More than four decades of dairy-industry experience with bovine coronavirus shouldn’t translate to complacency on farms about the human version, says Mike Lormore, the Director of U.S. Dairy Cattle Technical Services for Zoetis, the world’s largest manufacturer of animal-health vaccines, in an NMPF podcast released today.

“First of all, it’s important to note these vaccines for bovine coronavirus are only approved for use in cattle. Secondly, there’s no evidence to demonstrate that bovine coronavirus vaccines would be efficacious against SARS-2 or COVID-19 in people,” Lormore said in the podcast, which also includes Dr. Jamie Jonker, NMPF’s vice president for sustainability and scientific affairs. To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

The National Milk Producers Federation expressed appreciation to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for including dairy in its $19 billion-dollar agriculture disaster assistance package released today while noting that more will be needed to stem steep losses in the dairy sector. NMPF staff are awaiting details of the plan, which appears to include financial aid for producers and purchases of at least $100 million per month in dairy products for distribution to the public.

“Federal dairy assistance is critically needed as the nation’s dairy farmers face an unprecedented collapse of markets resulting from the shutdown of much of the economy,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, the largest U.S. dairy-farmer organization.  “The plan announced today should provide important relief to some producers, and we look forward to learning more of its details in coming days to fully understand its scope and implementation.”

“Dairy’s fortunes have been especially grim, given the perishability of our product, its daily harvest and the fact that the virtual shutdown of the food service market has wiped out more than one-third of our product demand. After five years of poor prices, many producers faced financial difficulties even before the coronavirus crisis. Without more aid, this crisis could be their demise. We hope to work with USDA and members of Congress on implementing this plan and on the further assistance that will inevitably be needed due to this deepening crisis.”

NMPF thanked the many members of Congress who weighed in during the process to urge USDA to provide robust assistance to dairy. “We are extremely grateful for the strong bipartisan, bicameral push from members of Congress across the country in support of a significant dairy aid package,” Mulhern said. “Their important efforts built on successful bipartisan passage of the CARES Act late last month, which set the stage for this aid to be provided, and we thank them for their tireless advocacy for dairy farmers.”

NMPF and the International Dairy Foods Association developed a joint plan of assistance to farmers and processors that was sent to the department earlier this month.

NMPF Senior Vice President of Membership Services and Strategic Initiatives Chris Galen discusses the latest updates on coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on the U.S. dairy industry on Dairy Radio Now.

Jaime Castaneda, senior vice president for policy strategy and international trade at the National Milk Producers Federation, says the coronavirus crisis carries an urgency for the federal government comparable to world-shaping events such as World War II and the Great Depression. And as policy leaders work to rise to the occasion, the dairy community needs to as well, he said.

“This is the time to be united. We need to support all farmers of all sizes,” Castaneda says in an NMPF podcast released today. “This is the time for USDA and the U.S. government to step up to support agriculture and the dairy farming community. And I think that dairy farmers and the dairy industry, we need to continue to be united in aiming to that solution.”

NMPF and the International Dairy Foods Association last week released a joint plan for dairy assistance presented to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

National Milk Producers Federation Chief Economist Peter Vitaliano says government support for dairy producers to reduce production in coming months can speed dairy’s recovery from coronavirus-driven price declines. Production balancing is part of the NMPF and International Dairy Foods Association plan for dairy assistance presented to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week.

“That type of unified, collective government action would probably be the best and most effective and speediest way of rebalancing supply and demand,” Vitaliano says in an NMPF podcast released today. To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

The National Milk Producers Federation thanked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for allowing discarded milk to be counted toward milk marketings for the Dairy Revenue Production (DRP) or as actual marketings for the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy (LGM-Dairy) programs. That decision will allow dairy farmers participating in those risk management programs not to lose coverage on any milk that can’t be marketed and will be helpful in mitigating some of the catastrophic damage many dairies face due to supply-chain disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis.

“The market realities of the COVID-19 era demand solutions, and USDA’s decision is a balm for thousands of dairy farmers participating in these important risk-management programs,” NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “We commend USDA’s decision and look forward to discussing further actions that can provide immediate relief for all dairy farmers, as outlined in our joint plan developed with the International Dairy Foods Association that we sent to the department earlier this week. Together, we can make a real difference for dairy, and we are pleased with USDA’s action here.”

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is asking the Labor and Agriculture Departments to accept and approve H-2A visa applications from dairy farmers offering temporary immigrant farmworker employment for up to 364 days in a 12-month period, which would align dairy with other livestock sectors and not require a change to current rules governing the program.

“The dairy sector, like the rest of American agriculture, is facing a labor crisis that has been ongoing for decades. The COVID-19 reality we are all trying to navigate has only exacerbated these challenges,” wrote NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern in a letter to the two departments dated April 9. “As more and more Americans have to remain home to care for children who are out of school or care for other loved ones, there are even fewer workers available to work on our nation’s farms. Our members – and all dairy employers – need increased access to the H-2A program to meet our workforce needs.”

Mulhern noted that granting dairy access to visas for a temporary position lasting up to 364 days in a 12-month period would provide dairy treatment equal to sheep and goat herders and not require a statutory or regulatory change. The letter also makes clear that hiring American workers before supplementing with H-2A continues to be the goal of farmers as well as a legal requirement of the H-2A program.

NMPF also thanked federal agencies for recognizing agriculture as critical infrastructure, which has helped keep dairies in operation during the coronavirus crisis.

“Preserving a vibrant dairy producer community in America is indeed essential for the health of rural and urban communities across the country and critical for continued access to wholesome, fresh, nutritious food,” Mulhern wrote. “The availability of workers to help with the daily milking of our cows is crucial – it must be done.”

A copy of the letter is available here.

Following the release of its joint Milk Crisis Plan with the International Dairy Foods Association earlier this week, the National Milk Producers Federation today began a social-media campaign geared toward dairy farmers and their allies, #dairyneverstops, to underscore the urgency in dairy country for a federal plan that can mitigate catastrophic economic damage that is expected to worsen for producers over the next several months, as the coronavirus-created recession bites more deeply.

“#dairyneverstops is both a nod to the unique difficulties dairy farmers face as producers of a perishable product that’s created 24/7, 365 days a year and to the resilience of those farmers in the face of overwhelming economic difficulties,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The support of retail consumers who have turned to milk in grocery aisles in recent weeks has been incredible. But even this sales surge is not enough to offset the near-evaporation of dairy demand from the foodservice sector. As milk continues to be produced with fewer buyers to purchase it, dairy farmers face significant revenue losses, which come on top of a half-decade of low prices that only recently had seen recovery.”

Farmers, other segments of the dairy sector, and their allies in broader communities are all encouraged to use the hashtag to share their stories, engage in discussion and create a greater awareness of dairy’s circumstances for policymakers in Washington and across the United States.

Clay Detlefsen, senior vice president of regulatory and environmental affairs for the National Milk Producers Federation and the private-sector chair of the Food and Agricultural Sector Coordinating Council – says that while shortages of grocery staples have eased in the U.S., shortages of personal protective equipment may linger into June – and that even after the coronavirus threat has ebbed, the era of masks and gloves for food-sector workers may be here to stay.

“I have to wonder if we just haven’t changed the game,” said Detlefsen in an NMPF podcast. “Are workers down the road, in the future, going to want wear those masks and gloves at all times? It’s quite possible. But if that doesn’t happen, I still think we have several more months of this.”

The Food and Agriculture Sector Coordinating Council was set up after the Sept. 2001 terror attacks to share information between government agencies and private businesses during crises that affect the U.S. food-supply chain. To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.