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NMPF Presses for Delay on New EU Certification Requirements

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s trade policy team, collaborating with the USDEC, continues to work with the Biden Administration and Congress to press for a delay in onerous European Union (EU) new certification requirements for dairy and composite products, as well as new flexibility from the EU on its overly prescriptive mandates for imports.

NMPF staff have met repeatedly with USDA, USTR and FDA officials to emphasize the issue’s urgency of the issue, outline key concerns and impacts of the EU certification scheme, and explore routes forward. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has engaged on the issue in June, and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has been active in pressing the EU for relief as well.

To complement this effort, NMPF and USDEC worked with leading members of Congress to support a Congressional letter sent on June 14 to the EU Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis. The letter urged the EU to extend flexibility to these regulatory changes that are unduly prescriptive and ensure that U.S. dairy exports to the EU do not come to an abrupt stop. An additional Congressional spotlight was placed on the urgent need for resolution on June 24 when Sen. Thune (R-SD) emphasized the urgency of relief on the certification issue with Deputy USTR Nominee Jayme White during his confirmation hearing. White assured the Senate Finance Committee that he would prioritize resolution of the issue.

NMPF continues to insist that this and the wider set of challenges the U.S. dairy sector faces in shipping to the EU must be addressed more effectively.

“U.S. exporters continually have to chase new mandates by the European Union to retain our current access, even when there are no safety concerns with American dairy products,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF President and CEO. “Too often dairy trade with the EU is a one-way street. The EU’s frequent approach to import requirements is to mandate prescriptive procedures that U.S. dairy exporters need to make time-consuming changes to conform just to retain access to that market for our safe products. The products we export today are entirely safe; new EU mandates that would seek to force the U.S. to change our regulatory system match theirs would do nothing to enhance that.”

Yogurt Standard Revamp a Win for Dairy Labeling

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

A new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) final rule on yogurt that takes effect July 12 strongly defends standards of identify, a key pillar of NMPF’s effort to ensure transparency in dairy-product labeling.

The final rule published June 9 amends the standard of identity for yogurt and revokes the standards of identity for low-fat and nonfat yogurt, modernizing the yogurt standard to allow for technological advances while preserving the basic nature and essential characteristics of yogurt and promoting honesty and fair dealing in the consumer interest. FDA strongly defends the importance of standards of identity, stating “any food that purports to be or is represented as yogurt, must conform to the definition standard of identity for yogurt” further proving that plant-based products need to be held accountable for illegally using dairy names.

This action was in part responding to a citizen petition submitted by the National Yogurt Association in February of 2000, and it’s the first time in recent history FDA has modernized a standard of identity. NMPF was pleased with the outcome this rule and FDA’s clear and precise response to the 32 issues it covers. The full preamble and rule can be found here.

Congress Hears from Dairy on Port Problems

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF is seeking a wide range of solutions, including legislative ones, to problems at U.S. ports that continue to harm U.S. dairy exports.

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) are calling for legislation to amend the Shipping Act to strengthen the Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) authority to enforce reasonable ocean carrier guidelines to ensure more normalized trade opportunities for U.S. agricultural exports, working with the Agriculture Transportation Coalition and Reps. John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

Months of NMPF and USDEC efforts to raise congressional attention to port issues and exports also bore fruit when the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation held an oversight hearing on June 15 highlighting the ongoing delays and increased costs for exports at U.S. ports. NMPF, USDEC and other agricultural organizations have actively encouraged the subcommittee to take this step to bring more focus to bear on the challenges U.S. exporters face.

Members of Congress at the hearing heard from U.S. agricultural organizations, FMC Commissioners Dan Maffei and Rebecca Dye, and port operations groups. NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern said in remarks issued the same day that “dairy producers throughout the country are feeling the consequences of port congestion as delays in loading U.S. dairy exports onto carriers creates a chilling effect on farm-gate milk prices.” NMPF and USDEC have particularly urged the commission to require ocean carriers to certify that they are complying with the agency’s guidelines.

DMC Payments Increase in May

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The May margin under the Dairy Margin Coverage program dropped 5 cents from April to $6.89/cwt, which will generate a May payment of $2.61/cwt for $9.50/cwt coverage, as increases in feed costs more than offset gains in milk prices.

The May U.S. average all-milk price rose by $0.80/cwt from April to $19.20/cwt, but the May DMC feed cost calculation also rose from a month earlier, by $0.85/cwt. This was the largest one-month jump in the margin program’s feed cost calculation since margin protection first became the main federal safety-net program for dairy in early 2014. Corn prices were higher in May by the equivalent of $0.64/cwt of milk in the formula, which was also the highest ever single-month increase since the inception of dairy margin protection in the formula’s corn-price component. Meanwhile, the blended alfalfa hay price increased by the equivalent of $0.15/cwt of milk in the formula, the highest single month increase in the formula’s alfalfa price component since premium alfalfa was added to it at the beginning of 2019.

The current futures-based price outlook indicates that the national all-milk price will not likely further rise much more than a dollar per hundredweight above its May level through the end of 2021, while the DMC program’s feed cost calculation may not recede much from May, thus raising the prospect that the margin could stay below $9.50/cwt for all of 2021. USDA reported that estimated DMC payments exceeded $446 million as of June 28.

NMPF Builds Momentum for Ag Labor Reform

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

As a leader in ag labor reform, NMPF has been working with members of Congress and others on a bipartisan effort to enact legislation this year addressing dairy’s workforce challenges.

After helping secure House passage of the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act in March, NMPF has shifted focus to improving the bill in the Senate, with the goal of ultimately advancing legislation to the President’s desk. NMPF also has been working to build support for ag labor reform more broadly throughout the Senate, looking to increase congressional urgency. NMPF took part in two key momentum-building efforts this past month.

NMPF first worked with colleagues in the Agriculture Workforce Coalition steering committee to bring together nearly 300 groups to call on Senate Leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to take up ag labor reform in the Senate. The message noted how American agriculture’s workforce crisis has only intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the urgent need for Senate action. It also highlighted specific, longstanding problems with the H-2A agricultural guestworker visa program to be addressed in a Senate measure, including the need to grant dairy farmers and other year-round producers access to guestworkers. The coalition followed up its June 8 letter to leadership but sharing it with all Senate offices, helping to ensure agriculture’s dire need for ag labor reform is understood across the entire chamber.

NMPF, other agricultural organizations, and farmworker groups on June 16 met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) for an ag labor reform roundtable. During the forum, stakeholders underscored the need for Senate action on its answer to the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and both senators reiterated their commitment to introduce a measure that builds and improves upon the House legislation. Vilsack also pledged to prioritize ag workforce reform within the Biden Administration.

Growing Climate Solutions Act Clears Senate With NMPF Support

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF applauded the Senate passage of legislation that aims to bolster the conservation and environmental efforts dairy producers are leading as they continue their everyday stewardship of air, land, and water resources.

The bipartisan Growing Climate Solutions Act, led by Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), passed with overwhelming bipartisan support on June 24 by a vote of 92-8.

If passed, this legislation would create a USDA certification program that would permit the department to informally endorse technical service providers that can help farmers implement environmental stewardship practices that may generate carbon credits. The legislation would be invaluable for dairy farmers seeking to achieve the sector’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality or better by 2050 through dairy’s Net Zero Initiative.

“NMPF commends the United States Senate for passing the bipartisan Growing Climate Solutions Act by an overwhelming margin,” NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern said in a statement. “This important legislation will enable USDA to informally endorse technical service providers that help farmers implement stewardship practices that can generate carbon and other environmental credits.”

NMPF-Led Environmental Stewardship Proposal Moves Forward in Congress

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act, which advances key environmental policy priorities for dairy farmers, has made strides in both houses of Congress in the past few weeks, with introduction in the House of Representatives and advancement in a Senate committee.

Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Tom Reed (R-NY), both of whom serve on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, introduced on June 16 the House version of the bill, which would create a 30 percent Investment Tax Credit for nutrient recovery technologies and biogas systems. Much of the measure initially advanced in the House last summer as part of a larger package called the Moving Forward Act. This legislation will help fulfill the goals of the dairy sector’s Net Zero Initiative by spurring greater on-farm energy production and enhancing environmental mitigation.

The House introduction followed Senate action that moves the bill even further in that chamber. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) successfully secured the inclusion of the legislation as part of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden’s Clean Energy for America Act. The Senate Finance Committee successfully advanced the bill on May 26, positioning it for inclusion in a broader legislative package.

NMPF has long sought passage of this measure in partnership with the American Biogas Council to reduce dairy’s environmental footprint and help address nationwide water-quality challenges.

“The bipartisan Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act recognizes the value that biogas systems can have for dairy producers of all sizes as they continuously improve their sustainability nationwide,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF in a statement. “This new investment tax credit also incorporates nutrient recovery technologies, which can transform manure into fertilizer for crops and bedding for cows. These technologies are important, but expensive. This bill will help farmers incorporate these new technologies into their operations, for the benefit of everyone.”

Dairy’s Challenges are Wide-Ranging. So Are We.

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

While Washington’s wheels turn – slowly – the day-to-day realities of farming are making 2021 another challenging year for dairy nationwide.

The western U.S. is in its worst drought in two decades. The milk-price outlook is cloudy, but higher feed costs are a reality, squeezing margins and balance sheets. The economic recovery tied to the U.S. emergence from the coronavirus pandemic carries with it uncertainties not typical to an upturn, with questions about how consumers will react to the reopening. And all expectations are tempered by the possibility of a virus resurgence, be it through a variant or insufficient vaccination worldwide.

The National Milk Producers Federation has existed since 1916 to improve dairy farmers’ lives by working for better federal policy, and that remains central to our mission today. But as the only national organization that takes the most comprehensive approach to serving dairy farmers’ policy needs, our efforts reach far beyond the Beltway, helping farmers adapt and address the challenges they face.

That’s why we provide leading economic analysis through our Dairy Market Report, helping to explain market trends and encourage effective risk management. It’s why we administer the FARM Program, enabling continuous improvement in areas from animal welfare to biosecurity. It’s also why we’re always looking for new ways to serve our members and meet them where they are – on farms and in the marketplace – so we can better connect policy priorities in meaningful ways with the farmers whose hard work inspires our own.

Since the pandemic began in 2020, we’ve been working to assist producers and help them weather the market disruptions. Our efforts have brought more than $6 billion in federal support to dairy farmers across the country. We’ve also been adapting and expanding our web resources to meet evolving farmer needs. Our coronavirus webpage continues to be a go-to resource for business management during the pandemic, with updates recently focused on dairy’s leadership in nationwide vaccination efforts. Last summer we also created a page dedicated to natural disasters including drought and wildfires, which are an unfortunate likelihood as this summer progresses. Working in tandem with FARM and our members, we strive to be useful in helping farmers meet whatever they face, providing information and guidance that serve them.

Resources that assist farmers meet immediate challenges, be it on webpages or our frequent online “toolboxes” on emerging issues that we sent to members, also help us in our policy work by keeping our own priorities tied to the most pressing needs. That’s been true throughout coronavirus, when massive supply chain disruptions required both understanding and action, and it’s true for other fast-changing situations such as natural disasters. As the summer progresses and needs develop, farmers and industry professionals shouldn’t hesitate to contact us at info@nmpf.org with whatever observations or questions that might be helpful in getting through another challenging time.

Both long-and short-term efforts matter. In Washington, we’ve seen recent progress in some years-long policy fights. The passage of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act in March brings the only House-approved piece of agriculture labor legislation since 1986 closer to reality. Senate approval of the Growing Climate Solutions Act last month promises to add key pieces to the puzzle of how to move our industry toward its commitment to be net-zero in carbon emissions by 2050.

But for more immediate needs, we need regular communication with cooperatives and their farmer-members, and that comes from continued relevance to what those members are going through each day.

It’s going to be another long, hot summer – but when it comes to seeking solutions, we pledge to never come up dry. That’s important as we serve our mission to craft better policy but not be bounded by the Washington Beltway. Today’s challenges are defined by the local weather forecast as much as they are by national headlines. We’re right there with you.

Dairy Industry Urges Renewal of Trade Promotion Authority

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

To foster further expansion of U.S. dairy exports, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) called upon the Biden Administration to seek renewal of Presidential Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) following its expiration today.

TPA lays out congressional expectations for trade agreements negotiated by the Administration and establishes a clear pathway for straightforward congressional input. To remain globally competitive, future trade agreements are vital for U.S. dairy farmers, workers, and manufacturers.

The call for renewal comes on the one-year anniversary of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), enacted with the help of TPA. For dairy, USMCA provisions established improvements to market access in Canada and set clear standards for trade with Mexico.

USMCA also established procedures to enforce the agreement. In May, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai initiated a dispute settlement proceeding over Canada’s administration of dairy tariff rate quotas (TRQs) in order to preserve the market access expansion negotiated in the agreement. The U.S. dairy industry continues to monitor implementation of other key USMCA areas as well such as Canada’s Class 7 disciplines on dairy exports and Mexico’s trade-distorting regulatory proposals.

“As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of USMCA today, it’s heartening that the Biden Administration has already sent a signal to our trading partners that its terms must be upheld by launching a dispute settlement case to defend U.S. dairy market access rights in Canada,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF.

“If properly implemented, USMCA is a positive step in the right direction. But it is not enough alone for U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives to keep pace in global markets. By standing still, we slip further backward as competitors in Europe and New Zealand advance their own trade agreements with key markets. A forward-leaning trade agenda focused on expanding export opportunities for Made-in-America products is critical to dairy farmers. TPA is a vital tool in that process.”

USDEC President and CEO Krysta Harden also stressed the importance of TPA for exports.

“Foreign markets are crucial to the health and prosperity of America’s dairy farmers and processors,” said Harden. “One in six gallons of U.S. milk is destined for export, meaning that our ability to retain foreign customers in an increasingly competitive global dairy market is absolutely essential to farmers and dairy manufacturing facilities employing workers here at home.

“To accomplish that, we need to catch up with trading partners who have been speeding ahead with trade deals that give them a leg up over us in foreign markets. USMCA is an example of how TPA can help the U.S. expand trade opportunities, but that is only one advancement among many that are needed,” Harden continued. “Renewing our commitment to the global community and restoring American leadership starts with renewing TPA, so that U.S. dairy can realize new opportunities in places such as southeast Asia, Africa, South America and the UK.”

In comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission last year, NMPF and USDEC note that free trade agreements yield significant benefits for dairy farmers and manufacturers alike. Free Trade Agreements have increased U.S. dairy exports by $2.14 billion and the equivalent of 1.4 billion gallons of milk translating to $17 billion in additional dairy farmer revenue.

Standing Out: Dotterer Dairy Shows Rise of Women in Dairy

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

Arlington, VA – On Dotterer Dairy in Mill Hill, PA, sisters Candice White and Amanda Condo work alongside their cousin Lori Dotterer Butler as the third generation on the farm. Their fathers and grandfathers still have large roles in day-to-day operations – but the three women manage crops, take care of the cows, and oversee the 1,250-Holstein dairy business.

“I feel like there’s now more women coming out and saying they are a farmer,” Candice, dairy manager at Dotterer Dairy says. “Women are being empowered about standing beside her husband, not behind him.”

In the latest Farmer Focus, the Dotterers share how they work closely with their women-led cooperative to foster sustainability and longevity on the dairy.

For more Farmer Focus stories, co-sponsored by NMPF and the FARM Program, check out NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page, which also includes its Dairy Defined thought-leadership series and CEO’s Corner, a monthly column from NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern.

Farmer Experience a Plus in Congress, Valadao Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

A farm background, and the emphasis it places on people working together, brings the type of experience that’s helpful to getting things done in Congress, said Rep. David Valadao, R-CA, in the latest Dairy Defined podcast, released today.

“Every time a salesman shows up on your property, they might be trying to sell you a product you might not like that day, but the following day, they’re going to have stuff you might like. And so to just cut off communication with someone because you disagree with them one day, doesn’t mean you cut off communication forever,” said Valadao, the only dairy farmer serving in Congress. “I do believe in Congress. For you to legislate good policy, you have to have everyone at the table and be able to have a conversation about the topic. It forces you, one, to understand the issue, but two, to hear it from both sides and try to represent our areas as best we possibly can.”

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.