Author: Alan Bjerga

NMPF Touts Dairy’s Policy Gains in Annual Meeting

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney and President and CEO Jim Mulhern touted dairy’s gains in 2021 at NMPF’s joint annual meeting Nov. 15-17, as record exports and per-capita U.S. consumption at a more than 60-year high point to a bright future for the industry.

“The past 20-plus months have shown us that life can change quickly, and in ways beyond our control,” said Mooney, a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Missouri, in remarks before dairy-farmer leaders from NMPF’s 24 member cooperatives. “It’s also shown that when that happens, people turn to what they know and trust. They turn to dairy.”

NMPF joined with the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association in the theme of “Make Every Drop Count,” returning to an in-person gathering this year as industry challenges evolve.

NMPF President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Mulhern highlighted NMPF’s work for its members in his remarks, including leading policy efforts that brought more than $6 billion in federal aid to dairy farmers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as regulatory initiatives and advances in trade.

“We are ‘The Voice of Dairy Farmers in Our Nation’s Capital,’ and we take that mission very seriously. And through our experience over the past year and a half, I know we are well-positioned to meet the many challenges that lie ahead,” Mulhern said. “When we are strategic, patient, and act with intelligence, and realistic expectations, we can meet our challenges.”

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh also spoke to the meeting via video, highlighting dairy’s leadership in climate-smart agriculture initiatives and environmental stewardship.

“It is inspiring to see the dairy industry as leaders in advancing solutions to the challenges we face in agriculture through inclusive, accessible innovation technology and approaches,” she said. “You are leading the way as United States dairy embraces a 2050 Net Zero Initiative to help dairy farms of all geographies and sizes continue to implement new technologies and adopt economically viable practices in feed production, animal care, energy efficiency and manure management.”

Also providing remarks via video were Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee; Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-PA, ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee; and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID.

NMPF also held governance meetings and revived its annual, nationally recognized cheese contest – successfully conducted virtually last year – as an in-person celebration. Results here.

Mooney was reelected Chair of the organization, and Dave Scheevel of Foremost Farms was reelected Treasurer.  New officers including Simon Vander Woude of California Dairies, Inc., First Vice Chair; Cricket Jacquier of Agri-Mark, Second Vice Chair; and Jay Bryant of Maryland-Virginia Milk Producers, Secretary.

Those five officers are joined ten others elected this week to NMPF’s Executive Committee:

Steve Schlangen, Associated Milk Producers, Inc.; Rob Vandenheuvel, California Dairies, Inc.; Melvin Medeiros, Dairy Farmers of America; Dennis Rodenbaugh, Dairy Farmers of America; Pete Kappelman, Land O’Lakes; Doug Chapin, Michigan Milk Producers Assn.; Allan Huttema, Northwest Dairy Association; Tony Graves, Prairie Farms Dairy; Craig Caballero, United Dairymen of Arizona; and Jimmy Kerr, Cooperative Milk Producers.

New directors elected to the Board of Directors approved by NMPF delegates in 2021 include:

  • Neil Zwart – California Dairies, Inc.
  • Travis Fogler – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Ed Gallagher – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Karen Jordan – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Melvin Medeiros – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Perry Tjaarda – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Greg Schlafer – Foremost Farms
  • Duane Hershey – Land O’Lakes
  • Doug Chapin – Michigan Milk Producers Assoc.
  • Tony Freeman – Northwest Dairy Association
  • Joe Jenck – Tillamook County Creamery Assoc.
  • Craig Caballero – United Dairymen of Arizona

NMPF also recognized two retiring board members, Greg Wickham of Dairy Farmers of America and Ken Nobis of Michigan Milk Producers Association, as Honorary Directors for Life.

NMPF also held its annual Young Cooperators gathering in conjunction with the annual meeting.

Sponsors supporting the meeting at the Partner level and above included CoBank; Edelman; Food Minds; Inmar Intelligence; mischief.; Rise Interactive; Team Services; the U.S. Dairy Export Council; Boehringer-Ingelheim;  Leprino Foods; MMS; Phibro Animal Health; Nelson-Jameson; StoneX; Elanco; Cheese Market News; Charm Sciences Inc.; Strategic Solutions; Vanguard Renewables; and Watkinson Miller LLC.

Dairy Urges U.S. to Emphasize Trade in Congressional Hearing

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) First Vice Chairman and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) board member Simon Vander Woude encouraged the U.S. government to prioritize expanded market access opportunities for U.S. dairy exports at a House Subcommittee for Livestock and Foreign Agriculture hearing today focused on trade policies and priorities.

Vander Woude and his wife, Christine, operate a 3,200-head dairy in Merced, CA. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of California Dairies, Inc. (CDI), the largest dairy farmer-owned cooperative in California and the second largest in the United States. With sixty percent of the cooperative’s milk powder sold to foreign markets, CDI’s 360 family-owned dairy farms strongly rely on U.S. trade policy tools to keep export markets for their products open and growing.

“I think Chairman Costa and Ranking Member Johnson for the opportunity to testify today about U.S. trade policies and priorities impacting the U.S dairy industry. Despite all the growth and success the dairy industry has enjoyed on the export front over the past two decades, we could be doing even better with a level playing field,” said Vander Woude. “While trade is all too often disparaged in this country and its benefits sold short, our competitors are busy forging new agreements. We farmers need a proactive trade policy to keep pace and continue to increase sales to support the good farm and manufacturing jobs our industry creates.”

Vander Woude stressed in his testimony the urgency of expanding access to key dairy markets like the UK, Asia (Japan, Southeast Asia, China) and the Middle East to catch up with dairy competitors whose countries have aggressively sought trade agreements over the past decade. Vander Woude also highlighted other policy priorities significantly impacting U.S. dairy operations, including the current supply chain crisis, securing long-term relief from Chinese retaliatory tariffs, and implementation and enforcement of existing trade agreements, including USMCA.

“As Simon outlined so well to the House Livestock and Foreign Agriculture subcommittee today, exports are essential to the health of dairy farmers and to our wider industry,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO. “New access into markets like Canada and Japan last year was a welcome first step, but still far less than what our farmers need to remain competitive globally. The United States needs to begin moving forward again with trade agreements and other policies that expand foreign market opportunities to help family dairy farms thrive and support the thousands of jobs that depend on dairy across this country.”

“Sound trade policy that opens doors for American-made products takes time to negotiate and the time is ripe for laying that foundation,” said Krysta Harden, USDEC president and CEO. “With the administration and Congress having charted progress on many domestic priorities, now is the time for the U.S. government to take a proactive approach to tearing down both tariff and nontariff trade barriers. We also need forward-looking solutions to the nation’s supply chain issues that are hindering U.S. exports, particularly in markets where America’s farmers are at a disadvantage to our competitors.”

Read full testimony here.

NMPF’s Morris Says Ports Crisis Requires Federal Action

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

Current supply chain strains at U.S. ports will need improvements in federal policies to provide both short- and longer-term solutions, NMPF Senior Vice President for Trade Shawna Morris said in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. “The fact that the market is not improving, that things are not sorting themselves out and that we don’t seem to be around the corner,” Morris said, “really points to the need for more government introduction into this process through the legislative side and through the administration side to help deal with this.”

NMPF’s Bjerga Discusses Dairy’s Joint Annual Meeting

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

National Milk Producers Federation Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses NMPF’s joint annual meeting with allied dairy organizations this week in Las Vegas. More than 600 dairy farmers and industry professionals are converging for discussions on policy and marketplace accomplishments in 2021, as well as future challenges. Bjerga says a united dairy sector can face whatever comes its way.

NMPF Statement on President Biden’s FDA Commissioner Nomination

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

From NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern:

“Robert Califf will bring a steady hand and proven leadership to FDA at a challenging time for the agency. We expect that, upon his confirmation, he will be able to hit the ground running on critical public health issues, most notably the continuing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We also expect that, given his experience, he will be able to guide the agency toward the positive resolution of other long-standing concerns, such as the continued mislabeling of non-dairy products that flout FDA’s own standard of identity for milk. We look forward to working with him in resolving that issue, as well as other important matters, and wish him well in his confirmation process.”

U.S. Dairy Highlights Supply Chain Challenges at White House Roundtable

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) Executive Vice President for Policy Jaime Castaneda joined members of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to discuss the challenges facing the export industry regarding current supply chain disruptions.

The virtual roundtable held today featured a handful of groups in the agricultural export industry. NMPF and USDEC are pleased that the supply chain issues adversely affecting U.S. dairy exports are gaining broader attention.

“These issues warrant the focus of the entire federal government in order to address the negative economic effects on both businesses and consumers from these challenges,” said Castaneda. “This discussion was a first positive step which we hope will continue to drive high-level attention to the obstacles affecting U.S. supply chains and exports.”

Since the onset of COVID in early 2020, supply chains have been severely imbalanced, with significant consequences for many American industries. USDEC, NMPF, and other agriculture organizations and companies have been leading the policy push for supply chain improvements to mitigate congestion limiting U.S. exports and in particular ensuring that containers leave U.S. ports full of agricultural products.

During a Nov. 3 U.S. House Agriculture Committee hearing, Mike Durkin, President and CEO of Leprino Foods, noted that “this export crisis may well result in irreparable harm to American agriculture as customers around the world are questioning the U.S. dairy industry’s reliability as a supplier.”

NMPF and USDEC expressed appreciation for the opportunity to share with the White House Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force how the Administration can help address the nation’s supply chain issues, and specifically, focus its attention on the challenges facing the U.S. dairy industry, shippers, and exporters.

The organizations have also urged the administration to convene a meeting with food and agriculture industry CEOs to discuss how the White House and Congress can take immediate action to implement additional measures, such as passing ocean shipping reform legislation, addressing critical transportation industry labor and shipping equipment shortages, and other steps that will help American agriculture producers reach their foreign markets effectively.

NMPF’s Bjerga Discusses Global Labeling Integrity, Dairy Defined

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

The U.S. needs to follow international norms on the proper labeling of butter and dairy terms, NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga said in an interview with RFD Radio. A recent decision by the Codex Alimentarius reaffirms labeling integrity internationally, with the FDA planning guidance on similar matter next year. Bjerga also discusses NMPF’s Dairy Defined series of informational essays and podcasts.

NMPF’s Castaneda Discusses Ports Backup

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF and U.S. Dairy Export Council Executive Vice President Jaime Castaneda discusses backups at U.S. ports, how delays in dairy shipments can threaten trade reliability and relationships, and how federal policy can be improved to alleviate dairy export challenges on the Adams on Agriculture podcast.

Farmer Focus: Young Farmers Create Opportunity with Aged Cheese

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

When Kevin Lussier and his wife Shelby came back to the family dairy in Hawthorne, FL in 2016 after graduating from college, they saw an opportunity for innovation and sustainability with artisanal cheese. They now operate Hawthorne Creek Creamery and sell a selection of four cheeses made with milk from their specialty herd of Jerseys. Sustainability, both in their supply chain and on the dairy itself, is a priority for the operation, Kevin says.

“I think sustainability is an amazing thing and something that every dairy farmer would tell you is what they want to focus on, but if we’re not economically sustainable, we can’t become environmentally sustainable,” Kevin says.

In the latest Farmer Focus, Lussier shares the challenges that came with starting a business right before the pandemic and the successes they have found in selling to their community and to consumers across the state.

For more Farmer Focus stories, co-sponsored by NMPF and the FARM Program, check out NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page, which also includes its Dairy Defined thought-leadership series and CEO’s Corner, a monthly column from NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern.