NMPF Senior Director of Government Relations Claudia Larson discusses the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which has bipartisan support in the House and Senate. The legislation would return whole milk to schools, encouraging better nutrition and reducing food waste. Larson speaks on the Rural Radio Network.
By Theresa Sweeney-Murphy, Director, NMPF Young Cooperators Program
Farm bill negotiations, an effort to modernize the Federal Milk Marketing Order system, and an ongoing dairy labeling battle provided up-and-coming dairy leaders with no shortage of topics to discuss with members of Congress and their staffs on Capitol Hill.
Young Cooperators (YC) from across the country were in Washington last week for the National Milk Producers Federation’s annual Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum, a two-day issues and advocacy training that equips young dairy farmer leaders to effectively advocate for dairy’s interests.
NMPF’s effectiveness in Congress depends heavily on grassroots engagement. With fewer people than ever directly involved in dairy, farmers must continue to punch above their weight to maintain relevance in an increasingly urban Congress. NMPF’s National YC Program equips them to do that, providing opportunities to learn background information about the many issues affecting the industry, and empowering them to become — and stay — politically engaged.
The National YC Program is open to producers under the age of 45 who own or are employed on an NMPF member cooperative dairy farm.
The program’s webinar series is open to all eligible dairy farmers and industry affiliates and available at no cost. The 45-minute webinars, each covering a different topic, are held quarterly. Recent topics include an update on NMPF’s modernization efforts, finding work/life balance on the farm, and a panel discussion about challenges women face in reaching dairy leadership positions.In addition to its Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum, NMPF’s YC Program has other in-person opportunities this year. The program will host a workshop and reception on October 5 at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. Later that month, the National YC Program is hosting a Young Farmer Forum at the International Dairy Federation’s World Dairy Summit October 17 to 18 in Chicago, Ill. The next month, it will host its annual Leadership and Development Program from November 12 to 13 in Orlando, Fla.
Click here and check the National YC Program box to stay up-to-date on program activities and contact your cooperative to learn more about the program and how you can be involved
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This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on June 15, 2023.
NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and the importance of bringing back whole milk as an option in school meal programs. The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act was introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, and is another step acknowledging the increased understanding of the benefits of whole milk in diet. Bjerga speaks on RFD-TV.
NMPF’s Board of Directors approved June 7 a suite of farm bill policy priorities covering the commodities, conservation, trade, and nutrition titles, working to enhance federal support for producers and expand access to nutritious dairy products for consumers at home and abroad.
With the current farm bill set to expire Sept. 30, Congress is working to enact a new bipartisan five-year farm bill. NMPF’s recommendations will aid in enacting an on-time farm bill that provides dairy producers the certainty they need as they manage their risks and resources while seeking market opportunities at home and abroad.
“The farm bill is crucial both to dairy farmers seeking to effectively manage their risk and to the consumers who benefit from the nutritious products dairy farmers work every to provide,” said Randy Mooney, chairman of NMPF’s board and a dairy farmer outside Rogersville, MO. “We stand ready to work with lawmakers as they craft this complex, extremely important legislation that touches everyone.”
In the Commodities title:
NMPF seeks to build on its successes in the last farm bill to strengthen the dairy safety net and provide producers with access to a range of risk management tools. NMPF’s board voted to support continuing the Dairy Margin Coverage safety net while updating the program’s production history calculation. The board also voted to prioritize improving the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy and Dairy-Revenue Protection programs should new funding become available.
The board also voted to seek farm bill language to direct USDA to conduct mandatory plant cost studies every two years to provide better data to inform future make allowance reviews. This would complement the near-term make allowance update NMPF is pursuing through its Federal Milk Marketing Order initiative via the USDA hearing process announced last week. Similarly, the board also voted to pursue restoring the previous “higher of” Class I mover in the most expeditious manner possible, either administratively via the FMMO process or legislatively through the farm bill, in which the mover was last changed in 2018.
In the Conservation title:
NMPF is advocating for policies that better position the dairy industry to meet its voluntary, producer-led goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050. NMPF’s board voted to support maintaining robust funding for voluntary conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program that supports dairy farmers in their ongoing land and water resource management efforts, with additional emphasis on feed and manure management both of which are major areas of opportunity in sustainability. The board also voted to seek relief from program payment limitations that prevent the family farmers that produce most of the nation’s milk supply from fully using these programs.
In the Trade title:
NMPF will support policies recognizing the growing importance of trade for U.S. dairy, with exports accounting for one-sixth milk of all U.S. milk production, a share expected to grow. NMPF’s board voted to support enhancing funding for trade promotion programs like the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development program, which promote American-made dairy and agriculture products that compete with heavily subsidized foreign products and return well over $20 in export revenue for every dollar invested.
The NMPF board also voted to seek language to protect common food names, as embodied in the bipartisan, bicameral SAVE Act that would establish an official list of common food and beverage names and direct USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative to prioritize this issue in international trade negotiations.
In the Nutrition title:
NMPF will support policies that reflect dairy’s role as an excellent source of 13 essential nutrients, some of which are under-consumed, according to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is vital to linking the food we produce as farmers to families across the country facing difficult circumstances. NMPF’s board voted to support the enhancement of federal nutrition programs to provide nutritious dairy products to beneficiaries. NMPF also supports the bipartisan Dairy Nutrition Incentives Program introduced in the Senate to encourage SNAP participants to choose healthful dairy products at the grocery store.
The National Milk Producers Federation’s Board of Directors today unanimously voted to name Gregg Doud, a globally recognized agricultural leader, as its next president and CEO, succeeding Jim Mulhern, who is retiring at the end of the year.
“Dairy farmers across the nation are pleased to endorse a true champion of agriculture, someone who both understands the hard work we do and the opportunities and challenges we face both here and abroad,” said Randy Mooney, chairman of the NMPF Board. “NMPF has long been blessed with leadership that’s been able to take its advocacy for dairy to a higher level. We strongly believe that Gregg Doud more than amply provides the expertise, the background, and the passion we will need as we navigate a challenging, but promising, new era.”
Doud has served in numerous leadership roles in trade association and government work in his more than 30-year career in agricultural policy and economics, most recently at Aimpoint Research, a global intelligence firm specializing in agriculture and food. From 2018 to 2021 he served as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative, appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate, where he led numerous successful efforts to create a fair, prosperous environment for U.S. agricultural exports, including the U.S.-China “Phase One” agreement and the USMCA negotiations.
Before that role, he served as president of the Commodity Markets Council, a trade association for commodities exchanges and industry counterparts; as senior professional staff on the Senate Agriculture Committee; and as chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, among other roles.
Doud said that as the organization’s next leader, he’s excited to engage on critical issues facing dairy farmers. “From the policy arena to new technologies, there are many great new opportunities for dairy producers at home and internationally,” he said. “It is a tremendous privilege to have the opportunity in these exciting times to lead NMPF, one of Washington’s oldest, most prestigious and well-respected agricultural trade associations.”
Doud was born and raised on a 1,000-acre grain, hog and cattle farm near Mankato, KS. He is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a master’s in agricultural economics. He remains actively engaged in production agriculture through partnership in a cow-calf operation and lives with his wife and two children on their horse farm in Lothian, MD.
Doud will begin official work at NMPF in September as its chief operating officer before assuming the role of president and CEO upon Mulhern’s retirement.
From NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern:
“NMPF commends House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, and Rep. Kim Schrier, D-WA, for their bipartisan Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act to help increase kids’ access to milk’s vital nutrients.
“Good nutrition is a cornerstone of kids’ health and development, and milk plays an unparalleled role in providing the nutrients kids need to grow and thrive. However, most kids and adolescents do not meet the daily dairy intake recommendations made in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Kids take more milk, and drink more milk, in school when they have options they like. A growing body of evidence shows that dairy foods at all fat levels have a neutral or positive effect on health outcomes, ranging from lower prevalence of obesity and diabetes to reduced heart disease risk and healthy cholesterol levels.
“The House Education and the Workforce Committee’s approval of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act is a significant step toward expanding the popular, healthy milk options schools can serve to improve their students’ nutrient intake. ”
ARLINGTON, VA – NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern announced Tuesday he will retire from his position at the end of this year, concluding a decade of service leading the organization and capping a 45-year career in U.S. agricultural and dairy policy.
“Directing the policy efforts of the nation’s dairy farmers and their cooperatives has been the highlight of my professional career,” said Mulhern, who was asked to lead the organization in 2013 and guided NMPF through two completed farm bills, the COVID-19 crisis, and an ever-quickening pace of change in an industry that in some ways is unrecognizable from that he entered in 1979, when he began his career working for a Midwest dairy cooperative. After coming to Washington to work on Capitol Hill in 1982, he began his first stint with NMPF in 1985, directing the organization’s government affairs activities and shaping NMPF strategy in the face of earlier farm crises.
He returned to Capitol Hill in 1990, to serve as chief of staff to Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl. Following that, he was a partner at Fleishman-Hillard, an international communications firm, and managing partner of Watson/Mulhern LLC, a life sciences communications and public affairs firm that focused on food and agriculture policy challenges.
While his work included providing expert strategic counsel to numerous Fortune 500 companies and working extensively in government relations, issues and crisis management, media relations, and litigation communications, the Portage, WI, native always considered the dairy industry his professional home.
“My hope, all those years ago when I first came to Washington, was to make a difference and remember where I came from. Being part of the agricultural policy community here in Washington and working with and on behalf of many great people in the dairy community across the country has enabled me to achieve both goals,” Mulhern said.
Mulhern leaves NMPF in a commanding position, with the organization spearheading a once-a-generation update of federal milk marketing orders and advancing both a fairer economic and regulatory environment for dairy farmers and a more transparent marketplace for consumers amid the proliferation of plant-based dairy imposters. Through its partnerships with the U.S. Dairy Export Council and others, NMPF has supported policy changes to boost dairy exports, which are reaching records; and through its stewardship of the National Dairy FARM Program, it is enhancing dairy’s leadership agricultural sustainability and animal care.
“Dairy farmers have numerous reasons to be thankful for Jim Mulhern’s leadership at NMPF,” said Randy Mooney, a Rogersville, MO dairy farmer and chairman of NMPF’s Board of Directors. “Jim has been a leader, a visionary, and a friend to dairy, and through that, a leader in agriculture. The combination of his depth of knowledge, his energy, and his unflagging passion for dairy producers is impossible to replace, but we all will know that his influence and achievements will resonate in this industry for years to come.”
The topic of naming a new top executive at NMPF will be discussed at NMPF’s Board Meeting this week in Arlington, VA.
USDA has moved forward on our request by announcing an “action plan,” and we at NMPF are pleased that the formal process of modernizing Federal Milk Marketing Orders is now officially underway. The department’s plan announced last Thursday moves us toward the national federal order hearing we’re seeking, giving dairy a generational chance to update this important program to better reflect today’s market conditions and dairy producer needs.
We’re gratified that USDA recognizes the comprehensive nature of our proposal and are looking forward to it being considered in full, because the whole of our plan adds up to more than the sum of its individual parts. That’s a testament to the careful work put into this effort over two years and more than 150 meetings. But it also means that the next steps will require the same level of dedication and preparation, if not even more.
Once USDA conducts some preliminary steps (providing opportunity for additional proposals; holding a pre-hearing workshop) and sends out its hearing notice – likely late July – the stage is set for the hearing, which could begin as early as August and take 6-8 weeks. Once all the testimony is considered, USDA would be on track to put forward a final plan for a producer vote in 2024. Assuming that’s successful, implementation would begin late next year.
That’s assuming everything goes smoothly, which, in this broad and varied industry, is always a big assumption. But as dairy producers have proven throughout this process, with unity and careful attention to each other’s needs, impressive things can be done.
To work through this next stage as smoothly as possible, we plan to stick with the formula for success that’s served us well since the beginning. The principles we’ve followed include:
With these principles in mind, we are about to embark on the next phase. This has been a heavy lift, and it’s far from complete. But we’re excited for the formal hearing process to begin. Deep thanks and appreciation to everyone who has contributed to and supported this journey so far. Additional opportunities to advance this effort and successfully see it through will be plentiful in the months ahead.
ARLINGTON, VA – The National Milk Producers Federation applauds USDA for today proposing its “Action Plan” to move toward a national hearing based on NMPF’s proposal to modernize the Federal Milk Marketing Orders. The largest representative of U.S. dairy farmers and farmer-owned dairy processors is eager to begin the next phase of creating a federal order system that better reflects today’s market conditions and dairy producer needs.
“We’re gratified that USDA recognizes the comprehensive nature of our proposal and are looking forward to it being considered in full, because the whole of our plan adds up to more than the sum of its individual parts,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “We will bring the same level of dedication and preparation to this part of the process that we did in drafting our own plan, which included more than 150 meetings and wide consultation across dairy producers and the entire industry.”
NMPF’s Federal Milk Marketing Order proposal, detailed here, offers comprehensive solutions that recognize the needs of today’s dynamic industry. While the complexity of the process will require detailed discussions, the unity seen among dairy producers supporting NMPF’s proposal, which the organization’s Board of Directors approved unanimously, puts adoption on a positive path moving forward, since producers vote for Federal Orders Mulhern said.
Randy Mooney, NMPF chairman and dairy farmer near Rogersville, MO, called the proposal’s strong momentum a testament to the power of dairy farmers, through their cooperatives, to undertake bold initiatives that advance their industry. Farmers will continue to lead as modernization moves forward, Mooney said.
“Dairy producers have proven throughout this process that, with unity and careful attention to each other’s needs, we can achieve impressive things,” he said. “Dairy’s strength comes from its farms, and producers ready to face challenges and seize opportunities. We’re excited to begin the formal hearing process.”
| ARLINGTON, VA – NMPF strongly opposes legislation introduced today by Senators Mike Lee, R-UT, and Bob Menendez, D-NJ, and Representatives Adrian Smith, R-NE, and Don Beyer, D-VA, that would increase U.S. vulnerability to infant formula supply disruptions by increasing U.S. reliance on imported formula and formula inputs. The legislation would unilaterally and permanently remove tariffs and tariff rate quotas on infant formula and infant formula base powder, resulting in job loss and foreign dependence.
“This bill would make American families more reliant on foreign companies for their infant formula supply and puts in place new one-way-street trade conditions that would harm dairy farmers, cooperatives and processors,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Instead of weakening our domestic infant formula sector and putting American jobs at risk, we ask that Congress work with us to reinforce and expand our domestic production capacity. “We strongly support two-way dairy trade,” Mulhern said. “That’s why we advocated for passage of existing U.S. free trade agreements and why we’ve been vocal proponents of resuming trade negotiations to expand dairy trade opportunities; but we vehemently object to putting unilateral import expansion on the backs of American dairy farmers.” This bill is a misguided response to the dire shortages of infant formula that occurred last year after a temporary production crisis at a large U.S. formula manufacturing plant. In response to that short-term, unique emergency, NMPF supported the 2022 Formula Act and did not oppose passage of the subsequent 2022 Bulk Infant Formula to Retail Shelves Act, which increased import access at a time of acute need. Both laws rightfully expired at the end of 2022, once U.S. production had recovered to pre-crisis levels. FDA noted in May 2023 testimony to the House Oversight Committee that formula stocking levels are now higher than those seen prior to last year’s temporary crisis, making the legislation introduced today all the more nonsensical. “American dairy farmers and dairy cooperatives are committed to ensuring a robust, dependable supply of infant formula for American families,” said Randy Mooney, NMPF chairman and a dairy farmer near Rogersville, MO. “The United States can absolutely more than meet domestic demand, and should in fact be positioning itself as a net-exporter of infant formula. The U.S. dairy industry is a proven leader in providing milk powder, whey, lactose and cheese to consumers all around the world – infant formula should be no different.” Mulhern said that “the idea that the best way for the United States to secure a dependable supply of infant formula is through foreign companies and an unreliable global supply chain is simply wrong. Congress should focus its efforts instead on better supporting the American companies, workers, and farmers who supply nearly all of this country’s formula and formula ingredient needs. Those steps should include reforms to WIC program procurement; ensuring new domestic formula firms have the support needed to gain market authorization; and negotiating new trade agreements to expand export opportunities for American-made formula and other dairy products.” |
Keeping up with changes to state and federal labor laws can be daunting. However, given the tight labor markets, dairy farms must redouble efforts to attract and retain employees.
The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Workforce Development program offers free resources. These include state and federal legal fact sheets as well as human resource (HR) and safety templates to help dairy owners and managers increase worker engagement, reduce employee turnover, and manage safety hazards associated with dairy farming.
As part of its programming, FARM Workforce Development hosts quarterly educational webinars for program evaluators — the individuals who conduct on-farm assessments and support farmers with continuous improvement. For this year’s first webinar, Dan Deacon of Conn Maciel Carey LLP highlighted recent and potential upcoming changes to federal labor laws, including independent contractor definitions, overtime and wage rules, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. While FARM’s on-farm assessment tool does not evaluate legal compliance, understanding the legal and regulatory context is essential for advancing adoption of HR and safety best practices.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor issued a proposed update to the Employee vs. Independent Contractor classification in October — restoring the “totality of the circumstances” analysis to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A final rule would limit when a worker may be properly classified as an independent contractor and may be subject to legal action. The Wage and Hour Division is currently reviewing feedback from their public comment period and will provide next steps in the coming months.
The Wage and Hour Division has also held industry stakeholder listening sessions regarding overtime regulations and indicated it will issue a proposed rule to update the salary exemption threshold this year. It is not clear at this time whether the division is also exploring further updates to overtime regulations.
In January 2023, OSHA issued enforcement memos to field offices and state plans that significantly expand the potential for higher fines issued to employers for safety and health violations. One memo expands the circumstances for instance-by-instance citations, while the other reiterates OSHA’s discretion to limit the grouping of citations. OSHA also initiated a rulemaking in January 2023 for the Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process, which would allow union representatives to participate in OSHA inspections at non-union workplaces, at the request of employees, and be more involved in the OSHA process. Prior to those actions, in March 2022, OSHA also issued a proposed rule to expand the e-recordkeeping requirements planned to be implemented this year, which would require certain high hazard employers to submit OSHA 300, 301, and 300A data to OSHA on an annual basis.
FARM Workforce Development supports dairy farmers in identifying and implementing HR and safety best practices to enhance safe and thriving work environments. Dairy cooperatives and processors representing 60% of the U.S. milk supply participate in the initiative. More than 400 assessments have been completed across 23 states. Visit FARM’s website for FARM Workforce Development resources, including federal and state legal fact sheets.
NMPF Board of Directors member Cory Vanderham of California Dairies, Inc., and NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga talk about the challenges of California dairy producers and the need for long-term policy solutions on RFD-TV. While record snowpack is replenishing water supplies battered by multi-year drought, it also is bringing chaos to producers who are facing extreme weather conditions that require immediate reaction. For more details on how Vanderham has handled this year’s deluge, check out NMPF’s recent Dairy Defined podcast.
