Proud Descendant of Dairy Farmers

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about something near and dear to my heart: dairy.

As you may know and may have heard me say in the past, I have milk flowing through my veins. As a proud descendant of dairy farmers, I know how important this industry is to Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and our country.

As a longtime supporter of dairy, I am proud to continue to use my voice to recognize our dairy farmers. Recently, I introduced the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act with 36 of my colleagues and bipartisan support. We currently have 47 cosponsors, and I encourage my colleagues to join this legislation. This bill would allow for flavored and unflavored whole milk to be offered in school cafeterias.

Whole milk is rich with health benefits and has 13 essential nutrients vital to the healthy development of our children. From better bone health to lower blood pressure, milk is a powerhouse of nutrients. In fact, according to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, milk is a source of three out of four underconsumed nutrients: calcium, potassium, and vitamin D. No other beverage comes close to this level of nutritional value.

Sadly, bad Federal policy has kept whole milk out of our school cafeterias for too long. In 2010, Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger- Free Kids Act, which amended nutrition standards in the school lunch program. Among the changes, the law mandated that flavored milk must be fat-free within the program. This law, along with lower participation in the program--mostly, I would say, due to a bad milk experience--led to an alarming decline in milk consumption in schools since 2010.

From 2014 to 2016, schools served 213 million fewer half-pints of milk, even though public school enrollment was growing. Children over 4 years old are not meeting the recommended daily servings of milk in the Dietary Guidelines of America. Given the nutritional value of milk and the fact that young minds need to be well nourished to perform at their best, this is a cause for concern.

Mr. Speaker, in order for students to excel in the classroom, they must have access to proper nutrition. It is my hope the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act will give children a wide variety of milk options and bolster milk consumption, a win-win for growing children and America's dairy farmers.

As I mentioned earlier, dairy is a crucial part of Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I am proud to represent more than 1,040 dairy farms across 18 counties. Across the Keystone State, we have 500,000 cows producing more than 10.2 billion pounds of milk annually.

This level of production puts Pennsylvania as the seventh highest in milk production across our country. We are also the second nationally in terms of the number of dairy farms, with 6,200 farms. The Pennsylvania dairy industry provides 52,000 jobs across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and generates $14.7 billion in annual revenue.

In fact, Pennsylvania is now home to a new record Holstein cow, Chrome-View Charles 3044. This 13-year-old registered Holstein cow is in her 10th lactation and broke the record with her lifetime milk production record of 478,200 pounds of milk, 14,447 pounds of fat, and 12,576 pounds of protein and counting. She is a member of the Mason's Chrome View herd, where they have 500 registered Holstein cows.

This monumental milk production record surpasses the total record of 460,720 pounds of lifetime milk set by Stone-Front Leader Hilda in 2020. Prior to Hilda, Koepke K0017229-1660 broke the record in 2003 with a lifetime milk total of 458,616 pounds. The record was established in 1978 by Breezewood Patsy Bar Pontiac, with her final lifetime total of 425,769 pounds. Her owners say that the new record holder is your typical dairy cow, spending her time eating, chewing her cud, being milked, or resting in one of her three favorite stalls.

Mr. Speaker, 3044 is no ordinary cow. Her 478,200-pound lifetime milk production record total is equivalent to 55,605 gallons of milk, 889,674 cups of milk, 47,820 pounds of cheese--enough cheese for 127,520 12-inch pizzas--or 593,120 scoops of ice cream.

Mr. Speaker, like I said at the beginning of my time on the floor, I am proud to have milk running through my veins. Dairy is more than an industry for those in Pennsylvania. It is a way of life, and I will continue to advocate for this industry and way of life.

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