News from the Field

For Dairy Month, We Envision a Food System in Which Farmers and Communities Can Sustainably Thrive

June is National Dairy Month! Every June, we remind our lawmakers that decades of deregulation have failed dairy farmers and the communities that rely on them.

Our hardworking dairy farmers know first-hand the manufactured crises driven by current farm policy. The economies of scale that encourage hyper-industrialized CAFO's, aka mega-dairies, generate wealth for just a few big players. The majority of dairy farms are family-owned, small and medium-sized operations that struggle to stay open without good policies supporting their businesses.

Without adequate regulations, the milk market has become increasingly volatile. We want price floors and supply management so that struggling dairy farmers can get out of the red and go back to being whole.

Our leaders and lawmakers need to stop gambling with farmers' livelihoods! We know what's needed and we know what works. What we don't have is political will. So long as Big Ag lobbyists can pressure Congress to keep a status quo that lines their pockets, we'll continue to lose American dairy farms at alarming rates. Stop the vicious cycle of overproduction and low milk prices - join our fight for national dairy reform!

USDA Funding Freeze Threatens Farmers’ Livelihoods

Since January, farmers and ranchers have been left in limbo as certain grant and cooperative agreement programs have come under fire, their intentions mischaracterized in unprecedented ways. Enacted through the “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order, the funding freeze is a direct violation of the government’s contractual commitments to agricultural producers, and the organizations that serve them, across the country.

Tens of thousands of farmers, ranchers, fishing people, and foresters across the country have been forced to struggle through the beginning of farm season, anxiously waiting for money legally owed to them. This politically motivated action damages farmers’ confidence in government and punishes them for unfounded wrongdoing, all while they work to support their families and communities. NFFC calls on the administration to immediately release all frozen funds!

Top left: NFFC's Samantha Cave poses with Adam Hymans, Managing Director of Resource Media. All photos courtesy Samantha Cave.

NFFC in PDX for 'Resilience and Resistance: Cross-Pollinating Food Movements'

NFFC'S Strategic Content Designer, Samantha Cave, attended the Resilience and Resistance Conference in Portland, OR, this week. NFFC members were also represented - Community Alliance for Global Justice co-founder Heather Day and RAFI Executive Director Edna Rodriguez were both featured speakers!

The national gathering was hosted by the Institute for Social and Economic Development Solutions (ISED). It brought together food systems leaders, farmers, academics, and advocates to tackle pressing environmental, economic, and health challenges, and to strengthen and reimagine our food systems movement.

Member & Ally Updates

RAFI Action Alert: Say No to SNAP Cuts!

RAFI's Policy Action Network has put out an urgent action alert to stop the Senate from cutting $294 billion of food assistance funding just to give tax breaks to those who don't need it.

In late May, the House of Representatives passed its budget reconciliation bill, the "Big Beautiful Bill Act," by a narrow partisan margin. The bill slashes $294 billion of food assistance funding — the largest-ever cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). At the same time, it extends massive tax cuts for millionaires and corporations, while increasing funding for programs that only benefit the very wealthiest farmers on the largest farms.

As currently written, if the Big Brutal Bill passes, chances for a bipartisan Farm Bill is almost certainly sunk. It's time to use our voice! Ask your senators to stand up for independent farmers by sharing the impacts the Big Brutal Bill will have on farms and farming communities.

FARFA Fly-In Brings Independent Farmers and Ranchers to Congress

Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) flew to DC this week to push Congress for bipartisan legislation that promotes food freedom, community resilience, rural economic development, and local control.

“Our food system is at a crossroads,” said Judith McGeary, Executive Director of FARFA and one of the lead organizers of the fly-in. “This fly-in brings the voices of real farmers and ranchers to the table—people who live the consequences of federal policy every day and who are committed to feeding their communities with transparency, integrity, and sustainability.”

For more information or to schedule an interview with Judith McGeary or participating farmers, please contact Maria Whitworth at maria@farmandranchfreedom.org.

🎉 40th Anniversary Celebrations 🎉

Last month we shared the announcement from Farm Aid about this year's 40th Anniversary festival. The year 1985 was a big one! It's also the year when two of our amazing members were founded — Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC) and Rural Vermont!

Rural Vermont has announced a string of summer parties to commemorate their 40th!

Hosted at various farms throughout the state, the four-night series of festivities kick off with a pizza night in July followed by a grand finale concert in late September!

If you're in Missouri, be sure to attend MRCC's 40th Anniversary Summit on August 16 in Columbia, MO!

The local farm and food celebration will bring together MRCC members, allies, and partners from across the state and country for community building, learning, and looking to the future!

ARMPPA at Tribeca Film Festival Premiere for

The Price of Milk Documentary Series

The Price of Milk is a four-part investigative series from Nicholas Bruckman and Yoni Brook about the dairy industry's impact on popular culture. The documentary features Wisconsin dairy farmers, husband-and-wife team Joe and Brenda Cochran, who are also NFFC members through the American Raw Milk Producers Pricing Association (ARMPPA).

The series premiered at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month. In their press release, the filmmakers state: "We hope viewers come away from the series primed to see how a simple food can be warped by political and financial forces that don't always have our best interests at heart. Those interests can turn our government against the people it should be serving – like communities of color, small farmers, and our climate."

FSC/LAF Celebrated Juneteenth with a Virtual Screening of

Farming While Black

What We're R/W/L

What we're reading...

• The Daily Yonder | ‘We Take Last Place’: North Dakota Residents Fight Industrial Dairy Threat to Land and Legacy
• Common Dreams | US Pension Fund TIAA Linked to Brutal Land Grabs and E​victions of Farmers in Brazil

...watching...

• Metro Philadelphia |‘The Aunties’ film honors Black, gay farmers and environmental justice
• More Perfect Union | How Big Ag Is Killing Rural America

...and listening to!

• Jesse Welles' cover of "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" (ft. Matt Quinn of Mt. Joy)

Cows photographed by Matthias Zomer/PEXELS.

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