The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges for U.S. dairy farmers, who remain committed to implementing CDC-recommended workforce best practices to prevent and control the spread of coronavirus on farms. Access to safe and highly effective vaccines will give the dairy workforce and their families an added layer of protection against COVID-19.

Vaccinating essential workers, including the dairy workforce, is important because of their role in maintaining critical infrastructure operations and their increased risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. Vaccination is one of many important tools to help stop the pandemic. See below for some frequently-asked-questions about the vaccine and its rollout, and visit CDC’s website for more information.

 

How do I get a vaccine?

The CDC has issued recommendations for who should get the vaccine first, but states have established their own criteria. Each state has divided their populations into groups or phases or tiers, and each is working through them at its own pace. Click on your state below for the latest information.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky

Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota

Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington, D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

 

What can I do now to protect myself and my workforce from COVID-19?

The CDC provides clear guidance about preventing infection in both English and Spanish. It also provides printable factsheets and posters in both languages suitable for workplace use. Dairy farmers are encouraged to review and use the resources below. Visit www.nmpf.org/coronavirus for a full listing of COVID-19 prevention and management resources for dairy farmers and cooperatives.

• Guidance for Businesses and Employers Responding to Coronavirus
• Interim Guidance for Agriculture Workers and Employers
• Agricultural Employer Checklist for Creating a COVID-19 Assessment and Control Plan
• Dairy Farmer Handbook on Coronavirus Prevention and Management (English and Spanish)
• Recommended Protocols for Dairy Farms When an Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19

 

What should I know about getting vaccinated?

Before Your Appointment What to expect Different vaccines Costs

After Your First Vaccine How to schedule a second dose Register for v-safe Potential side effects

 

If I already had COVID-19 and recovered, do I still need to be vaccinated?

Yes. According to the CDC, due to the severe health risks associated with COVID-19 and the fact that reinfection with COVID-19 is possible, you should be vaccinated regardless of whether you already had COVID-19 infection. If you were treated for COVID-19 symptoms with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, you should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Talk to your doctor if you are unsure what treatments you received or if you have more questions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

 

Are there any resources available to share with employees about the COVID-19 vaccine and its rollout?

The CDC has put together a COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Toolkit for Essential Workers to help employers educate their essential workers about this important new prevention tool. The toolkit is intended to educate employees about COVID-19 vaccines, raise awareness about the benefits of vaccination, and address common questions and concerns. The toolkit contains a variety of resources that you can use, including:

• Key Messages
• FAQ’s for Employers
• Facts About COVID–19 Vaccines (English and Spanish)

CWT assisted member cooperatives in securing 79 contracts resulting in sales of 3 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 3.3 million pounds of butter, 985,466 pounds of anhydrous milkfat (AMF), 3 million pounds of whole milk powder, and 2.4 pounds of cream cheese. The product is going to 56 customers in 15 countries in Asia, Central America, the Middle East, North Africa, Oceania and South America. The product will be shipped during the months of January through June 2021.

These transactions will move the equivalent of 170.2 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis overseas.

Assisting CWT member cooperatives to gain and maintain world market share through the Export Assistance program, in the long-term 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 impact 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 the submission of the required documentation.

All cooperatives and dairy farmers are encouraged to add their support to this important program. Membership forms are available at http://www.cwt.coop/membership.

NMPF is now accepting applications for its National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Each year, NMPF awards scholarships to outstanding graduate students (enrolled in Master’s or Ph.D. programs) who are actively pursuing dairy-related fields of research that are of immediate interest to NMPF member cooperatives and the US dairy industry at large.

Graduate students pursuing research of direct benefit to milk marketing cooperatives and dairy producers are encouraged to apply (applicants do not need to be members of NMPF to qualify).  The top applicant will be awarded the Hintz Memorial Scholarship, created in 2005 in honor of the late Cass-Clay Creamery Board Chairman Murray Hintz who was instrumental in establishing NMPF’s scholarship program.

Recommended fields of study include but are not limited to Agriculture Communications and Journalism, Animal Health, Animal and/or Human Nutrition, Bovine Genetics, Dairy Products Processing, Dairy Science, Economics, Environmental Science, Food Science, Food Safety, Herd Management, and Marketing and Price Analysis.

Applications must be received no later than Friday, April 16, 2021.  For an application or more information, please visit the NMPF website or email scholarship@nmpf.org.

Dr. Jamie Jonker, NMPF Vice President for Sustainability & Scientific Affairs, was appointed as an ex officio member to the USDA APHIS Veterinary Services’ National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP) Consultation Board in January.

NADPRP was established as part of the 2018 Farm Bill to provide funds to eligible entities to conduct high-value projects that will help prevent the introduction and spread of foreign and emerging animal diseases that threaten U.S. agriculture.

Its board includes 12 voting members and 4 ex officio non-voting members. The United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) coordinates the nomination of ten members, including three State Animal Health Official representatives, four industry representatives (one each from cattle, swine, poultry, and small ruminants), and three academic representatives. USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will nominate one member, and APHIS’ tribal liaison will nominate one member to represent interests from tribal organizations. The 4 ex officio members are also nominated by USAHA to represent additional animal agricultural industries with interest in participating in NADPRP.

The NADPRP Board is charged with representing the interests of all eligible entities and supporting the program by:

• Developing and consulting with Veterinary Services on annual funding priorities;
• Nominating experts to review and rank proposals;
• Providing input on and approving the program’s annual spending plan; and
• Providing feedback to improve the program’s processes.

More information online at  NADPRP Website.

As part of its digital growth and engagement, the National Dairy FARM Program has developed a webpage tailored to the needs of dairy farmers. The page includes resources, FAQs, and farmer-specific details about each program area, and was designed as an evolving collection of everything a farmer may need regarding FARM.

Also, after a successful relaunch of the digital Farmer Focus series in 2020, FARM and NMPF will continue to profile farmers on a monthly basis through the coming year. In January, Josh Sauter from Cannon Falls, MN shared his secret to resilience and talked about how he and his family have managed challenges in the past, unpredictability in the present, and opportunities in the future.

FARM also saw increased attendance at virtual events and online engagements. More than 100 attendees participated in the most-attended Evaluator H Engagement Hour and during the bi-monthly Quick Convos, views peaked at 300.

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council kicked off a new initiative in January to equip a select group of dairy producers and cooperative/manufacturing staff with the tools necessary to enhance grassroots communication on dairy trade issues to policymakers and the media.

The Dairy Trade Envoys Class of 2021, the first of its kind, includes 28 dairy farmers and industry staff who will help educate federal and state government officials and the media on the importance of U.S. dairy exports and dairy’s stance on various trade policy issues. Undertaking in-depth seminars on the facts of dairy trade, key policy issues, barriers facing U.S. dairy exports, and communicating with the government and the media, the Envoys will expand dairy’s voice and inform sound government trade policies and programs that support U.S. dairy exports.

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, welcomed the Class of 2021 on Jan. 19, telling the the group it’s engaged in a “critical effort to create a chorus of voices across the country speaking in unison to provide a very strong message at every level” regarding the value of dairy exports and dairy’s needs in the trade policy sphere.

NMPF staff in January met with the USTR team tackling Canada’s administration of dairy Tariff-Rate Quotas (TRQs) while continuing Congressional outreach to ensure that the new administration and Congress continue the critical task of holding Canada accountable to its commitments under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

After sustained engagement from NMPF and USDEC, the USTR announced Dec. 9 it would initiate official consultations with Canada on its failure to fully implement provisions of USMCA dairy tariff rate quotas. The consultations are the first official step to try to resolve unwarranted restrictions Canada is using to administer its dairy TRQs established by the new Agreement. As USTR noted in its announcement, Canada’s dairy TRQ allocation measures appear to violate several provisions of the USMCA, including its mechanism to set aside and reserve a portion of the quota to processors. USTR also stated that Canada is not providing “fair” and “equitable” procedures and methods for administering its TRQs.

Unless a mutually agreeable solution can be found with Canada through the consultation process, the next step in addressing Canada’s disregard for its USMCA commitments would be for the U.S. to initiate USMCA’s formal dispute settlement procedures.  A dispute settlement case could take a year or more to run its course, making it all the more important to proceed swiftly at this early stage.

The USTR decision came after months of groundwork by NMPF, working closely together with the U.S. Dairy Export Council, with both the administration and Congress. NMPF will continue its work, as further enforcement may be necessary to effectively address Canada’s unfair dairy policies.

NMPF in January joined with a large coalition of U.S. food and agricultural organizations in urging the Senate Finance Committee to confirm Katherine Tai as the new U.S. Trade Representative in light of her strong qualifications and familiarity with the core areas of USTR’s work that are so critical to U.S. food and agricultural exports. The Senate Finance Committee, which must approve her nomination, had not yet scheduled a date for that hearing as the month concluded.

Before Tai’s hearing but after her nomination, NMPF’s CEO Jim Mulhern had the opportunity to raise U.S. dairy farmers’ interests with Tai at a meeting she held with U.S. agriculture trade association CEOs. A summary of that meeting was issued by the Biden team. Mulhern underscored the importance of exports to America’s dairy sector and the need for both strong enforcement of existing details as well as new agreements to best support sales worldwide of the wide variety of products made with U.S. milk.

The monthly margin under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program dropped by $3.09 per cwt in November to $8.78 per cwt in December, mostly driven by lower milk prices, generating payments to producers under the USDA’s flagship risk-management program.

The all-milk price declined by $2.80 per cwt for the month, mostly because of a substantially lower December cheese price. The DMC margin was further lowered by a $0.29 per cwt boost in the feed cost added to it. On a per hundredweight of milk basis, the higher feed cost consisted of cost increases of 19 cents, 7 cents and 3 cents for corn, soybean meal, and alfalfa hay, respectively.

The December margin will generate a payment of $0.72 per cwt for $9.50 per cwt coverage that month; for the year, average DMC payments were $0.73 per cwt per month.

Current futures prices indicate that the monthly all-milk price in 2021 won’t rise above the December level until late summer, while corn and soybean meal prices will remain above December levels at least that long. That means monthly DMC payments will remain above the 2020 average for many months to come.