Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) announced today that it has tentatively accepted 294 bids in the third herd retirement it has conducted in the last nine months. The 86,710 cows and 1.8 billion pounds of milk accepted in this round, combined with CWT's previous two herd retirements, equal a total production capacity of 4.8 billion pounds of milk being removed since December 2008.

This is the second-largest herd retirement since the farmer-funded self-help program started in 2003. The previous retirement round completed in July removed a record 101,000 cows and 1.96 billion pounds of milk.

"These two summer 2009 herd retirements, combined with the USDA's recent price support increases, should result in very positive movement in dairy farmers' milk prices," said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF, which administers CWT.

Farmers in 38 states submitted a total of 312 herd retirement bids last month to CWT. This eighth CWT herd retirement in the past six years was also the first to feature a maximum acceptable bid threshold of $5.25 per cwt. It was also the quickest herd retirement following a previous round, which is an indication "that there is still an interest on the part of our members to use CWT to remove more cows, even though the program has been very active in 2008 and to date in 2009," noted Kozak. This round is removing 3,104 bred heifers.

Kozak said that "CWT stands ready to conduct yet additional herd retirements later this year in order to help address the severe supply-demand imbalance that has depressed farm-level milk prices. We intend to use all the resources at our disposal to help farmers deal with this severe economic crunch that they're confronting," he said.

Starting next week, CWT field auditors will begin visiting the 294 farms whose bids were accepted, checking their milk production records, inspecting their herds, and tagging each cow for processing. All farmers will be notified no later than August 31, as to whether their bid was among those accepted.

Once CWT field auditors inspect and accept the herds offered as part of the bidding process, farmers have 15 days in which to send their animals to a processing plant. CWT will again provide each farmer the NMPF animal handling guidelines for the proper culling and transporting of dairy cattle, Kozak said.

Producers whose bids are accepted in this herd retirement will be paid in two installments: 90% of the amount bid times the producer's 12 months of milk production when it is verified that that all cows have gone to slaughter, and the remaining 10% plus interest at the end of 12 months following the farm audit, IF both the producer and his dairy facility – whether owned or leased – do not become involved in the commercial production and marketing of milk during that period.

More than 700 dairy farmers have attended the meetings NMPF arranged in July at eight locations across the West and Midwest as part of the organization’s effort to educate the industry about the benefits of the Foundation for the Future program. In addition to that national grassroots education effort, NMPF is also leading a lobbying effort to build support for new legislation encapsulating the key elements of FFTF.

A week after the grassroots meetings began, Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN) introduced a legislative discussion draft containing the elements of FFTF, an effort which drew the support of NMPF and other dairy organizations interested in making positive improvements in dairy policy.

NMPF is urging dairy producers to contact their members of Congress, using NMPF’s Dairy GREAT email system, asking them to co-sponsor Peterson’s bill. Peterson has indicated he would like to formally introduce the bill as soon as possible, once additional co-sponsors are obtained.

“This is a long-anticipated and very welcome next step in the process of upgrading dairy policy to better provide farmers with protection, stability, and the opportunity for growth,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “We appreciate the attention that Congressman Peterson has brought to this issue, and we will be working with him and his colleagues on Capitol Hill to help advance and implement the concepts of Foundation for the Future.”

The discussion draft text is available online.

Meanwhile, four more regional FFTF meetings will be held in August, starting next Monday in Harrisburg, PA. The schedule can be found online.

A number of food producers and dairy organizations have launched the Consortium for Common Food Names, an international initiative that seeks to stop efforts to restrict the use of generic food names, including such efforts by the European Commission.

The new consortium opposes any attempt to monopolize generic names that have become part of the public domain, such as parmesan, feta, provolone, bologna, salami and many others, as well as terms used by winemakers such as “classic”, “vintage”, “fine” and “superior”. The consortium will seek to foster the adoption of an appropriate model that protects legitimate GIs like “Parmigiano Reggiano” while preserving the right of all producers to use common names like “parmesan”.

The consortium is not opposed to proper geographical indications (GIs), like “Camembert de Normandie” and “Brie de Meaux” cheeses from France, and “Clare Island Salmon” from Ireland. For some specialized products such as these, made in a specific region, it has made sense for the European Commission (EC) to protect the regional name to help preserve the unique nature of that product. In fact, products from other parts of the world – such as Washington State Apples, Idaho Potatoes, Valle de Colchagua wine from Chile, or Thai Jasmine Rice – may also benefit from similar protection. The consortium supports these types of terms as a tool to promote distinctive products.

“No one country or entity should own common food names,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive director of the new initiative, and senior vice president of trade policy at the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “If such efforts are successful, consumers will no longer recognize many of their favorite foods. Producers around the world will be forced to consider relabeling potentially billions of dollars’ worth of food products.

Many well-known foods trace their origins to Europe, but thanks to decades of trade and the emigration of individual food artisans, these products are now made and enjoyed throughout the world. Over time, this has greatly increased the popularity of European varietals like parmesan and salami, to the commercial benefit of European and non-European producers and consumers alike.

The consortium will work to inform consumer groups, farmer associations, manufacturers, and agricultural, trade and intellectual property officials of the damage that will be caused in their own countries if efforts to restrict the use of common food names go unchecked. It will also work with these groups to protect common food names in domestic regulations and international agreements. Importantly, it will work to develop a clear and reasonable scope of protection for GIs by working with leaders in agriculture, trade and intellectual property rights; and foster adoption of high-standard and model GI guidelines throughout the world.

The Consortium will be holding a reception on April 12th in Milwaukee, WI after the International Cheese Technology Exposition in order to provide the opportunity for anyone interested to learn more about this initiative. The reception will be held at 4:00 – 5:00 pm in the Oak Room of the Hilton Milwaukee City Center Hotel. NMPF members, press and others interested in the consortium are welcome to attend.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the detection of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow from Tulare, California, last week, the nation's fourth case of BSE. The cow was never presented for slaughter for human consumption; it was targeted for postmortem screening at a rendering facility near its home farm in California, according to the USDA.

After the announcement on April 24th, NMPF issued a statement saying that “America’s dairy farmers are encouraged that the on-going surveillance and inspections performed by federal authorities continue to ensure that BSE does not enter the U.S. food supply.”

This is the fourth mad cow case in the U.S. since December 2003, when a cow imported from Canada was diagnosed at slaughter. The two cases since then, along with this recent case in California, were infected with an atypical strain of BSE that does not appear to be related to the consumption of feed infected with the prions that cause BSE. It was infected feed which spread the disease to nearly 200,000 cattle in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s, where approximately 176 people later contracted a fatal encephalopathy from eating tainted beef products.

Scientific research indicates that BSE cannot be transmitted in cow's milk, even if the milk comes from a cow with BSE. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that tests on milk from BSE- infected cows have not shown any BSE infectivity. Milk and milk products are considered safe.

Following the March 29th announcement that NMPF will assume management of the REAL^® Seal, the Cheese Importers Association of America (CIAA) issued a news release alleging that this change in management of the REAL^® Seal program will violate a law requiring the imposition of fees on imported dairy products.

The CIAA release contained incorrect information and factual errors which necessitated a response from NMPF.

“It appears that the CIAA lacks full knowledge of the history, ownership, and use of the REAL^® Seal program and the concerns voiced by that organization are clearly misplaced,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. Kozak said the following points were important to more completely understand the issue:

1. The United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA), a federation of 18 state and regional dairy research promotion boards, owns the REAL^® Seal and is free to license it as the organization deems appropriate. NMPF will now be managing the licensing and marketing of the REAL^® Seal, but ownership of the trademark remains with UDIA. NMPF has long-standing relationships with many of the current users of the Seal, making it a natural fit to carry out the aims of the program.
2. UDIA is a different organization from the National Dairy Board (NDB). When U.S. dairy farmers pay their 15 cents per hundredweight promotion assessment, 10 cents goes to state and regional promotion entities affiliated with UDIA or other qualified programs, and 5 cents goes to the NDB. While the NDB and the UDIA created Dairy Management, Inc. ("DMI") through which to share staff resources and maximize organizational efficiencies, the UDIA and the NDB remain separate and distinct entities.
3. The 7.5 cents per hundredweight import assessment that is paid by importers for promotion purposes is directed to the national dairy promotion program operated by the NDB. The import assessment is not paid to the UDIA.
4. Legislation that established the dairy import assessment does not impose limitations on how UDIA manages its assets, including the REAL^® Seal. No funds from the NDB have been or will be used for National Milk’s operation of the REAL^® Seal Program.

The process of making major, badly-needed changes in dairy policy took dramatic steps forward last month when both the House and Senate agriculture committees examined how best to improve the dairy safety yet.

Last Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill draft that contains sweeping improvements in dairy programs, including a new Dairy Production Margin Protection Program to help farmers mitigate the risks of volatility of both milk and feed prices. The farm bill was approved by a vote of 16 to 5, and now will proceed to the full Senate for consideration. The bill was not amended in any way that alters the basic framework and usefulness of either the margin protection or market stabilization elements.

The timing of further action is still to be determined; however, farmers should use NMPF’s Dairy GREAT email system to send their senators a note, urging them to pass the farm bill this month.

Meanwhile, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Dairy held a hearing last week, specifically focused on dairy policy and the farm bill. NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak (left) explained why the Dairy Security Act will be crucial to improving the federal safety net for dairy producers. Most members of the House panel seemed sympathetic to the argument that current programs aren’t working, and that the compromise approach developed by NMPF has merits.

NMPF’s position was bolstered last week by the appearance of a new analysis of the Dairy Security Act by Dr. Scott Brown of the University of Missouri. Brown’s review found that margin volatility will be reduced through the DSA’s margin protection and market stabilization features, and that neither exports nor consumer markets will be adversely impacted.

After serving NMPF for over a decade in a number of capacities, Roger Cryan, Vice President of Milk Marketing & Economics, has left the organization to rejoin the AMS Dairy Programs staff at USDA from which he came nearly 12 years ago.

Cryan is most known to the membership for his invaluable work on Federal Milk Marketing Order developments and other issues pertaining to economic policy. He has been a steadfast advocate for dairy producer interests, and his keen insight and wide knowledge of milk marketing in the U.S. will be missed, according to NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak.

In his new position, Cryan will assume the office of Director, Economics Division, Dairy Programs, where he will manage the Economic Analysis Branch, Market Information Branch and Dairy Market News Office, among additional duties.

In the near term, Cryan’s duties will be divided among existing staff. An assessment of the future direction of this position is now underway.

Meanwhile, David Hickey, Director of Government Relations, has also left NMPF to join his family’s business venture, a global consulting firm specializing in corporate facilities relocation and site selection.

After joining the staff in early 2010 to work as a lobbyist on dairy policy, Hickey established himself as an in-house expert on environmental, energy, and other issues. His prior experience on Capitol Hill and at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture proved useful in promoting the interests of the NMPF membership.

To fill Hickey's position, John Hollay (above left) will be joining NMPF on Monday, May 7th, as the new Director of Government Relations. Hollay will be coming from Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney’s staff, where he served as Legislative Assistant with responsibilities for issue areas pertaining to dairy policy, general agriculture, energy, environment, and labor. He was also the lead Congressional staffer on the re-establishment of the Dairy Farmer Caucus on Capitol Hill. Hollay will be introduced to the NMPF membership at the upcoming Board of Directors and YC meeting in June.

Starting Monday, Hollay will be reachable at jhollay@nmpf.org.

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) recently trained 18 farmers and ranchers from throughout the United States in their first Conversation Leader training. These farmers and ranchers were nominated by USFRA affiliates as outstanding agriculture advocates that can serve as spokespeople for USFRA. The training took place on March 28th and 29th in Chicago, IL.

Suzanne Vold (left), a dairy producer with NMPF member cooperative Land O'Lakes, was nominated as a Conversation Leader to participate in this training by NMPF, which is an affiliate of USFRA. The training provided her with information and hands-on experiences that will allow her to engage in more meaningful conversations about her farm and farming practices with consumers.

The training focused on engaging in a conversation about food production, rather than defending food production. This was accomplished through conversation training, social media training provided by AgChat Foundation, and hands-on workshops that focused on message development, media interviews, panel discussions and social media interaction. The second day of training included a breakfast that allowed the farmers and ranchers to engage in a conversation about how food is grown and raised with Chicago area food bloggers.

"We are so pleased to have such a wide variety of farmers and ranchers in attendance for our first Conversation Leader training," said Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau and Chairman of USFRA. "It is imperative for farmers and ranchers to have their voices included in the conversations about how food is grown and raised. USFRA will be using this team to serve as USFRA’s go-to farmers and ranchers for high level engagement such as meetings, tours, and media interviews."

Sessions are currently being planned to train additional Conversation Leaders to lead the conversation about how food is grown and raised.