GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The U.S. and Mexican dairy industries released a unified list of priorities today that includes modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to solidify their strong dairy market partnership, and addressing concerns about Canadian and European dairy policies.

A list of nine shared priorities was agreed upon Thursday at a second annual summit meeting here between leaders of the two nations’ dairy industries, collectively called the United States-Mexico Dairy Alliance. The written list of priorities was released today.

The U.S. dairy industry was represented by the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). Mexican dairy producer organizations included the Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas, Gremio de Productores Lechero de la República Mexicana, and the Asociación Nacional de Ganaderos Lecheros, along with Mexican processor organization Camara Nacional de Industriales de la Leche.

The summit occurred on the heels of the first round of NAFTA renegotiation talks. As NAFTA talks continue, the European Union (EU) is seeking, through direct negotiations with Mexico, to impose new barriers to dairy trade through the abuse of geographical indications. This is a significant concern to U.S. and Mexican cheesemakers because it would give the EU exclusive use of common cheese names like asiago, gorgonzola and feta.

Canada is also disrupting dairy trade in North America and beyond as its new Class 6/7 pricing scheme dumps artificially low-cost milk powder in global markets, displacing U.S. exports from the Canadian market.

“We want to strengthen our relationship as Mexico’s most trusted dairy trading partner so we can continue to work together for the benefit of dairy sectors on both sides of the border,” said USDEC President and CEO Tom Vilsack. “That goal is all the more essential given other nations’ efforts to pursue harmful and disruptive approaches to dairy trade with Mexico through practices that hurt Mexican and U.S. dairy farmers and workers in the process.”

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, said, “We are very pleased that our friends in Mexico have joined us in expressing opposition to the abusive attempts of the European Union to confiscate common food names, as well as the trade distorting practices of Canada, at a time when we are working to facilitate new opportunities throughout North America. This meeting provided an opportunity to explore how we can deepen those efforts.”

Last year, representatives from the two nations’ dairy sectors held a two-day summit in Denver, Colo., that created a United States-Mexico Dairy Alliance. This year in Guadalajara, the focus was on expanding areas of collaboration while preserving current trade. The NAFTA renegotiation talks emerged as an important topic because the agreement is the foundation of the industries’ mutually beneficial free-trade relationship.

Enacted in 1992, NAFTA removed barriers to trade, and has led to more than a six-fold increase in U.S. dairy exports to Mexico, to $1.2 billion in 2016. Round one of NAFTA modernization talks ended Aug. 20 in Washington, with a second round scheduled Sept. 1-5 in Mexico City, and a third round in Canada in late September.

Vilsack and Mulhern noted that, in contrast to Mexico’s open trade approach, Canada has retained sky-high dairy tariffs and implemented policies that hinder free trade between North American neighbors. Canada’s new Class 6/7 pricing policy has drawn strong concerns of both the United States and Mexico, and was a significant point of discussion at the meeting here.

Mulhern noted that the new Canadian pricing scheme “intentionally undercuts U.S. dairy protein exports to other world markets, and at the same time, hurts dairy farmers in the U.S., Mexico and around the world by artificially lowering world market prices.”

The U.S.-Mexico Dairy Alliance members agreed to continue to maintain an open communications channel between the industry organizations as they analyze and seek mutually beneficial solutions to problems affecting the dairy industries of both countries.

Vilsack said the meeting “illustrates how our industries are committed to seeing our relationship continue to flourish and to jointly rejecting unjustified barriers to dairy trade.”

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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.

ARLINGTON, VA – As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prepares to develop a regulatory standard for the labeling of bioengineered food ingredients, it must ensure that consumers receive clear, accurate information about the foods they eat, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).

In comments filed today with USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service, NMPF said it supports a strict, science-based approach in determining how foods made using bioengineering should be regulated. Since bioengineered foods have repeatedly been found to be completely safe by both domestic and international science and research organizations, NMPF said the new standard under review by USDA should focus on providing consumers accurate information, while discouraging misleading marketing tactics or meaningless absence claims.

NMPF’s comments were among many submitted to USDA today by a variety of farm and food organizations that worked together last year through a broad coalition to help pass the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in July 2016.

There is “irrefutable scientific evidence that such foods are safe and not materially different from their conventional counterparts,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. However, he said, too many food companies utilize “fear-mongering” to vilify food biotechnology, as they seek to profit from the consumer confusion surrounding its use.

“We’ve long stood unequivocally behind the science that foods made through approved biotechnology techniques are completely safe, and have been since the first government approvals more than 20 years ago,” Mulhern said.

In its comments, NMPF emphasized that Congress clearly recognized in the new law that giving farm animals grains developed through biotechnology has no effect on the meat and milk derived from those livestock. Thus, Mulhern noted, “dairy foods are not genetically modified products and therefore there is nothing to label.” More than 60 other nations around the world have biotech disclosure requirements, and none have labeling requirements on milk or meats from animals that may have consumed bioengineered grains.

National Milk stressed that the bioengineered food disclosure standard is really a measure to regulate food marketing, not food safety. Therefore, in determining the level of a substance needed for a product to be considered bioengineered, NMPF suggested that USDA use the same 5-percent threshold employed by the National Organic Program (NOP), another marketing program administered by the department. Under this approach, the minimum disclosure level for bioengineered ingredients would be 5 percent, below which mandatory label disclosure would not be required.

“USDA should consider a threshold that supports continued use of bioengineered ingredients or substances and is consistent with other recognized standards,” according to NMPF’s comments.

To avoid consumer confusion and the use of ambiguous labels, NMPF suggested that only two designations be used to disclose bioengineered foods: “contains bioengineered ingredients” and “may contain bioengineered ingredients.” It also insisted that any disclosure be “non-disparaging” to bioengineering technology.

“A food label should not be designed to scare consumers into purchasing certain products, especially when such labels suggest a distinction in which there is no real difference. It’s not fair to try to manipulate consumers through unfounded fears, nor is it fair to the other food companies that don’t engage in such dishonest marketing,” said Mulhern. “We support honest labeling practices in the marketplace, and hope USDA will heed our comments to accomplish this goal.”

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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 – Dairy producers have until Sept. 10 to complete a survey asking about their perceptions of the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program and how it can continue to improve the resources it offers farmers.

The voluntary survey, conducted by the FARM Program in conjunction with Colorado State University, probes producers’ knowledge of FARM and the value it provides to their operations. The results will help FARM’s Animal Care program better provide cooperatives and farmers with the appropriate guidance and materials required of program participants. Survey questions address topics such as the producer’s familiarity with the program, where they seek additional FARM Program information, and why stewardship practices are important to them.

The study, titled “Dairy Producer Perceptions of the National Dairy FARM Program,” is being led by Dr. Noa Román-Muñiz and Kayla Rink from Colorado State University’s Department of Animal Sciences. The survey is confidential and only summarized data will be shared with the primary researchers, so participants cannot be identified directly. Those interested in taking the survey can do so by clicking here.

The information gleaned from this survey will also help advance the FARM Program by increasing its efficiency and impact for farmers, and help staff understand producers’ needs. Improving the FARM Program will assist the dairy industry in forming uniform objectives on animal welfare.

Processors and cooperatives interested in distributing the survey to their members can contact dairyfarm@nmpf.org or Kayla Rink at Colorado State (kcalvin@rams.colostate.edu). Individual producers can take the online version or contact the FARM Program to be mailed a copy.

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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 – “In her speech to Parliament today, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland seems to want it both ways – free trade with the United States in areas where Canada is competitive, but high protectionist walls when it comes to keeping out U.S. dairy imports. Moreover, Minister Freeland’s comments Monday about the dairy trade elements of the upcoming NAFTA talks are completely misleading.

“For too long, Canada has relied on government controls on farm milk production to boost prices, while minimizing dairy imports to limit competition. By comparison, the United States has slashed its government involvement in dairy markets, and relies on exporting its products to global customers to a greater degree than ever before.

“That’s why the United States and other major dairy exporting nations, including Mexico and Argentina, are so upset with Canada’s latest Class 7 pricing scheme that is designed to undercut world market prices and unfairly dump Canada’s surplus milk at the expense of the United States and other exporters. Ironically, Canada’s so-called ‘supply management’ system is failing to manage supply. Despite having no domestic market for more milk solids, the government there has sharply increased farm level production quotas, resulting in an accompanying spike of almost 300 percent in Canadian milk powder exports in 2017 so far. These exports are only made possible because Canada manipulates domestic pricing through the Class 7 subsidy scheme.

“Canada cannot be allowed to maintain a system that establishes one of the highest milk prices in the world within its borders while using world markets as a dumping ground for a huge increase in its production. While it has the right to choose its own domestic farm policies, Canada doesn’t have the right to use those policy tools to manipulate global dairy markets to the benefit of Canada’s lucrative dairy industry, and the detriment of the rest of the world’s dairy exporters.

“Regarding Minister Freeland’s comment that the United States should be grateful that it sells more dairy products to Canada than it imports, this is hardly an example of a ‘good deal’ for farmers in the United States or consumers in Canada. Much of what the United States exports to Canada is ultimately shipped back out under Canadian import for re-export programs. Canada has been refusing to share details of imports and exports under those programs, but the reality is that much of the dairy the United States ships to Canada doesn’t stay in Canada.

“The Canadian supply management program was basically ignored in 1993 when NAFTA was first negotiated.  As the next generation of NAFTA arrives, here’s hoping that Canada is finally ready to have its dairy sector play by the same set of rules everyone else has been operating under for years.”

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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. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) long absence of enforcement of its own food standards has allowed the marketing of hundreds of deceptively labeled dairy imitators – a situation requiring immediate action by the federal government, National Milk Producers Federation officials told the agency during a high-level meeting in Maryland today.

In September, the National Dairy FARM Program is joining the National Beef Quality Assurance Program to host a half day of programming at the 2017 annual conference of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners in Omaha, Neb.

The meeting on Sept. 14 features several sessions that will focus on emerging animal care issues within the dairy industry. These include topics like the veterinarian’s role in crisis management and the release of the National Beef Quality Audit results. Speakers will include Dr. Nigel Cook of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and Dr. Hans Coetzee of Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. More information can be found on the AABP website.

NMPF’s second annual FARM Program Evaluator Conference held last month hosted more than 70 dairy industry experts to share, network and learn about the latest in animal care, environmental sustainability and antibiotic stewardship efforts. Elanco, Zoetis and Merck Animal Health sponsored the event, held July 18-20 in Indianapolis.

FARM evaluators were able to hone their professional development and leadership skills at this year’s event. Later they were given a tour of the Elanco headquarters, where they learned about the company’s mission, goals and role in the social responsibility conversation.

The next day was packed with programming on topics ranging from “The Economic of Animal Well-Being” with Dr. Ricardo Chebel from the University of Florida, to a presentation on proper pain management during disbudding with Dr. John Laster from Todd County Animal Clinic. One of the most compelling sessions was a panel discussion of farmers and Merck Animal Health staff sharing the importance of employee training and protocol development — key elements in version 3.0 of the FARM Animal Care Program.

An optional tour of Fair Oaks Farm rounded out the week, hosted by NMPF Third Vice Chairman Mike McCloskey and his family. Experiencing “Dairy’s Disneyland” allowed the attendees to learn the value of telling the good dairy story. Dr. Tom Sarosy, of Prairie’s Edge Dairy and Fair Oaks Farms, joined the group for lunch to discuss Fair Oaks’ philosophy on what makes a successful working environment to enhance animal welfare.

NMPF’s participation helped resolve several key issues at the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in early July. The issues included a long-deliberated standard on processed cheese, work on new standards to combat antimicrobial resistance, as well as discussions about Codex’s overall scope of work and authority, and elections of a new Codex Chair.

NMPF staff attended the meeting as part of the U.S. delegation, with support from the U.S. Dairy Export Council, to ensure that these issues — and others — were resolved favorably for the dairy industry. The standard on processed cheese was one that had challenged the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP) for decades. NMPF has long asserted that such a standard is unnecessary, but work on the standard has continued in Codex due to an on-going request by many developing countries in Latin America and Africa.

This year, notwithstanding objections and reservations from numerous countries, the Chair of the Commission stood firm that the recommendation of the Codex Executive Committee to discontinue work should be respected, as there had been no proposed solutions or ways forward over the past year.

The most critical discussions at this year’s CAC meeting focused on the topic of antimicrobial resistance. The Codex Commission formed two working groups to develop and revise standards to address this issue: one on Practice Revision and another on Surveillance. NMPF staff worked to ensure that the scope of both working groups is as limited as possible, and fully supported the U.S. efforts to chair the Practice Revision working group. The Netherlands will chair the working group on Surveillance, and NMPF will be represented on both working groups and actively engaged in this work going forward.

The Commission also adopted the Codex Standard for Dairy Permeate Powder, which had been under development in recent years and was strongly supported by the U.S. dairy industry. The Commission agreed that the work related to use of preservatives and anticaking agents for surface treatment of Mozzarella with high moisture content should be addressed through the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA).

Lastly, the Commission elected a new Chair, Guilherme Antonio da Costa Jr. from Brazil, and three new Vice-Chairpersons from Indonesia, Lebanon and the United Kingdom. The U.S. government was pleased with the outcome of the election, and NMPF staff will now be working to ensure that the U.S. forms a strong relationship with the new chair, in order to ensure the most favorable resolutions of our issues during his three-year tenure.

A copy of the full CAC report can be found here.

In a welcome development for NMPF and other farm groups concerned with the flawed Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) regulation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corp of Engineers last week formally began the process of withdrawing the controversial 2015 regulation. NMPF intends to file comments in support of EPA’s plan to rescind the rule, and will continue to engage with EPA as a second, revised regulation is issued later this year.

Earlier this year, the incoming Trump Administration ordered a review of the WOTUS rule in response to concerns many farm groups had raised since the measure was finalized in 2015.  Because the WOTUS regulation significantly expanded the EPA’s authority over waterways used by farmers for drainage and irrigation, the measure was challenged in a federal appeals court and ultimately put on hold last year.

This latest development on July 27 is part of a plan outlined this spring by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to initiate a public rulemaking to rescind WOTUS, and in the interim, revert to following laws governing water protection that were first enacted in 1986. NMPF agrees with the EPA that the agency needs to proceed in this manner.

EPA will accept comments on the rescission of the 2015 WOTUS rule until Aug. 28, 2017.  This winter, EPA will issue a proposal to modify the 1986 rule so that it focuses on a logical and reasonable interpretation of the Clean Water Act and related judicial opinions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals on July 17 to halt issuance of a mandate to eliminate the manure air emission exemption for six months from the date of a stay order or until Jan. 17, 2018, whichever is later. In the meantime, NMPF continues to engage with senior EPA staff and members of Congress to find a long-term solution.

EPA stated that a stay is needed in order to give the agency time to develop guidance for farms on how to measure emissions of hazardous substances from animal waste in order to report releases of the substances exceeding threshold levels in compliance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

EPA noted that 63,000 small- and medium-sized farms that were previously exempt from the reporting requirements must come into compliance. EPA also conveyed to the appeals court that they intend to explore possible regulatory or other administrative approaches to address reporting obligations. A favorable ruling on EPA’s motion will cut off any potential litigation and give NMPF time to collaborate with EPA and animal agriculture industry partners to find a long-term solution.

Thanks to assistance from CWT, member cooperatives secured 22 contracts to sell 4.58 million pounds of cheese to customers in Asia, Central America, the Middle East and Oceania in July 2017. The product will be shipped during the months of July through October 2017.

These July transactions raise the total year-to-date, CWT-assisted product sales to 45.04 million pounds of cheese and 3.01 million pounds of butter. These sales are going customers in 17 countries in five regions, and will move the equivalent of 483.47 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis overseas through October 2017.

In the long term, helping CWT member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share through the Export Assistance program expands the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively impacts all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly affect their milk price.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by submission of the required documentation.

All cooperatives and dairy farmers are encouraged to add their support to this important program. Membership forms are available on the CWT website.

The monthly Margin Protection Program (MPP) feed cost for June was $7.97/cwt, based on corn and alfalfa hay prices reported last week by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and soybean meal prices reported by the department’s Agricultural Marketing Service. NASS also reported that the U.S. average all-milk price rose $0.60/cwt.  from May to $17.30/cwt in June. The monthly MPP margin for June was $9.33/cwt, bringing the bimonthly margin for May-June to $8.97/cwt.

The monthly all-milk price for June was $0.80 per hundredweight higher than in April, and the same as in March. The current CME dairy futures markets collectively predict that it will add at least another $2/cwt. by the end of this year. The CME futures continue to project modest increases in corn prices and virtually flat prices for soybean meal through the end of the year. The NASS alfalfa hay price dropped slightly from May to June after increasing steadily from $128 per ton in January to $155 per ton in May. USDA’s current MPP margin forecast, shown above, based on the July 28 CME futures settlements, continues to project that the margin will remain well above $8 per hundredweight during 2017, with essentially no chance that it will fall below that level before 2018.

USDA’s MPP margin forecasts are updated daily at online. NMPF’s Future for Dairy website offers a variety of educational resources to help farmers make better use of the program.