By Colin Newman, Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Chief of Staff, IDFA

Following one of the most eventful weeks in the history of presidential politics, the U.S. is now officially less than 100 days from its 2024 Election Day being held on Tuesday, November 5.

This week, Democrats will move forward with plans to hold a virtual roll call vote to nominate Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate ahead of the Democratic National Convention being held in Chicago on August 19-22. This will set the stage for an intense race for the White House where Vice President Harris will face off against the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump.

With the media spotlight focused on the presidential race, voters may be quick to overlook the fact that there are many other critical down-ballot elections taking place this year. This includes 34 U.S. Senate seats, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, and thousands of state and local public office positions. These down-ballot races will play a pivotal role in shaping legislation crucial to our dairy industry, including the next Farm Bill.

It is imperative that the dairy industry makes its voice heard during this campaign season by engaging candidates at all levels of government from the presidential race down to your local town council.  IDFA has several great resources available to our members to help them advocate for our industry’s top policy issues in Washington and explain the positive impact dairy has in policymakers’ states and local communities across the country.

Please engage this campaign season! Here are some ways you can advocate on behalf of the dairy industry:

Invite Elected Officials and Candidates to Tour Your Facilities

Hosting politicians and their staff to tour your facilities is an excellent opportunity to build relationships and educate your representatives about important policy priorities for the dairy industry.

Tours provide valuable opportunities for lawmakers to meet with their constituents, their voters (your employees), hear the success stories and challenges of the dairy industry, learn how policies crafted in Washington impact businesses in their state or district, and see the important role that your company plays in their community.

IDFA has prepared a helpful Tour Guide  that will assist you in planning, preparing, and executing a successful tour and ensure that your experience is as easy and effective as possible. Additionally, the IDFA team will connect you with your specific lawmakers and prepare suggested talking points for the visit. Please reach out to the team to learn how we can help.

Get Out the Dairy Vote

Dairy supports jobs for more than 3.2 million people in the U.S., meaning the dairy industry has the opportunity every election to make a significant difference in the outcome of national, state and local elections.

IDFA members can play a crucial role in boosting their employee civic engagement. IDFA would encourage member companies to support initiatives to increase voter participation, such as organizing voter registration drives, providing non-partisan information on the voting process, and facilitating transportation to polling stations so that employees can make their voices heard at the polls.

Share IDFA’s Dairy Delivers

In addition to millions of jobs, the dairy industry generates $49 billion in direct wages, $72 billion in tax revenue and $794 billion in overall economic impact. IDFA’s Dairy Delivers tool has the most up-to date-economic impact data, illustrating dairy’s footprint at the national, state and local levels in the U.S.

This interactive data is an easy and effective way to show your lawmakers the positive economic impact dairy has in your region.  We encourage you to download a 1-page fact sheet for your state or congressional district and share it with the media or at your next tour, town hall or community meeting.

Join IDFA’s Advocacy Activities

IDFA organizes numerous advocacy events throughout the year for IDFA members to directly engage with lawmakers on key industry issues and to build valuable relationships with them and their staff. Events such as legislative fly-ins, fly-outs, and meet-and-greets offer excellent opportunities to get involved not just during an election season, but year-round.  These important advocacy activities help ensure that the dairy industry is heard and that our interests are always front and center with policymakers.

Contact Congress Through IDFA’s Campaign Center

Every day, decisions are made in Washington that affect the day-to-day operations of the dairy industry, touching every aspect of your business. Dairy leaders can help shape those decisions by directly reaching out to policymakers and regulators. Our Campaign Center houses a dashboard of IDFA's current, active political outreach efforts. Choose one of the active campaigns TODAY and make your voice heard!

With less than 100 days until the upcoming election, now is the time to engage with your local and national leaders and demonstrate the positive impact of the dairy industry. Every level of engagement can make a difference.

By using our collective voice and influence, we can ensure that the leaders elected this November prioritize our industry’s interests. If you have any questions about the industry’s policy priorities or specific legislators, or if the IDFA team can support your political engagement, please reach out to me or any member of the IDFA Legislative team.

Colin Newman

Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Chief of Staff