The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) named Mike Brown as chief economist. Brown has had a long and distinguished career in the dairy industry, most recently leading the milk and dairy procurement team for The Kroger Co. as director of dairy supply chain.

Prior to Kroger, Brown served as a dairy economist for well-known dairy brands and organizations including Glanbia, Darigold and National All-Jersey, Inc. Brown will join IDFA’s Legislative Affairs and Economic Policy team reporting to IDFA Senior Vice President Dave Carlin. Brown is a recognized expert on milk pricing policy and has worked for both farmer-owned cooperatives and proprietary businesses, all of which are current IDFA members.   

 “We are so pleased to welcome Mike Brown to the IDFA family to lead our continuing efforts on dairy policy and pricing on behalf of America’s dairy processing industry,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “The U.S. dairy industry continues to go through a period of great evolution, creating significant upside for growth in response to consumer demand while exposing new challenges in consistently meeting that global demand. In short, our industry is experiencing an unprecedented pace of change all while striving to become the world’s leading supplier of affordable, sustainable dairy nutrition. We are confident that with Mike Brown as IDFA’s chief economist, our approach to the future will ensure the domestic and global competitiveness of the U.S. industry.” 

“I am honored to join the International Dairy Foods Association as their new Chief Economist, working on behalf of dairy processors to analyze domestic and international market trends as well as economic and trade policies for the dairy industry,” said Brown.  

IDFA also announced today that it has engaged in consulting agreements with three policy and legal experts to support dairy policy and pricing efforts led by Carlin and Brown. They are Chip English, Steven J. Rosenbaum, and former U.S. Representative Collin Peterson.