Author: Theresa Sweeney

On Nutrition, It’s Defense That Wins for Dairy

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

While advocating for dairy farmers is always rewarding work, some of its most frustrating, but necessary, challenges come when, instead of working to push policy forward to improve dairy farmers’ lives and businesses, we at NMPF have to push back against proposals that would threaten the progress we’ve made.

Unlike achievements in which the results are clear and tangible – an excellent example is this week’s announcement of $100 million in reimbursements to medium- and larger-sized dairy farmers for pandemic-related losses that weren’t included in an earlier round of payments – sometimes, simply keeping bad things from happening is a policy win.

That’s especially true in the world of nutrition, where diet fads, pseudo-science and well-intentioned, but flawed, plans can work against the benefits of dairy that have been proven over generations. Many of those battles become years-long slogs over arcane definitions, filled with behind-the-scenes meetings with federal officials and full-throated efforts that use up energy to keep bad things from happening rather than make good things happen. In those cases, success isn’t celebrated with a news release and a victory lap – often, it’s the quiet satisfaction of seeing nothing happen at all.

Fortunately for NMPF and dairy, we have a top-notch team of regulatory experts ready for the slogs, working with our government relations and trade staff to provide a formidable defense for dairy and keep a sharp focus on efforts to ensure that consumers can maximize the health benefits of milk, despite short-sighted and misinformed attempts to limit them.

One critical effort underway right now is to ensure that dairy access isn’t reduced in the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Program, which provides critical nutrition assistance for lower-income mothers and children. A USDA proposed rule released last November has its positive points, including approaches that would expand options for yogurt and cheese varieties and authorizes lactose-free milk as an option. But it also includes provisions that would decrease overall access to dairy products. That wouldn’t only reduce access to dairy’s nutrients in WIC – because dairy is one of the most popular parts of the program, reducing access to dairy foods could harm WIC participation altogether.

The USDA rule isn’t final yet, and we are working across the dairy community, including with our counterparts at the International Dairy Foods Association and others, to make sure WIC continues to reduce food insecurity, malnutrition, and diet-related disease while improving health outcomes by making it easier for all Americans to access healthy, affordable dairy foods. This work goes in tandem with our efforts to maintain legislative support for nutrition programs such as WIC, and of course our collaboration with the nutrition community to back critical Farm Bill initiatives such as SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and the Dairy Donation Program.

Another crucial recent fight has been to stymie the cynical exploitation of a true crisis – the infant-formula shortages U.S. families experienced throughout 2022 – by certain agenda-driven groups  and various foreign manufacturers that want American consumers to become dependent on their product, to the detriment of the U.S.’s own dairy manufacturing sector, and consequently U.S. jobs. Last year, we strongly supported well-defined measures that temporarily boosted imports as a way to make sure family needs were met when a critical plant in the highly centralized U.S. formula industry went offline. But as the crisis has faded, foreign interests are attempting to turn short-term reliance into longer-term dependence – and exploit a free-pass on the regulatory process normally required to ship formula to the U.S.

The U.S. is a major supplier of dairy products around the world. It is one of the most reliable dairy industries, with a large pool of high-quality milk. The real reforms needed to ensure we can best handle any potential future supply disruptions are not further unilateral tariff cuts to encourage foreign imports, but rather an overhaul of U.S. policy that makes domestic formula companies better able to invest in new facilities here, as our cheese and ingredient sectors already do. Protecting U.S. families and developing common sense policies doesn’t make an industry “protectionist” – it makes it more robust, and better able to withstand any future disruptions that may occur. That’s why we won’t back down from pursuing policies that will allow the U.S. infant-formula industry to expand.

Those are only two recent efforts we’ve made in defending the key nutrition contributions of U.S. dairy farmers and their cooperatives. There are many others. By mid-month, NMPF, working with its allies, will submit comments on a proposed Food and Drug Administration rule governing the word “healthy” as applied to food products. No one’s opposed to being “healthy,” but FDA’s broad-brush approach in its proposed rule, which relies on old science about fats and fails to adequately distinguish milkfat from other fats, in some cases may not best capture the essential nutrition dairy provides.

Meanwhile, FDA guidance on plant-based beverage labeling still looms, and we’re working to ensure that dairy’s standard of identity is respected. Also on tap is the next Dietary Guidelines for Americans, due in 2025; that process inevitably comes along with the standard interest-group lobbying against dairy, even though the guidelines themselves cite how nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population consumes less dairy than it recommends.

Of course, we’re not always playing defense on these issues. The latest science on dietary fats helps us support the benefits of whole milk within the dietary guidelines and in federal nutrition programs, and the nation’s nutritional needs alone argue for increased support for dairy at the federal policy level. But due to opposition from vegan groups, environmental and other activists who don’t want to hear our story, our successes sometimes come from the bad things we prevent as well as the progress we achieve.

On nutrition, we know that consumers, science and the strength of this industry are on our side. We defend our values and positions well — and that sets us up to keep moving ahead.

President & CEO

National Milk Producers Federation

 

NMPF Applauds Additional Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program Payments

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) commended Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and leading congressional dairy advocates for providing $100 million in additional, targeted payments under the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program that will aid medium-sized and larger producers who missed out on equitable payments during the first round of assistance in 2021.

“While losses due to the combination of unforeseen market circumstances and an inadequate Class I pricing system have not been fully remedied, USDA and congressional efforts will aid thousands of dairy producers who otherwise would have absorbed losses created by policies that didn’t work for them,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “It’s not every day that lawmakers step up and resolve a problem that could have been left to lie. We never gave up, and we’re pleased that others didn’t either.”

NMPF singled out for praise, along with Vilsack, Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-GA); Jim Costa (D-CA); David Valadao (R-CA); Kat Cammack (R-FL); Josh Harder (D-CA); Kim Schrier (D-WA); and Andy Harris (R-MD) as well as Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) for their efforts, which directly reflect their dedication to the dairy farmers who live in their districts and nationwide. “The leadership of these lawmakers, and others, were critical in ensuring that available USDA funds were directed toward their best use – making life fairer for dairy farmers,” Mulhern said. “It’s heartening to see such effective leadership for our industry on Capitol Hill as well as in the administration.”

In this round of payments, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will make PMVAP payments to eligible dairy farmers for fluid milk sales between 5 million and 9 million pounds from July through December 2020. This level of production was not eligible for payment under the first round of the PMVAP, which capped payments at 5 million pounds during that same period. Payment rates will be identical to the first round of payments, which distributed $250 million in assistance to 25,000 dairy farmers.

USDA will again distribute monies through agreements with independent handlers and cooperatives, with reimbursement to handlers for allowed administrative costs. USDA will contact handlers with eligible producers to notify them of the opportunity to participate.

NMPF will continue in its efforts to remedy losses among dairy farmers of all sizes, as well as for those farmers unable to receive program funds because their milk was not pooled on a Federal Milk Marketing Order but still endured similar price losses.

Farmers Face Unique Mental-Health Challenges, Roecker Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Farming is a uniquely stressful occupation, and farmer mental-health needs tend to be underserved, said Loganville, WI dairy farmer Randy Roecker in the latest Dairy Defined podcast. Roecker, a board member for Foremost Farms USA, is a co-founder of the Farmer Angel Network, a Wisconsin organization that helps support farmers’ mental health needs.

“A lot of farmers are very isolated and they don’t get off the farm very much. This leads to getting stuck in the same rut over and over again,” he said. “The main thing is to just be there for each other.”

The full podcast is here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file below. Please attribute information to NMPF.

Falling Prices, Rising Opportunities on Tap for 2023

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Record milk prices seen in 2022 likely won’t repeat themselves, as production increases and consumers grapple with an economic slowdown, according to members of the NMPF and U.S. Dairy Export Council’s joint economics unit, in a Dairy Defined Podcast released today. But exports are on track to increase, and demand will likely be resilient as dairy remains must-have for buyers.

“Consumers around the world still gravitate towards dairy, even when they’re experiencing tighter economic situations,” said Will Loux, head of the team Vice President for Global Economic Affairs with NMPF and USDEC. “They ultimately view dairy as an essential item and will continue to consume it.”

Loux discusses the global and domestic dairy outlook with NMPF’s Chief Economist, Peter Vitaliano; Economic Research and Analysis Director, Stephen Cain; and the joint economic team’s newest member, Economic Policy and Global Analysis Coordinator, Allison Wilton. The full podcast is here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file below. Please attribute information to NMPF.

Protecting Trade from a Foreign Animal Disease Focus of USDA Meeting

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Karen Jordan, DVM and chair of NMPF’s Animal Health and Wellbeing Committee, and Dr. Jamie Jonker, NMPF’s chief science officer, met with USDA APHIS Administrator Kevin Shae and other USDA animal health leadership Dec. 6 to discuss animal-health issues for U.S. dairy farmers, focusing on trade and biosecurity.

Jonker spoke about the importance of USDA advocacy for science-based World Organization for Animal Health and Codex Alimentarius standards allowing the safe trade of dairy products, noting that U.S. dairy exports will be nearly 20% of domestic production and $10 billion in 2022. He thanked USDA for the initial funding for the federal-state-industry partnership that developed the Secure Milk Supply Plan. He also reported on the progress being made to advance and integrate Everyday and Enhanced/Secure Milk Supply biosecurity into the National Dairy FARM Program due to the NADPRP cooperative agreement.

Jordan requested acceleration of development of a milk bulk tank Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) test which could be used to augment the Secure Milk Supply Plan to assist in maintaining continuity of business for dairy farmers should an FMD outbreak occur in the United States. USDA also handles health certification for dairy export certificates, which are vital to maintain and expand trade.

Jordan also reported on the progress of the NMPF-led multi-stakeholder task force with dairy farmers, veterinarians, and state and federal animal and public health officials to address the transmission of Bovine Tuberculosis from cattle to humans and humans to cattle. She also stressed the overall importance of USDA cattle health programs for dairy farmers, including revising and updating the National Tuberculosis Eradication Program standards to meet contemporary challenges of disease eradication, including disease transmission, lower disease incidence, and changing production systems.

Jonker expressed hope that USDA would publish the long-delayed update to the National Tuberculosis Eradication Program standards soon. He also discussed the importance emerging animal health and safety issues including the Asian longhorn tick and black vultures, which are a threat to dairy cattle on pasture, and long-term issues like animal identification and disease traceability to dairy farmers.

December CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales Totaled 7.1 Million Pounds

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

CWT member cooperatives secured 25 contracts in December, adding 7.0 million pounds of American-type cheeses and 37,000 pounds of cream cheese to CWT-assisted sales in 2022. In milk equivalent, this is equal to 65.2 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. These products will go to customers in Asia, Central America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and will be shipped from December 2022 through June 2023.

CWT-assisted 2022 dairy product sales contracts year-to-date total 99 million pounds of American-type cheese, 657,000 pounds of butter, 8.8 million pounds of cream cheese and 30.7 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 1.223 billion pounds on a milkfat basis.

Exporting dairy products is critical to the viability of dairy farmers and their cooperatives across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter, anhydrous milkfat, cream cheese, or whole milk powder, moving products into world markets is essential. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome U.S. dairy’s trade disadvantages.

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 the submission of the required documentation.

NMPF Comments Urge USDA to Elevate Dairy in Conservation Programs

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF submitted comments Dec. 21 to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service urging it to prioritize critical opportunities for dairy as it implements new climate-smart conservation funding in the Inflation Reduction Act enacted in August.

In its letter, NMPF urged USDA to develop new initiatives focused on manure and feed management, both of which will help dairy farmers advance their sustainability leadership as the sector works to fulfill its voluntary, producer-led goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050.

NMPF supported the Inflation Reduction Act’s $20 billion in landmark new funding for farm bill conservation programs.

“Dairy farmers seize environmental sustainability opportunities whenever possible,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. The funding increases “better position dairy farmers to effectively implement the dairy sector’s Net Zero Initiative and fulfill its 2050 environmental stewardship goals.”

USDA conservation programs offer important voluntary, incentive-based assistance to dairy farmers as they carry out multiple stewardship practices, but more can be done to emphasize systems and technologies that can yield meaningful environmental benefits for dairy producers. In its letter, NMPF urged USDA to “give priority to innovative approaches to manure and feed management, both of which are significant areas of opportunity for dairy producers as the industry strives to become GHG-neutral or better by 2050.”

NMPF’s submission recommended a new multi-pronged manure management initiative within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which received the largest share of the new funding provided in the Inflation Reduction Act. This initiative, if implemented, would focus on reducing methane emissions associated with manure handling and storage by targeting investments in waste separation and handling as well as methane digesters, which can capture as much as 80 percent of the methane from a waste stream. The initiative would also include a cap and flare component, emphasizing an approach better suited to those dairy operations that do not have the capacity for larger technologies like methane digesters.

NMPF also urged an enhanced focus on feed management to help dairy farmers augment their work to reduce enteric methane emissions, which can comprise as much as one-third of a dairy farm’s greenhouse gas footprint. NMPF’s recommendation included a focused effort to better educate NRCS staff on innovative new feed management strategies to increase the number of technical service providers that can work directly with producers on feed management plans.

NMPF will work closely with USDA as the department moves forward with implementation of this important new funding and will also partner with Congress in the upcoming farm bill to further target conservation programs toward meeting dairy’s environmental stewardship needs.

NMPF Helps Keep Trains (and Boats) Running

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF staff and allied organizations played critical roles in keeping transportation networks running in early December, as the prospect of a rail labor strike heightened concerns of an already strained supply chain completely derailing. To ensure that the rail service remained uninterrupted for dairy producers who rely on consistent rail movement both for sourcing feed and moving finished product, NMPF took member concerns to Capitol Hill.

Four rail labor unions voted in November to reject a tentative agreement arbitrated by the Biden Administration, authorizing a strike that could have begun as early as Dec. 9. To avoid a costly rail service shutdown, NMPF, the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and allied groups pressed hard for congressional intervention via a series of letters and meetings. Congress passed legislation implementing the tentative agreement, with President Biden signing the law on Dec. 2 and averting a rail shutdown.

The rail efforts, while significant, were only one facet of NMPF’s recent supply chain efforts. NMPF and USDEC on Dec. 13 wrote to Federal Maritime Commission Secretary William Cody with feedback on the agency’s proposed rulemaking on detention and demurrage billing requirements for ocean-bound shipments.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, passed in June and championed by NMPF and USDEC, provided an important foundation in confronting abuses leveled by ocean carriers on dairy shippers. However, smart, balanced implementation is still needed to ensure that dairy exporters are fully protected against unfair fees, which cost significant resources to resolve.

In the letter to Secretary Cody, NMPF and USDEC recommended against allowing marine terminal operators to bill shippers directly, which could force shippers to resolve disputes with an unknown party, rather than with carriers – with whom they have an established relationship. NMPF also pushed for the FMC to require additional information on invoices, including how and by when a shipper would need to contest a charge, and to clarify the timeframes for when carriers could issue detention and demurrage charges.

NMPF Touts Dairy’s Sustainability Story to Head Off Trade Problems

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF executive vice president for policy development & strategy Jaime Castaneda highlighted U.S. dairy’s strong sustainability commitments in Brussels Dec. 5-7 while meeting with American and European agriculture stakeholders under the U.S.-EU Collaboration Platform on Agriculture, a position reinforced in U.S. meetings later in the month.

The collaboration, launched by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and European Union Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski in November 2021, created a new forum for representatives from both the United States and the European Union to better collaborate and address common issues affecting agriculture, in key part to head off future trade conflicts.

Castaneda participated in the conference’s first panel. Castaneda also met with the Directorate-General (DG) Office for Health and Food Safety while in Europe to discuss the EU’s changing dairy import certificate requirements and the importance of smoothly implementing any new requirements. Following the conference, Castaneda joined the DG Office of Agriculture’s Unit Head and Deputy Director for the Americas to discuss ongoing trade issues, including the EU’s continued abuse of geographical indications to monopolize common cheese names around the world.

On Dec. 15, Shawna Morris, NMPF’s senior vice president for trade policy, joined Castaneda and Nick Gardner, senior vice president for sustainability and multilateral affairs with the U.S. Dairy Export Council to present to approximately two dozen European embassy officials on the progress U.S. dairy sector has made on sustainability in the past 15 years. Morris underscored the importance of a trade-friendly, incentive-based approach to new policies the EU is exploring in this space. The presentation also highlighted the sector’s goals and strategies and reinforced U.S. dairy’s reputation as a global trailblazer on climate and sustainability in agriculture.

No DMC payments again for November

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The November DMC margin was $10.89/cwt, eighteen cents higher than the October margin, as costs fell faster than prices.

The U.S. average all-milk price dropped $0.30/cwt in November from a month earlier to $25.60/cwt, while the DMC November feed cost was $0.48/cwt lower than the prior month, driven mostly, in equal measure, by lower soybean meal and premium alfalfa hay prices.

Available forecasts currently project the DMC margin will fall below $9.50/cwt during the first three quarters of 2023.  Enrollment for both calendar year 2023 DMC and Supplemental DMC closes on Jan. 31.