News for Dairy Co-Ops

The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act is poised for more progress later today, with the Senate Agriculture Committee drafting its own version of the legislation, following the House of Representatives in moving forward critical legislation for dairy farmers.

The legislation sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-KS, and Sen. Peter Welch, D-VT, has been a top NMPF priority for more than half a decade. It overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in 2023 but stalled in the Senate. Senate progress boosts the prospects for the legislation to become law, Welch said earlier this month in a Dairy Defined podcast.

“This is one of those things where, if we get it on the floor, and get the cooperation of leadership, we get the votes,” he said. “This is one of those areas of rare bipartisanship that we have right now.”

School meals rules in effect since 2012 only allow 1% and fat-free milk options, to reduce calorie intake and combat childhood obesity. But that deprives children of the benefits of the whole milk that’s more commonly served at home, which includes essential nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, all of which are crucial for the development of strong bones, teeth, and muscles.

Once the Senate approves the legislation as expected, both the House and Senate versions will be ready for floor votes in their respective chambers, after which lawmakers will reconcile the two versions for a final vote. NMPF has a call to action on its website, urging dairy advocates to speak up on the bill.

House Republicans took key steps in May that advanced dairy policy priorities including several key farm bill items, approving President Donald Trump’s budget plan using the reconciliation process.

The full House voted to pass the large fiscal package on May 22 by a vote of 215-214. Reconciliation allows Congress to enact tax and mandatory spending legislation via a simple majority in both the House and Senate, bypassing the filibuster process in the Senate that makes it more difficult for partisan legislation to pass.

The House Agriculture Committee’s portion of the bill, passed by the committee on May 14, included multiple NMPF-backed priorities that would boost the agricultural economy and provide farmers certainty.

Relevant provisions included:

• Extending the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program through 2031; updating DMC’s production history for participating dairies to be based on the highest production year of 2021, 2022, or 2023; and extending the ability for producers to receive a 25% premium discount for locking in five years of coverage;
• Providing mandatory funding for USDA to conduct mandatory plant cost studies every two years to provide better data to inform future make allowance conversations;
• Folding the remaining Inflation Reduction Act conservation dollars into the farm bill baseline, resulting in increased long-term funding for popular, oversubscribed programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program;
• Doubling funding for critical dairy trade promotion programs that return well over $20 in export revenue for every one dollar invested in the programs; and
• Increasing funding for animal health programs that help to prevent, control, and eradicate animal diseases, such as the outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cattle.

The House Ways and Means Committee also adopted the tax portion of the bill on May 14. The tax package includes critical NMPF-backed language to make the Section 199A tax deduction permanent, which will allow dairy cooperatives to continue either passing the deduction back to their farmer owners or reinvesting it in their cooperatives.

“Whether it’s risk management or tax issues, the stakes are enormous for Congress to get the policy right in this legislation,” said NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud. “House committees have done good work this week to start major elements of this bill on the right track for dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own.”

The budget reconciliation process now moves forward to the U.S. Senate, where NMPF will push to preserve the agricultural resources and tax policy gains included in the House bill. The Senate is likely to continue the process on the bill when Congress reconvenes in June.

Representatives from nearly 20 state dairy organizations met for the 2025 Dairy Association Stakeholder Summit at NMPF’s offices in Arlington, VA. to discuss mutual issues of interest and devise ways to better coordinate with one another and with NMPF on May 7.

This annual summit NMPF organizes brings together leaders from state-level dairy advocacy groups to strategize for a better dairy community future. Issues discussed this year included farm bill policy, labor availability and immigration, trade challenges, nutrition policy, environmental regulations, and the dairy economic outlook.

Dairy farmers may have common goals and policy priorities, but each state has its own legislative and regulatory climate. The Stakeholder Summit allows state representatives to report on what their producers are experiencing, giving NMPF the tools and understanding to better advocate for policy solutions that work for all farmers.

At the same time, federal program implementation nationwide may vary widely by state. For example, the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) safety net rules are standardized nationwide, but each state has its own Farm Service Agency offices to run the program.

The Stakeholder Summit enables producers to give voice to these issues, positioning NMPF to work with agencies like the USDA to address any inconsistencies in implementing federal programs, DMC, or otherwise.

In addition to the summit, NMPF staff helped coordinate Capitol Hill visits for farmers who participated in the summit.

June 1, World Milk Day and the start of National Dairy Month, also marked the end of a multi-year process NMPF initiated and led, with the official implementation of the Final Rule to update Federal Milk Marketing Order pricing formulas.

As of this month, the “higher-of” Class I price mover for most (non-ESL) milk has been restored; dairy product make allowances and Class I differentials nationwide are updated, and barrel cheese is no longer being used to determine the Class III price. A final part of the Rule, to increase the component composition factors for skim milk in all FMMO price classes, will be implemented Dec. 1 to avoid disrupting existing risk management positions.

NMPF successfully argued for these necessary updates in five specific proposals presented at a record-long FMMO hearing from late summer 2023 to early winter 2024. The arguments all flowed from the fundamental principle that FMMO product price formulas must evolve with the changing structure of the dairy industry to properly fulfil their role of accurately translating dairy product prices into milk values embodied in the orders’ classified prices.

USDA not only validated this principle in the Final Rule – it also established a blueprint that will make it much easier to keep the pricing formulas updated in the future, ensuring the FMMO pricing system will never again get as outdated as it has been prior to next week.

NMPF’s exhaustive efforts began in 2021 and included more than 200 meetings to formulate the proposal among NMPF leaders and experts, along with coalition building across agriculture.

A separate “15A” legal proceeding filed earlier this year against the FMMO system by several organic milk companies that are seeking to exempt organic milk from the system does not affect the implementation.

A White House commission’s report on food and public health released last week outlined numerous criticisms of the U.S. food system, alarming some segments of agriculture as dairy considered its implications.

The report from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) commission defended the importance of nutrient-dense “real” foods and specified whole milk for its benefits. “Whole milk and other dairy products are rich sources of calcium vitamin and bioactive fatty acids which support bone health help regulate inflammation and may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes,” the report said.

The commission, chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, released the report May 22.

As expected, the Kennedy-led report noted that American children are often unhealthy, which the commission attributed to ultra processed food, exposure to chemicals, lack of exercise, stress and overprescription of pharmaceuticals. The report criticized corporate influence of food marketing and said industry-funded nutrition research has led to “skewed outcomes” in dietary patterns and even the government’s recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The report didn’t single out farm chemicals atrazine and glyphosate as major problems requiring a ban while raising doubts about them by calling for more research into the effects of cumulative exposure to chemicals such as pesticides.

The report said the MAHA Commission will immediately begin developing a strategy to improve child health outcomes, with the report due in August.

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program released its FARM Environmental Stewardship Version 3 Prep Guide, helping to prepare farmers and evaluators for on-farm evaluations using the updated platform.

The Prep Guide outlines Version 3 data collection, tips for completing the evaluation and program expectations. FARM encourages farmers and evaluators to use this document when preparing for an evaluation.

Training on Version 3 topic areas are ongoing. The optional advanced manure-module training session held May 28 provided an in-depth overview of how manure management can influence ES Version 3 results.

Each of the optional, advanced training sessions is designed for evaluators who wish to better understand the data inputs, environmental footprint results, and how to run scenarios to support farmers who wish to explore continuous improvement opportunities.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced an investigation on May 20 into global nonfat milk solids competitiveness for the United States and other major suppliers, including Canada, after extensive NMPF and U.S. Dairy Export Council advocacy for a probe.

The announcement followed an April 23 letter from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) requesting a formal Section 332 investigation into global suppliers’ pricing and trade practices for products with high levels of nonfat milk solids, including casein, caseinates, lactose, skim milk powder, and milk protein concentrates and isolates.

NMPF and USDEC have been closely monitoring a notable spike in certain nonfat milk solid exports from Canada following 2020 implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA included rules on Canadian exports of skim milk powder, milk protein concentrates and infant formula that imposed higher penalty rates on exports that exceed a volume threshold. USMCA introduced these measures to curb Canada’s propensity to offload excess nonfat milk solids onto global markets at artificially low prices.

However, data shared by NMPF with USTR suggest Canada has sidestepped these obligations by shifting dairy protein production and exports to other product categories that evade the USMCA export disciplines. In meetings and written communications to both the current administration and the previous one, NMPF has urged USTR to address this behavior, which harms American dairy producers both domestically and abroad.

ITC’s 11-month investigation will evaluate Canadian and other global suppliers’ nonfat milk solids competitiveness to determine if any pricing or trade practices violate international trade rules. NMPF and USDEC will actively support the investigation and continue to insist on changes in Canada’s actions.

The monthly DMC margin fell $1.13 cwt in April to $10.42/cwt of milk on a lower all-milk price.

The DMC feed cost calculation rose $0.13/cwt of milk from March to April, mostly on a higher premium alfalfa hay price, as smaller corn and soybean meal price changes were nearly offsetting on a milk equivalent basis. The all-milk price was down $1/cwt to $21/cwt.

The DMC Decision Tool on the USDA Farm Service Agency website projects the April margin as the lowest for 2025. It shows monthly margins rising steadily from there to top out at $13.92/cwt in November.

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) strengthened its ties with the Mexican dairy industry at the seventh annual U.S.-Mexico joint summit, held May 27–29 in Madison, WI.

U.S. producer, processing and promotion leaders throughout the dairy supply chain, including representatives from Dairy Management, Inc., Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association joined Mexican representatives including members of the National Confederation of Livestock Organizations (CNOG), Mexican Association of Milk Producers (AMLAC), National Chamber of Dairy Manufacturers (CANILEC), and National Agricultural Council (CNA).

This year’s gathering took on added importance amid an uncertain trade landscape and growing animal health concerns, including H1N1 and New World screwworm. NMPF and USDEC reaffirmed their commitment to the partnership and agreed with their Mexican counterparts on key policy areas to prioritize. These include the preservation and improvement of trade relations (including the avoidance of tariffs and/or new barriers to bilateral trade), the active defense of common food names, and the commitment to grow dairy consumption in both countries.

The event culminated in a renewed joint statement reaffirming the two industries’ commitment to working together to address shared challenges and raise the profile of dairy in both markets.

The regular meetings have reinforced the partnership between the U.S. and Mexican dairy industries since a memorandum of understanding was established in 2005. Leading U.S. and Mexican dairy organizations have used these discussions to enhance industry collaboration and strengthen dairy production in North America.

Mexico remains the top export destination for U.S. dairy products, accounting for 30% of exports by value last year. The binational meeting strengthens collaboration with one of the industry’s most critical global partners.