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U.S. Dairy Applauds Congressional Dairy Champion Letter Urging USDA to Make Low-fat, Flavored Milk School Flexibilities Permanent

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

A bipartisan group of more than 50 members of the U.S. House of Representatives today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack urging USDA to address the underconsumption of dairy foods among American school-aged children, specifically by making permanent a current flexibility that allows schools to offer low-fat flavored milk—a nutrient dense option for improving the quality of children’s diets.

The letter cites the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report, which found that 79 percent of 9–13-year-olds, who rely on the school meal programs to meet their nutritional needs, are not meeting the recommended intake of dairy foods. “Both the 2015 and 2020 editions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) amplified this concern, stating that, beginning at a young age, average dairy consumption falls short of recommended amounts,” the letter states.

While current USDA flexibilities allow schools to offer low-fat flavored milk through the 2021-2022 school year, USDA has before it a proposed rule that would make these flexibilities permanent. Importantly, this action would remain consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) today issued the following statements applauding the lawmakers’ proposed solution to addressing underconsumption of dairy among school-aged children:

“Milk benefits children in many ways – but it can’t benefit them at all if they don’t drink it, and ensuring that they do so requires a wide range of options,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation. “Milk’s unique nutritional package is of great benefit to the nation’s schoolchildren, and this message to Secretary Vilsack strongly supports the critical goal of boosting consumption of essential nutrients of public health concern, including calcium, potassium, and vitamin D. The 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report found that 79 percent of 9-13-year-olds, who rely on school meals to meet their nutritional needs, are not meeting the recommended intake of dairy foods. Milk provides the foundation of a lifetime of better health, and we thank the signers of this letter, led by Reps. Courtney and Thompson, for recognizing and advancing its benefits.”

“Milk, including low-fat flavored milk, is an important way for children to access the nutrient profile of dairy, providing thirteen essential nutrients and unique health benefits,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., President and CEO, International Dairy Foods Association. “IDFA appreciates the leadership of the more than 50 champions for dairy in the House of Representatives for encouraging USDA to prioritize dairy in federal nutrition programs, specifically through the inclusion of low-fat flavored milk in school meal programs. Right now, USDA has before it a proposed rule that would return to flexibilities allowing flavored, low-fat milk to be served in child nutrition programs, and IDFA strongly encourages the USDA to adopt school milk flexibility in the rule as a long-term solution. By doing so, the USDA would help ensure more kids meet the recommended intake for dairy set forth in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”

Dairy Industry Applauds USTR Decision to Pursue USMCA Dispute Settlement Case Enforcing Dairy Market Access Obligations in Canada

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) praised today’s announcement that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has initiated a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) dispute settlement proceeding over Canada’s administration of dairy tariff rate quotas (TRQs).

USDEC and NMPF have been calling for full enforcement of Canada’s trade obligations given Canada’s ongoing refusal to change how it handles dairy market access under USMCA. Initiating an official dispute settlement will, under USMCA rules, establish a panel to determine whether Canada has been violating its trade obligations. If the panel determines a lack of compliance, the U.S. would then be granted the right to impose retaliatory duties if Canada fails to fix its problematic TRQ administrative practices.

“On behalf of America’s dairy farmers, we thank Ambassador Katherine Tai for initiating the USMCA dispute settlement process by requesting the formation of a panel to examine Canada’s failure to provide access to its dairy TRQs in accordance with USMCA,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF President and CEO. “Canada has failed to take the necessary action to comply with its obligations under USMCA by inappropriately restricting access to its market. This needs to stop and we are thankful that USTR intends to make that happen.”

“Our appreciation goes to the Biden Administration for moving forward with a dispute settlement action against Canada’s administration of dairy TRQs,” said Krysta Harden, USDEC President and CEO. “We have had long-standing and well-founded concerns that Canada undermines its trade agreements when it comes to dairy. Our trading partners need to know that failure to meet their agricultural trade commitments with the United States will result in robust action to defend U.S. rights – today’s action demonstrates just that. The expansion of dairy market access opportunities is critical for our industry. Today’s action is a critical step toward maximizing current export opportunities while sending a strong message in defense against the erection of future barriers in Canada and other markets as well.”

USDEC and NMPF have carefully monitored Canada’s actions regarding its USMCA dairy commitments and have urged the administration and Congress to make this a priority as soon as USMCA entered into force. The organizations highlighted for USTR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture the inconsistencies between Canada’s dairy TRQ allocations and Canada’s USMCA obligations. In a detailed filing submitted to the administration, NMPF and USDEC provided the agencies with a specific review of the Canadian TRQ system and an explanation of the negative impacts resulting from them.

The concerns raised by USDEC and NMPF have been echoed by a broad bipartisan coalition of members of Congress. Most recently, several leading members of the House Ways and Means and Agriculture Committees joined together on a bipartisan message to USTR urging further enforcement action and multiple members of Congress shared a similar message during Amb. Tai’s trade oversight hearings in May. Prior to that, Senators broached the topic with USTR during Ambassador Tai’s confirmation hearing process. Last August, 104 Representatives sent a letter to USTR and USDA asking for Canada to be held accountable to its trade promises while a letter in the Senate was signed by 25 Senators. USDEC and NMPF commend the continued engagement of so many members of Congress on this important issue.

Dairy Defines Sustainability, Land O’Lakes’ Kappelman Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Sustainability is shaping the U.S. dairy industry’s future, making it better equipped to make sure the world has the nutrition it needs, says Pete Kappelman, a longtime dairy farmer and Land O’Lakes’ Senior Vice President of Member and Government Relations.

“U.S. dairy farmers are deeply involved and concerned about the many communities that they touch. And that starts with producing a safe, nutritious, affordable food, but it also includes things like being good stewards of the land, for the good of the planet,” as well as being able to pass a farm down to future generations, said Kappelman in a Dairy Defined podcast released today. “In order to feed a growing population, we’ve got to work together across continents, across cultures and markets to make abundant nutritious food available so everyone can realize their full potential.”

Kappelman also discusses industrywide sustainability commitments and Land O’Lakes Venture 37, which delivers market insights and technical expertise to agricultural development projects worldwide. 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. Please attribute information to NMPF.

 

NMPF and USDEC Welcome Bipartisan Congressional Support to Enforce USMCA Dairy Provisions

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

From Krysta Harden, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF):

“On behalf of America’s dairy farmers, processors, and exporters we thank Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), Tom Reed (R-NY), and their colleagues in both parties for their leadership in calling for USTR to fully enforce USMCA provisions on Canada’s administration of its dairy tariff rate quotas,” said Krysta Harden, President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC). “Canada has failed to take the necessary action to be in compliance with its obligations under USMCA by restricting access to the TRQs.”

“We appreciate the bipartisan work from Members of Congress to support America’s dairy industry on this important trade issue,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. “Canada’s failure to take action over the past six months to fix the administration of its TRQs limits the ability of American dairy farmers and workers to benefit from the access that was negotiated in the agreement.”

USDEC and NMPF have closely monitored Canada’s actions regarding its USMCA commitments even prior to the Agreement entering into force. Canada has allocated its TRQs in a manner designed to discourage full use of the TRQs and limit imports of U.S. dairy products. Specifically, Canada is reserving the bulk of quota access to processors, who have little incentive to import U.S. dairy products, and are not providing fair or equitable procedures in administering the TRQs.

Leading this effort with Reps. Kind and Reed were Representatives Antonio Delgado (D-NY), Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Jim Costa (D-CA), and David Valadao (R-CA).

Both organizations fully support calls from Congress for USTR to move forward with further enforcement action to resolve this issue.

Dairy Defined: Dairy a Key to Your Plant-Based Diet

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

In diet, as in life, extreme approaches seldom achieve the best outcomes. That’s why vegan diets, which eschew all animal products, so often lead to negative outcomes – it’s an extreme approach to eating, just like other unbalanced diets that stack up too heavily on some nutrients and not others.

So while it could be surprising to some that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans would recommend dairy products as part of a healthy vegetarian eating pattern – as in “What? I should have animal products in my plant-based diet?” – a little examination shows it makes perfect sense. Vegetarian isn’t the same as vegan. And deciding to move toward a diet more heavily weighted toward fruits, nuts and vegetables doesn’t mean a consumer has to travel to the fringe – or miss out on dairy’s many clear benefits. If anything, it may make dairy an even more important part of the nutritional journey.

Here’s why dairy makes sense in a “plant-based” diet.

  • Milk efficiently delivers a lot of nutrients that are more difficult to gain through plant-based sources. Protein, calcium, vitamins A & D – those are just a few of the 13 essential nutrients dairy packages together in an easy-to-access way. Yes, plant-based diets have many of these nutrients, but not all – try getting adequate Vitamin B12 without animal sources. To fill in the gaps that would otherwise require a supplement, a glass of milk goes a long way.
  • This is especially true with proteins. Not all proteins are created equal, and animal-sourced proteins tend to be higher-quality than plant-based ones. Nothing against plants, but animal proteins are just more complete – they contain the full range of amino acids, and plant-based proteins do not. That’s biology, not ideology. Dairy products have protein in abundance, and to most people they taste better too. Just compare a glass of milk with an unsweetened almond-based beverage. The real dairy product will usually have as much as eight times as much protein as the highly processed, lab-concocted, misnamed “milk” that costs twice as much money and tastes like chalk.

But if that doesn’t convince you …

  • Dairy can help consumers consume less. Eat-more-plants-to-save-the-planet gets repeated so often that it’s conventional wisdom in many circles. But the picture’s more complicated than it looks, and not just because dairy is a leader in agricultural sustainability. For example, much of a cow’s nutrition comes from plants that human can’t consume, energy that’s then turned into dairy products that humans can digest. And when someone says, “eat more plants,” not enough attention is paid to the “more,” as in, if you want the nutrition, you need to eat more food. That takes resources from the planet and adds it to your waistline – a phenomenon also known as, “the worst of both worlds.” In the case of proteins, you would need to eat up to 30 percent more of some plant proteins to get the same high-quality protein as a dairy product. And hunting across the grocery aisle for the 13 essential nutrients milk has on its own. That can quickly become costly, time-consuming, and a source of future food waste.

All this makes dairy a smart option for the non-dogmatic plant-based consumer.

Diet is a highly personal choice, and in the 21st century those choices can be based on everything from simply how good food tastes to what economic opportunity that food may provide to what role that food may play in preserving the planet. Dairy meets all those consumer goals. That’s why dairy is recommended for anyone who may possibly benefit from their consumption – and that includes you, plant-based devotees.

Dairy Industry Urges USTR to Initiate Dispute Settlement Case to Address Canadian TRQ Allocations

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

A group of 68 dairy companies and associations urged U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to initiate a dispute settlement case with the Canadian government over its dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) administration if ongoing consultations and a USMCA Free Trade Commission meeting do not result in immediate resolution.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) started consultations in December 2020 with Canada over its TRQ policies as part of its obligations under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a step that the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) strongly supported. Several months post-consultations, it is not readily apparent that progress has been made on resolving Canada’s circumvention of its trade obligations. In a letter sent to Ambassador Tai, the U.S. dairy industry urged USTR to establish a Dispute Settlement Panel in the event there is not an immediate, positive resolution in the consultations.

“The U.S. dairy industry proudly worked with USTR and members of Congress on a bicameral and bipartisan basis during the 116th Congress to secure strong, enforceable dairy provisions in the USMCA. Even while we knew it was important to secure strong text in the agreement, we also knew it was going to be just as critical for the provisions to be properly implemented and enforced. This is why we need USTR to take bold action to ensure the U.S. dairy industry fully benefits from the hard-fought wins included in the USMCA,” said Krysta Harden, President and CEO of USDEC.

USDEC and NMPF have closely monitored Canada’s actions regarding its USMCA commitments even prior to the agreement’s entering into force. Canada’s TRQ allocations are designed to discourage the full utilization and value of the TRQs, limiting U.S. dairy-product imports. Specifically, Canada is reserving the bulk of quota access to Canadian processors and is not providing fair or equitable procedures in administering the TRQs.

“America’s dairy farmers appreciated USTR initiating consultations with Canada on its dairy TRQ allocation measures and the decision to hold USMCA Free Trade Commission discussions to pursue reforms. But Canada has always been obstinate on dairy, and at this stage it is increasingly clear that further action is needed to ensure a fair and transparent enforcement of USMCA. This is why America’s dairy farmers are asking USTR to initiate a dispute settlement case should talks with Canada this week fail to yield a full resolution,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We look forward to working closely with the administration as they pursue every option available to them to ensure America’s dairy farmers fully benefit from the USMCA’s market access provisions.”

NMPF Statement on the Confirmation of Dr. Jewel Bronaugh as Deputy Agriculture Secretary

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

From NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern:

“Dairy farmers and their cooperatives congratulate Dr. Jewel Bronaugh on her confirmation as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and stand ready to work with her as she tackles the many pressing issues facing agriculture and rural communities today. Her depth of experience with all types of farms, and all types of communities, make her an ideal occupant of this important position, and her deep understanding of food and farm policy will benefit the entire nation.

“We look forward to joining with her in efforts that will improve and aid agriculture and all who benefit from its products. We are excited to discuss many of our own industry-leading efforts with her, such as the dairy industry’s Net Zero Initiative and sustainability goals, and work toward solutions that will only enhance dairy and U.S. agriculture’s global leadership in the years to come.”

Farmers at the Heart of Nation’s Solutions, Leader of Black Farmers Group Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

From building small communities to solving environmental issues, farmers stand at the center of solutions to national problems, says Cornelius Blanding, executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund, a Georgia-based non-profit cooperative association of Black farmers, landowners, and cooperatives.

“Farmers are at the heart of the solutions of our country,” said Blanding in a Dairy Defined podcast episode released today. “They’re probably one of the most important pieces of our nation, and it’s about time for us as a country to understand that.”

Blanding in the podcast discusses how Black farmers are working to overcome the legacies of racism, how that cause was advanced through Congress’s recent coronavirus stimulus bill, and how Black farmer gains create opportunities to advance family-farm interests across agriculture. 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.