resulted in the kind of win-win scenario people want to see more of from their federal government,” said Congressman Walt Minnick, a member of the House Agriculture Committee. “The dairy industry got relief from high costs and nutrition programs received a valuable boost. I’m pleased to see such a quick response, and a response that will help Idaho.”