#5 National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), which represents the interests of 30 dairy cooperatives and more than 32,000 producers, spent a total of $509,749 on lobbying in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
It's lobbying priorities in 2012 included immigration reform and labor policy, food safety and products labeling, environmental policy, budget, tax and fiscal policy, and the farm bill - its number one priority last year, according to NMPF senior vice president of communications, Chris Galen.
“Dairy farming is a complex and highly-regulated business, subject to a variety of economic forces of both domestic and global origin. The investment our association makes is to try to promote policies that make it easier and more attractive to be a dairy farmer in the US, while attempting to minimize or eliminate those policies and issues that detract from the business of dairy farming," said Galen.
Galen said that NMPF's priorities are likely to be "very similar" in 2013.
“The list for 2013 is going to be very similar,” said Galen, “especially with regard to the farm bill and immigration reform. Those are at the top of the list.”
“The reported lobbying expenses reflect the priorities of both NMPF and the issues that Congress and our federal regulatory agencies are dealing with, which we then must also deal with. It’s hard to quantify at this point in 2013 how things will play out, but it’s shaping up to be a busy year.”
