As members of Congress negotiate with the White House over the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – set to expire next month – NMPF is urging lawmakers to also focus on the workforce needs of dairy farmers and agricultural employers seeking changes in immigration policy.

In his first State of the Union speech in late January, President Donald Trump spoke about immigration policy, laying out details for a package that includes offering citizenship for “Dreamers” in exchange for increased spending on border security and a reduction in legal immigration. The president’s speech did not address agriculture’s needs for access to a legal immigrant workforce.

Earlier that day, NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern visited senior legislators on Capitol Hill to advance the dairy industry’s goal of securing an adequate workforce through the creation of a new agricultural guestworker program, and to urge that the issue be addressed in any immigration policy changes. In recent weeks, NMPF has engaged in high-level discussions with the offices of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to find a path forward for the creation of an agricultural visa program.

Chairman Goodlatte’s Judiciary Committee adopted the Agricultural Guestworker (AG) Act last fall. NMPF has supported the chairman’s efforts to meet agriculture’s needs, while continuing to work with him directly on additional improvements to the legislation, including: providing immediate legal status to those currently working in the United States; gaining longer periods of work time for employees under the new H-2C visa program; and allowing legal protection for family members of dairy workers. NMPF is also in discussions with other House members who seek to improve the bill.

NMPF continues to work closely with others in agriculture who share a common goal of passing a bill that solves these labor challenges, including the Agriculture Workforce Coalition, which continues to discuss possible improvements to the AG Act.

NMPF has been working with federal legislators and other agricultural stakeholders in recent weeks to address concerns by some agricultural interests regarding a new tax deduction for cooperatives that was passed by Congress before Christmas.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act replaced the old Domestic Production Activities Deduction (Section 199) with a new provision, Section 199A, that allows cooperative members to claim a 20-percent deduction on gross sales to a farmer cooperative, a deduction not provided to non-cooperative shippers.

Because the new tax law provides benefits for farmers marketing their commodities through a cooperative, some private companies are concerned they may lose business with farmers who may decide in the future to instead sell their commodities to cooperatives. The members of Congress who crafted the Section 199A tax provision are seeking to change the new law and are reviewing options to deal with this potential inequity.

NMPF is collaborating the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) and others in agriculture to address the competitive implications created by this new provision, while emphasizing the need to preserve the tax benefits of the new tax law for dairy cooperatives and their farmer members. A grassroots farmer effort, led by Select Milk Producers farmer-leader Mike McCloskey, has urged that the issue be addressed by providing the Section 199 deduction to all farmers, rather than simply seeking to reduce the deduction for cooperative patrons. NCFC and the National Grain & Feed Association, representing both cooperative and private grain interests, have been negotiating on potential changes to the new law.

As the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation process continues into 2018, NMPF is insisting to U.S. negotiators that the talks need to achieve a positive outcome for America’s dairy farmers, including preserving access to Mexico’s growing market and ending Canada’s harmful Class 7 pricing program.

NMPF has been directly engaged in the NAFTA negotiation process since it started last summer, including participating in the sixth and most recent round of talks in late January. At that session in Montreal, NMPF senior vice president Jaime Castaneda reminded trade negotiators that Canada must not be allowed to continue using its new pricing program because of the damage it is causing to U.S. exports.

NMPF delivered that same message to a congressional delegation that also participated in the Montreal meeting. National Milk and the U.S. Dairy Export Council told the leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee that to achieve a successfully modernized NAFTA agreement, the U.S. dairy sector must maintain full, duty-free access to its Mexican customers, while Canada must reform its highly protectionist dairy policy. In addition to its exorbitant dairy import tariffs, Canada’s new surplus milk dumping program has already led to a 200-percent surge in Canadian skim milk powder exports to various markets around the world.

“Dairy has for too long been excluded from NAFTA’s benefits vis a vis U.S.-Canada trade,” the letter to congressional trade policy leaders said. “Finishing the work started under NAFTA by doing away with the remaining exorbitant dairy tariff walls maintained by Canada is one of the most natural ways to deepen an FTA as robust as NAFTA.” The Ways and Means Committee has oversight of all trade-related policy issues, including free trade agreements.

To help fortify grassroots support for a successful NAFTA revision, NMPF joined other food and agricultural organizations last month in launching a new coalition, Americans for Farmers and Families (AFF), to help drive a loud and unified U.S. food and agricultural voice on NAFTA. AFF’s messaging activities will complement NMPF’s efforts by highlighting the need to preserve and improve NAFTA, given its tremendous importance to U.S. farmers and food manufacturers.

The dairy industry message continues to produce traction with U.S. policymakers. In January, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) charged that Canada is “a high-cost producer dumping lower cost [dairy] products…These negotiations need to help settle those things.”  Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has also focused on the need to roll back Canada’s dairy policy as a key U.S. objective for the talks.

The next round of negotiations begins on Feb. 26 in Mexico City. NMPF’s Castaneda will again represent NMPF’s interests.

Following months of advocacy by NMPF on Capitol Hill to improve the federal dairy program, Congress passed a two-year budget deal on Feb. 9 that will enact badly-needed improvements to the dairy safety net for milk producers. Effective immediately for the 2018 calendar year, the legislative package reforms the dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) and provides access to additional risk management tools from the Agriculture Department (USDA). These key elements will create $1.2 billion in baseline spending for the next Farm Bill, paving the way for additional improvements to the MPP.

The MPP reforms included in the budget package include:

• Raising the catastrophic coverage level from $4.00 to $5.00 for the first tier of covered production for all dairy farmers;
• Adjusting the first tier of covered production to include every dairy farmer’s first five million pounds of annual milk production (about 217 cows) instead of four million pounds, a recognition of the growth in herd sizes across the country;
• Reducing the premium rates, effective immediately, for every producer’s first five million pounds of production, to better enable dairy farmers to afford the higher levels of coverage that will provide more meaningful protection against low margins;
• Modifying the margin calculation to a monthly (from bi-monthly) basis, to make the program more accurate and responsive to producers in difficult months;
• Waiving the annual $100 administrative fees for underserved farmers;
• Directing USDA to immediately reopen the program signup for 2018.

In addition to these reforms, the budget legislation lifts the $20 million annual cap on all livestock insurance, including the Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) program. This will allow USDA to develop a wider variety of additional risk management tools for dairy producers that can complement the MPP.

“This budget bill containing major improvements to the dairy safety net is an important victory for America’s dairy farmers. The enhancements to the Margin Protection Program (MPP), coupled with the expansion of additional risk management options, are coming at a crucial time for our producers. Farmers need insurance options that are both effective and affordable, and this package helps deliver on that promise,” said Jim Mulhern.

The dairy provisions are part of a disaster aid package attached to a larger spending deal needed to keep the government open after February 8. In a letter of support for the Senate bill language sent Thursday to congressional leaders, NMPF outlined the difficult economic situation facing dairy producers, including declining milk prices and global export challenges. The dairy policy changes will better help farmers weather this challenging environment, the letter said.

NMPF worked with key congressional dairy policy leaders to craft the policy changes. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) spearheaded the reforms to the MPP, which also garnered support from Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Pat Roberts (R-KS), as well as key members of the House. NMPF also thanked Reps. Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) for crafting important language to remove the existing cap on livestock insurance products, including the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy program.

Mulhern said that NMPF’s focus will shift to the 2018 Farm Bill, adding that “we have more work ahead in the next Farm Bill, but the safety net and risk management opportunities for dairy farmers are greatly enhanced now, thanks to the passage of these changes,” he said.

In a related development, the USDA released its Farm Bill principles last month.  They start with providing an effective safety net for farmers – reflecting NMPF’s continued emphasis on its goals to fix the MPP and expand the range of risk management tools available to producers.

From Jim Mulhern, President and CEO, NMPF

ARLINGTON, VA – “The votes early Friday in both the House and Senate to pass a budget bill containing major improvements to the dairy safety net are an important victory for America’s dairy farmers. The enhancements to the Margin Protection Program (MPP), coupled with the expansion of additional risk management options, are coming at a crucial time for our producers. Farmers need insurance options that are both effective and affordable, and the disaster package helps deliver on that promise.

“We again thank Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for spearheading these reforms to the MPP, as well as Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) for their support. We also very much appreciate the efforts of Reps. Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) for crafting important language to remove the existing cap on livestock insurance products, including the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy program.

“We have more work ahead in the next Farm Bill, but the safety net and risk management opportunities for dairy farmers are greatly enhanced now, thanks to the passage of these changes.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Milk Producers Federation today said the proposed dairy policy reforms included in the newly unveiled congressional disaster assistance package are “much-needed improvements to the dairy safety net,” according to NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern, and come at a time when many of America’s dairy farmers are struggling financially after a third year of stagnant prices.

NMPF sent a letter Thursday to the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, urging passage of the larger spending bill that contains reforms to the dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) and provides access to additional risk management tools from the Agriculture Department (USDA). These key dairy-related elements in the bill will create $1.2 billion in baseline spending for the next Farm Bill, paving the way for additional improvements to the MPP.

The dairy provisions are part of a spending package announced Wednesday night by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In the NMPF letter sent to McConnell, Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, NMPF outlined the difficult economic situation facing dairy producers today, including declining milk prices and global export challenges. The proposed dairy policy changes will better help farmers weather this challenging environment, the letter said.

The MPP reforms included in the dairy package include:

• Raising the catastrophic coverage level from $4.00 to $5.00 for the first tier of covered production for all dairy farmers;
• Adjusting the first tier of covered production to include every dairy farmer’s first five million pounds of annual milk production (about 217 cows) instead of four million pounds, a recognition of the growth in herd sizes across the country;
• Reducing the premium rates, effective immediately, for every producer’s first five million pounds of production, to better enable dairy farmers to afford the higher levels of coverage that will provide more meaningful protection against low margins;
• Modifying the margin calculation to a monthly (from bi-monthly) basis, to make the program more accurate and responsive to producers in difficult months;
• Waiving the annual $100 administrative fees for underserved farmers;
• Directing USDA to immediately reopen the program signup for 2018.

The disaster package also lifts the $20 million annual cap on all livestock insurance, including the Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) program. This will allow USDA to develop a wider variety of additional risk management tools that will be especially important for larger dairy producers and can complement the MPP.

“We applaud Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for spearheading the badly needed reforms to the MPP, which will make the program a more effective safety net for dairy producers,” said Mulhern. “These critical provisions are based on their proposal that was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee last summer in a bipartisan vote. The reforms also reflect the assistance of Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Pat Roberts (R-KS), as well as key members of the House.”

“Similarly, we commend Reps. Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) for crafting important language to remove the existing cap on livestock insurance products, including the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy program. This will give dairy farmers the opportunity to access a variety of additional risk management tools that can complement MPP, and it garnered bipartisan support from our Senate allies. Taken together, these changes will provide important risk management tools for dairy farm operations of all sizes.”

Assuming these dairy provisions – and additional funding for the cotton program – are approved as part of the budget deal this week, NMPF will then focus on working with the Senate and House agriculture committees on shaping the 2018 Farm Bill. The added resources established by the fixes to the MPP and LGM program “help pave the way for final adjustments to the dairy safety net for the next five years as Congress crafts a new Farm Bill,” Mulhern said.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today admonished the authors of a McGill University study for a research article falsely describing milk as a high-risk factor in spreading foodborne illness. NMPF said the study’s authors need to clarify that any significant dairy-related food safety risk is only associated with the consumption of raw milk, not commercially available dairy foods sold in the United States and other developed nations.

Prepared by a graduate student at McGill University of Canada and published in the Journal of Food Science and Technology, the study compared the nutritional profiles of four imitation dairy beverages and conventional cow’s milk. The research demonstrated that none of the plant-based imitations replicates the nutritional benefits of real milk. However, the study also published inaccurate claims that cow’s milk “has been associated to cause wide spread disease outbreaks around the world.”

In a letter to the study’s authors, NMPF rebuked the claim, saying it is actually raw, unpasteurized milk that is a demonstrable source of pathogens.

Dr. Beth Briczinski, NMPF’s vice president for dairy foods and nutrition, said the media attention to this inaccurate claim was disconcerting and had to be addressed.

“Cow’s milk is one of the most regulated food products on the market today,” she said. “To publish such an egregious claim in a scientific journal could damage consumer trust in this great beverage, which is why we insist that the study’s authors issue a correction to the journal article and revise its press release immediately.”

The public health risk associated with raw milk is supported by scientific evidence spanning over one hundred years. Raw milk is a key vehicle in the transmission of human pathogens like E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella, the letter said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported that over 70 percent of foodborne outbreaks involving dairy are attributed to raw milk. It is illegal in both Canada and many U.S. states.

“There is no basis for your statement linking milk consumption to worldwide foodborne outbreaks,” said the letter. “Such a comment has the potential to do incredible, unjustified harm to our industry and has the potential to cause fear in consumers who are seeking nutrient-dense and safe products for themselves and their families.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today urged the U.S. Senate to swiftly approve Gregg Doud as chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

Doud’s confirmation process was halted last year after Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) placed a hold on his nomination. With Flake’s hold now lifted, USDEC President and CEO Tom Vilsack and NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern are asking the Senate to move quickly to confirm Doud, particularly given the breadth of trade issues in which the USTR is engaged.

“The U.S. dairy industry welcomes this news, and looks forward to working closely with Doud as the new U.S. ag chief negotiator,” said Vilsack. “The role of the agriculture ambassador within the USTR is critical to successful U.S. engagement with current negotiations and growing global markets.”

“America’s dairy farmers depend on carefully calibrated trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement (KORUS),” Mulhern said. “We need a strong advocate for agriculture in the USTR during this crucial period.”

U.S. dairy exports support millions of jobs, from farmers and processors to distribution and shipping businesses in every U.S. state. During the last several years, exports have become extremely important to the industry. The United States has gone from exporting less than $1 billion in 2000 to exporting more than$7 billion in 2014, before a dip in prices dropped exports to $5 billion in 2016.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, Va., develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of U.S. dairy producers and the cooperatives they collectively own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S, milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit www.nmpf.org.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe.

PHOENIX, AZ – National Dairy FARM Program participants Chris and Mary Kraft of Fort Morgan, Colorado, have won the 2018 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Award in the dairy category. The BQA Awards – announced today in Phoenix – recognize the nation’s leading beef and dairy producers who demonstrate a commitment to the highest quality animal care.

Chris and his wife Mary started their own dairy business, which has since grown to encompass two operations near Fort Morgan. Badger Creek Farm is considered home, where they and son Stratton milk 1,300 cows. Quail Ridge Dairy is 3 miles south, where they milk 4,300 Holsteins. Chris is both a National Milk Producers Federation board member – focusing on animal care and sustainability issues – and a board director with Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).

“Both Chris and Mary are passionate advocates for quality milk production and never waver from their commitment to make sure the cows on their farms are content, comfortable and well cared for,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “They are well deserving of this prestigious award.”

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, announced the winners of its prestigious 2018 Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Awards today at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual meeting in Phoenix. The awards honor outstanding beef and dairy producers and marketers that demonstrate the best animal care and handling principles as part of their day-to-day operations. Awards were given in five categories: Cow-Calf, Dairy, Feedyard, Marketer and Educator of the Year.

“By combining their passion with a focus on preventative health management, the farm showcases their commitment to BQA guidelines in every step of their dairy operation,” BQA said in its announcement. “What makes the Krafts unique is their two-farm operation. One site houses healthy cattle. The other manages animals that may need a little extra ‘TLC.’ By using this two-site system, Kraft Family Dairies has been able to focus their management appropriately to enhance the well-being of their herds.”

NMPF and its National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Animal Care Program partners with both NCBA and BQA, working closely to create valuable producer resources on stockmanship, dairy beef welfare and quality, and animal care. The two organizations also work closely on stakeholder engagement and customer outreach.

“We’re proud of our ongoing partnership with the BQA program, and appreciate their recognition of one of our leading FARM Program participants with this award,” said Emily Meredith, NMPF chief of staff. “This award demonstrates that, through collaboration and outreach, producers can be recognized for the work they do in upholding industry standards and their participation in programs like FARM.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

One of the most obvious trends in marketing today is that consumers are seeking assurances about how their food is produced, and consumer goods companies, as well as restaurants and retailers, are working hard to deliver those assurances. But providing assurances is no longer as easy as generating an image and creating a story. Instead, dairy customers are looking for documented, verifiable evidence that their food is being produced in a responsible manner.

Dairy foods have a great nutritional story behind them, as no category offers the same consistent package of vitamins and minerals for such a low cost in such a variety of appealing forms. That reality once was enough to win the marketing battle. We all know that for a variety of reasons, however, the promotional truisms of the 20^th century no longer hold sway.  Consumers – at least some of them – take low-cost nutrition for granted, and now want to hear more about where their food originated and under what conditions.  And those stories about the provenance of food need facts and evidence to back them up.

The marketplace is well past the point where people will simply take proclamations about happy cows for granted.  Key performance metrics and data points are augmenting brands’ use of icons and slogans, as the influence of social media opens up barn doors and informs the marketing process.

In the dairy community, we have the National Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program to deliver those metrics, assisting the entire value chain in telling the honest story about America’s dairy farms and the cows in their care. We’re now in the ninth year of operation for the FARM Program, and the need to leverage this national benchmark for dairy cow care is greater today than it was in 2009, when NMPF worked with its member cooperatives and Dairy Management Inc. to launch the initiative.

That need is greater because the entire livestock sector is facing growing levels of scrutiny about animal care overall, as well as challenges to certain practices involving the production of meat, eggs and milk.  Some of this focus certainly has been driven by those who consume no animal products and are motivated by a desire to eliminate the use of livestock. Late last year, our industry was confronted by a series of undercover videos in south Florida, promulgated by a new animal rights group, the Animal Recovery Mission. While the videos showed conduct that was unacceptable and did not meet our FARM Program standards, it was the program’s established protocols and our strong relationships with key customers that helped farmers weather the storm.

Since the incident, FARM Program participants in Florida and across the supply chain pulled together to identify where things went wrong, and will continue to use the incident as a teachable moment to bring farmers up to speed with the latest version of the FARM Program. This includes extensive requirements for employee training and management — two key issues highlighted in the Florida videos. There’s certainly more work to be done to help our FARM Program participants meet the program’s standards and emphasize to their employees the importance of top-notch animal care and handling.

The recent situation in Florida has reinforced one of the core principles of the FARM Program: continuous improvement. Our customers are in the business of selling dairy foods, and we must give them the tools to respond to the questions that arise about dairy animal care. Part of that is assuring our customers that as dairy farmers and members of the cooperative community, our work on animal care is never done — that we’re always striving to do better for our consumers and our cows.

The FARM Program’s animal care standards comprise dozens of different criteria involving the care of dairy cattle throughout the course of their lives, and these standards evolve with new research on animal health and wellbeing.  With 98 percent of the milk supply now enrolled in the program, we are collecting hundreds of thousands of data points to assess how our industry is delivering on its promises to be good stewards. Our focus will remain on inclusion, education and training to maximize the effectiveness of the program.

Our customers — both here and abroad — believe in the FARM Program’s spirit of continuous improvement, and acknowledge that the alternative to having a widely utilized, national program is a fragmented system of competing programs that would be nearly impossible for dairy farmers to implement in a meaningful way.  That’s one reason why we recently worked to ensure that the FARM Program is recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), making it the first livestock animal care program in the world to attain that status. ISO compliance means that dairy customers can trust that their products are held to stringent, internationally recognized animal welfare standards.

Our industry’s story about dairy animal care continues to evolve. What I’m most proud of is how far we’ve come — together — in the last nine years. The program’s strength is found not only in its standards and implementation, but also in the partnerships and trust we’ve built with customers. That trust allows us to celebrate collective successes in animal care, and to come together during challenges, harnessing our collective abilities to do better and come out stronger.

Washington, D.C. – Putting low-fat flavored milk back into schools will bolster the nutrition intake of America’s children, according to comments submitted today to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by the nation’s leading dairy organizations.

In joint comments, both the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) praised a proposed USDA rule for the positive effect it will have on the widely recognized problem of declining school milk consumption. In 2012, USDA eliminated low-fat flavored milk as an option in the school meal and a la carte programs, which resulted in students consuming 288 million fewer half-pints of milk from 2012-2015.

“Removing low-fat flavored milk causes schools to fail the test of how best to provide optimal nutrition for students,” said Dr. Beth Briczinski, Vice President of Dairy Foods and Nutrition for NMPF. “Fortunately, USDA recognizes the need to be more flexible in providing schools a range of milk options to enhance the dietary intake of the nine essential nutrients milk offers.”

Milk is the No. 1 source of three out of four nutrients of public health concern because they are under consumed: potassium, vitamin D and calcium. The dairy groups called the troubling trend “a threat to public health and to the nutritional intakes of all Americans, notably children and adolescents.”

“We appreciate USDA’s commitment to reverse declining school milk consumption by providing students with access to a variety of milk options, including the flavored milks they enjoy,” said Cary Frye, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for IDFA.

In Summer 2017, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced USDA would reinstate low-fat flavored milk as an option allowed by the department. According to the interim rule published on the Federal Register site in November, school districts can solicit bids for low-fat flavored milk in the spring before the 2018-19 school year, giving milk processors time to formulate and produce a low-fat flavored milk that meets the specifications of a school district. It now allows schools to offer low-fat flavored milk during the next school year without requiring schools to demonstrate either a reduction in student milk consumption or an increase in school milk waste.

This interim rule, the comments noted, is consistent with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), which does not suggest that flavored milk should be fat-free or that there is any reason to avoid low-fat flavored milk. In fact, the DGA “acknowledges the potentially positive role of moderate amounts of sweeteners in making foods like milk and yogurt more palatable.” Low-fat flavored milk offers the same nutritional benefits as white milk, but with a taste more children prefer. And with recent formulation changes, flavored milk is now available with significantly lower levels of calories and added sugar.

The two groups told USDA that its interim rule also aligns with the recent re-examination of fat – and dairy fat specifically – in the American diet. As more scientific studies find that advice to reduce fat intake was misguided, they also appear to show that full-fat dairy foods play either a neutral or beneficial role regarding the risk of several chronic diseases.

While the two dairy groups acknowledged that the interim rule does not compel schools to offer more milk options, both hope the option to do so will attract more students to school meal programs and increase the average daily consumption of the drink.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which employs nearly 1 million skilled individuals, generates more than $39 billion in direct wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $200 billion. IDFA is the umbrella organization for the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). Our members range from large multinational organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world. Our diverse membership includes numerous food retailers, suppliers and companies that offer infant formula and a wide variety of milk ingredients.

ARLINGTON, VA – The eradication of Canada’s damaging pricing policies and exorbitant tariff barriers must be a key focus of U.S. government trade officials as members of the House Ways and Means Committee head to Montreal this weekend for the fifth round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC).

The removal of Canadian dairy policies that negatively impact U.S. dairy trade is the first of three critical goals both organizations said today must be emphasized by the U.S. trade delegation in Canada. In a letter to House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman David Reichert (R-WA) and Ranking Member Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) – both of whom are attending the talks – NMPF President & CEO Jim Mulhern and USDEC President & CEO Tom Vilsack urged lawmakers to also focus on preserving the current duty-free U.S. market access in Mexico granted by NAFTA, and improving other key areas affecting agricultural trade, such as preventing the misuse of geographical indications (GIs).

NMPF and USDEC Senior Vice President Jaime Castaneda is also in Montreal this week, engaging with trade officials from all three participating nations regarding the same objectives.

“Dairy trade with Canada has for too long been excluded from NAFTA’s benefits,” Mulhern said in the letter.

He added: “We need to finish the work started under NAFTA by doing away with Canada’s exorbitant dairy tariff walls and addressing Canada’s repeated use of policy tools such as the recent Class 7 pricing program that have consistently been aimed at harming U.S. dairy exports.”

The organizations have pushed for the complete removal of Canada’s Class 7 pricing program, “which in 2017 led to a 200-percent surge in Canadian skim milk powder exports around the world and slashed U.S. exports of certain dairy products,” according to the letter.

“Our exporters and their supplying farmers rely on those global markets, and Canada is using Class 7 to artificially compete in them at our expense,” Vilsack said. “Our concerns about this harmful program are very much shared by the world’s other leading dairy exporters, as well. We have the unique opportunity to actually resolve this problem via the NAFTA 2.0 process and it’s critical that we seize it.”

The Trump Administration’s November 2017 NAFTA objectives also call for addressing the concerns related to Class 7.

Preserving the existing duty-free market access for agricultural goods is also critical, the letter continued, especially regarding the country’s trade relationship with Mexico: “Without NAFTA, our exporters could lose their number-one market accounting for over $1 billion in dairy sales each year,” Mulhern and Vilsack noted in the letter.

NMPF and USDEC also pointed to important provisions on common food names and food safety standards that are part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), in which Canada and Mexico remain engaged. Agreements within the new CPTPP on limiting the use of GIs provide a strong platform on which to further build NAFTA to then safeguard global sales opportunities for cheeses like romano and feta that are produced in the United States.

The U.S. dairy groups asked the Ways and Means committee members traveling to Canada to help deliver the message “that the time for postponing is past, and Canada must now work seriously to make progress towards realizing a modernized NAFTA.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, Va., develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of U.S. dairy producers and the cooperatives they collectively own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S, milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit www.nmpf.org.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe.