Special Report

New NMPF leader talks farm bill, policy and other things

MulhernJim Mulhern is Chief Operating Officer of the National Milk Producers Federation and will become president and Chief Executive Officer when Jerry Kozak retires at the end of the year. Mulhern is no stranger to NMPF; he was head of government affairs in the 80’s and 90’s then became the chief of staff for Wisconsin U.S. Senator Herb Kohl. He went on to be a senior manager at two Washington public affairs firms.

A Wisconsin native, Mulhern assumes the position at a time when Congress has yet to pass a farm bill and the National Milk Dairy Security Act faces a stiff challenge from the House. Mulhern says right now, they are waiting to see who House leadership appoints to the conference committee. “There is still a small window of hope that we can get this done this year.” Despite the House passing the Goodlatte-Scott amendment, eliminating the production control provision of the Dairy Security Act, Mulhern reiterates that the House Ag Committee rejected the amendment and supported the DSA…twice. He reasons that there will be strong support from the Senate conferees and if the House conferees come from the ag committee, they will support it as well.

In the end, Mulhern is cautiously optimistic, “I think they will get a farm bill done this year and the Dairy Security Act will be part of that.”

AUDIO:Mulhern talks about Washington 7:02 mp3

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