Dairy farmers get a window into processor costs—finally.

What it does

This bill amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require dairy manufacturers to report their production costs and product yields to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA must then publish a report every two years summarizing this cost data. The stated goal is to give farmers better information about what it actually costs processors to make dairy products, so farmers can negotiate fairer milk prices based on transparent cost data rather than opaque industry figures.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a mandatory disclosure requirement—processors must report production costs to the USDA, which publishes aggregated reports. This is a transparency/information-access measure designed to level the negotiating field between farmers and larger dairy processors.

What the text implies

• Aggregated cost reports may reveal proprietary manufacturing methods or facility-specific efficiencies, potentially exposing competitive advantages or disadvantages among processors.
• The bill does not specify how the USDA will aggregate or anonymize data; if reports identify individual manufacturers' costs, smaller processors may face competitive pressure or targeted negotiations.
• Farmers' ability to use cost data to negotiate depends on their bargaining power; large cooperatives may benefit more than small independent dairy farms.
• The 3-year implementation window and 2-year reporting cycle mean farmers will not see data for at least 5 years after enactment, limiting near-term impact.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Farmers (the primary citizens affected) gain access to transparent cost data that was previously held only by processors, reducing information asymmetry in milk price negotiations. While compliance costs fall on manufacturers, the bill's core mechanism—mandatory disclosure of production costs—is a transparency measure that empowers a less-informed party (farmers) to negotiate more fairly.

Who stands to gain

• dairy farmers (via improved price negotiation leverage)
• farmer cooperatives (aggregated bargaining power)

Named in the bill

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), dairy manufacturers, dairy farmers, Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, Section 273

Where it stands

17 cosponsors: 11 Republicans, 6 Democrats.

• Jan 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 9, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,148,009 in lobbying spend. A filing names 22 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Nicholas Langworthy, the sponsor, reported $1,046,611 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• International Dairy Foods Association — $540,000 on 2 filings
• National Milk Producers Federation — $518,009 on 2 filings
• International Dairy Foods Association — $90,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.