Legislation affecting the dairy industry

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. — Wisconsin Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden joined Republican state Sens. Patrick Testin and Cory Tomczyk to hear from more than 50 central Wisconsin farmers and business owners Aug. 5 at Altmann Construction Company Inc. in Wisconsin Rapids.

The focus for all three legislators was to hear from their constituents about concerns they are facing in their businesses, as well as to share information on pieces of legislation in the works and the recently passed “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” along with Wisconsin’s state budget.

“We fought tooth and nail to get some really good stuff in this (‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’),” Van Orden said. “I’m very proud of that.”

Dairy farmers will be affected by various items included in the bill, including an increase in the death tax exemption, Van Orden said.

“People wonder why our family farms are closing,” Van Orden said. “Our farms are land rich and cash poor, and you had to come up with 30% of the total value of your farm to pay the government — who thought of that? … We’re trying to make sure our family farms and businesses can be passed on to the next generation. Getting that exemption increased was huge.”

Van Orden, who serves as the vice chair of the House subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry, went on to detail other pertinent inclusions in the bill, such as investing $6 billion in Title XI crop insurance; increasing the Dairy Tier I cap to 6 million pounds of milk; and funding agricultural research and livestock biosecurity.

“‘Whole Milk for Healthy Kids,’ we got that,” Van Orden said. “In 2010, under the Obama administration, they decided to remove whole milk and other dairy products from the schools. … Now they’re going back into schools and that will be game-changing for the dairy industry.”

Van Orden also shared other dairy industry-related work that has happened in the halls of the Capitol.

“I got an amendment in the ‘National Defense Authorization Act’ that is requiring our military to provide milk to our service members,” Van Orden said. “Whole milk, chocolate milk — they’re two of the best recovery drinks you can have after exercise. After a good workout drink some milk.”

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” also raised reference pricing for commodity support programs, ranging from 10%-20% and provides for 30 million new base acres, Van Orden said.

“The bill provides funding for the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program,” Van Orden said. “Those programs bring $3-$4 back into our country for every dollar that we spend. … They are fantastic.”

The agricultural and small business-related legislation in the bill are important to keeping America’s economy growing, Van Orden said.

“We need to make sure our farmers and small business owners have every single competitive advantage possible, so you can reinvest money into your company and continue to grow,” Van Orden said. “If you’re being taxed as a business owner at a level that is prohibitive for you to expand, that means your taxes are too high.”

His goal of lower taxes was accomplished by making the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” permanent, Van Orden said.

Testin and Tomczyk shared their thoughts on the recently passed state budget.

“The big news out of Madison is that we got a state budget done before the ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill’ was signed into law,” Testin said.

This will avail the state of additional federal funding for Medicaid, he said.

“This was the most unique budget process I’ve been a part of in my time in the legislature,” Testin said. “This was the art of compromise.”

The two state senators said the end result was one that gave legislators from both sides of the aisle wins to take home to their constituents.

“We were able to get over $1.5 billion in tax relief in this budget for the middle class,” Testin said. “We made investments in youth apprenticeship programs to train the future workforce. One I’m most proud of is the investments we made in our infrastructure. We put more money into roads than the governor proposed but bonded less than he proposed. We continued things like $150 million in the ‘Agricultural Roads Improvement Program,’ so we’re making sure our farm-to-market roads are being taken care of.”

Van Orden also addressed the subject of tariffs.

“Tariffs are a tool,” Van Orden said. “The only thing we’re asking for is a level playing field. When our farmers and manufacturers have a level playing field, they win across the globe.”

Van Orden spoke about a piece of legislation he is crafting — the ‘Agriculture Workforce Reform Act of 2025’ — to address the issue of illegal immigrants in the workforce, while not exacerbating labor shortages.

Van Orden said the legislation he is working on requires illegal immigrants to self-report and leave the country, and come back legally through a port of entry.

“The only way you’re going to have a job here in the U.S., or eventually become a citizen, if you want, is to come here legally,” Van Orden said.

His proposed legislation would provide a way forward for a foreign agriculture worker that had entered the country illegally but had not drawn benefits from the U.S. government or committed any other crime.

Part of Van Orden’s proposals includes a year of protected status for the worker to allow the farmer to rotate people out of the country. The workers then could re-enter the country legally as temporary agricultural workers after remaining outside the country for at least 30 days.

“They have to leave the country; if that provision is not in the bill, it goes nowhere,” Van Orden said. “It sends a message that if you’re going to live here or have a job here, you’re going to come here lawfully.”

Solving the issue is vital, Van Orden said.

“These people shouldn’t have to worry about running away and hiding,” Van Orden said. “They’re our neighbors, right? We have to take care of this problem.”