A new economic analysis projecting a 58 percent decline this year in net cash income for U.S. dairy farms due to coronavirus-related market disruptions further demonstrates the need to eliminate a proposed $125,000 payment cap in federal disaster assistance, according to Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.

As highlighted at the Texas Ag Forum yesterday, dairy losses will outpace those for cattle, cotton, and feed grains and oil seeds, with catastrophic losses for all producers. For example, a dairy of 1,000 cows in Wisconsin will see net cash income decline by $500,000, while larger operations in Texas and Idaho could see losses in the $1.2 million range, according to the analysis.

Average net cash income losses in dairy would be $345,000. The USDA assistance package for agriculture announced April 17 caps payments to producers at $125,000 per commodity. Many dairies only produce milk.

“Analysis shows what the dairy community already knows – the COVID-19 crisis presents grave danger for all dairies, from small operations to the producers whose milk nourishes the majority of U.S. consumers and keep supply chains running,” Mulhern said. “We have raised our concerns over payment limits with both President Trump and USDA, and with the Administration making important decisions in how it allocates aid, it’s important to highlight the very real impacts that lower support levels will have on dairy producers and the communities they serve.”

NMPF is supporting efforts by lawmakers and allied organizations to increase aid to producers and estimate losses and compensation in ways that reflect the true scale of damage to the farm economy. Last week, a bipartisan group of 126 House members and 28 Senators sent letters to the administration urging that this problem be solved.

The letters were spearheaded by Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Jim Costa (D-CA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Fred Upton (R-MI), Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM), and Roger Marshall (R-KS). The House letter is available here, and the Senate letter is available here. NMPF’s letter to President Trump is here.

The U.S. dairy industry applauds the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for firmly rebuking the European Union (EU)’s protectionist dairy trade policies in its annual U.S. Special 301 Report, released today.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) endorse USTR’s findings that the EU has erected a complex regime of trade barriers that harm opportunities for U.S. exports to Europe. In addition, the EU has aggressively sought to restrict U.S. exports in global markets by weaponizing geographical indications (GIs) protections and blocking the ability of U.S. suppliers to use common names to market cheeses such as fontina, gorgonzola, asiago and feta.

“USTR has rightly taken Europe to task for their destructive and unfair campaign against American-made dairy exports, and in particular the high-quality cheeses produced by the dedicated men and women of the U.S. dairy industry,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. “I commend USTR for its recent actions to defend U.S. dairy and successfully negotiate groundbreaking GI provisions in both USMCA and the Phase One deal with China. USTR must continue to build upon this excellent precedent by making it a top priority to secure further commitments from our trade partners in future trade negotiations.”

The Special 301 Report found that “…the EU pressures trading partners to prevent all producers, other than in certain EU regions, from using certain product names, such as fontina, gorgonzola, parmesan, asiago, or feta. This is despite the fact that these terms are the common names for products produced in countries around the world.”

“Rather than trying to compete on a level playing field, Europe has tried to effectively institute a blockade of U.S. dairy,” Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “This is unacceptable and harms America’s dairy industry and the rural communities our farmers and processors support.

The dairy industry stands in full support of USTR’s efforts to confront EU’s anti-trade and anti-competitive policies and we will continue to proactively press for the full dismantlement of these trade barriers.”

USDEC and NMPF filed comments with USTR urging the U.S. government to confront the EU’s trade agenda against U.S. dairy in order to protect American jobs as well as the legitimate rights of U.S. food manufacturers, farmers and exporters.

 

Even as U.S. dairy struggles to meet the immediate challenges of coronavirus, its work on expanding overseas markets continues “not with an eye on what’s going to happen necessarily in the next week, but what needs to happen over the next year or two” to help the industry recover, said Shawna Morris, vice president for trade at the National Milk Producers Federation.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in China was an international trade concern before it became a major domestic issue in the U.S. The global response to coronavirus has had some hopeful aspects, Morris said – the importance of agriculture to the world’s economy is in the spotlight, and governments have responded to pressing needs by taking more practical approaches to regulations that have unnecessarily impeded trade, she said.

Despite the disruptions, trade officials need to keep long-range goals of open commerce that will be essential to returning dairy to prosperity in mind, she said. “We’re working with our government and others to outline the dairy industry’s priorities for upcoming trade agreements, notably with the UK and Kenya for instance, as well as ongoing work — issues and policy barriers that had existed prior to COVID-19 and are still in place that we’re working with our government allies and with other counterparts in other countries  to try to help address,” she said.

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.

 

Catastrophically low milk prices may decline further in May and June, making all-hands-on-deck efforts to find solutions for all dairy producers necessary, Peter Vitaliano, chief economist for the National Milk Producers Federation, says in a new NMPF podcast.

“These times are obviously very, very critical for U.S. dairy farmers,” Vitaliano says. “We are trying to turn over every stone and look over every rock for ideas that we might be able to find, including very creative ideas, basically to direct some relief to dairy farmers.”

NMPF’s special coronavirus webpage is devoted to dairy resources on how to weather the crisis, and the hashtag #dairyneverstops has become dairy’s meeting place to share stories and spotlight farmer resilience.

To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find this and other NMPFs podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

 

The U.S. Small Business Administration will resume accepting loan applications for the Paycheck Protection Program beginning today, April 27, at 10:30 a.m. EDT from approved lenders on behalf of any eligible borrower. Dairy farmers are eligible to apply for the PPP, along with a separate initiative, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, for which the application window is also imminent. Both initiatives are first-come, first-served, and funds are expected to be depleted quickly after Congress replenished them last week.

The National Milk Producers Federation is offering the materials below to aid farmers with their applications. All are available on the organization’s coronavirus page, www.nmpf.org/coronavirus. Note that PPP applications must be filed with a lending institution, such as a bank or credit union, while EIDL applications may be filed directly through the U.S. Small Business Administration website.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

• Paycheck Protection Program – Overview, NMPF
• Paycheck Protection Program Webpage, Small Business Administration
• Paycheck Protection Program Eligible Lenders, Small Business Administration

COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program

• EIDL Information, Small Business Administration
• COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans – Overview, NMPF
• SBA Disaster Assistance in Response to the Coronavirus, Small Business Administration

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• PPP and EIDL information provided by U.S. Treasury Department
• Podcast: Small-Business Loans Program a Balm for Farmers – But Act Fast, NMPF’s Larson Says
• Webinar: CARES Act and SBA Loan Update Webinar
• NMPF Commends Progress Towards SBA Programs Better Assisting Farmers

Congress’s move to replenish two coronavirus-related assistance programs that are available to dairy businesses may help keep some dairies afloat – but application windows may close fast, said Claudia Larson, government relations director at the National Milk Producers Federation, in a new NMPF podcast.

Congress’s latest $484 billion coronavirus aid package replenishes two new small business loan programs that were overwhelmed by demand when first offered – the Paycheck Protection Program, which allows qualified banks to offer low-interest loans that can later be forgiven, and Economic Injury Disaster Loans, a parallel program operated by the Small Business Administration. Applications, which have been on hold for additional funding, will re-open soon. Dairies seeking assistance “should do it relatively quickly,” Larson says. “It’s been projected that these funds are going to run out within 36 hours after they’re released.”

To listen to the full podcast, which gives the ins and outs of the programs, click here. NMPF also has more information about them on its coronavirus webpage. 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.

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the largest U.S. dairy-farmer organization, issued the following statement in anticipation of the U.S. House of Representatives passing H.R. 266, which would replenish funding for Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs in the CARES Act:

“We appreciate Congress’s bipartisan efforts to support our nation’s small businesses and workers both with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) included in the CARES Act. Dairy producers and other farmers have not had equitable access to these important programs due to how they were rolled out, and this legislation should help improve that access.

“To ensure that dairy producers can receive the support Congress clearly intended for them to receive as small businesses, NMPF has worked with allied stakeholders, members of Congress from both parties, and administration officials to make certain that PPP and EIDLs are properly administered. NMPF thanks our champions in Congress and their staff for everything they have done to address the disadvantages farmers have faced when trying to access this needed small business support.

“In addition to providing further funding for PPP and COVID-19 EIDLs, this bill changes these programs in ways that make treatment for dairy producers more equitable. NMPF is extremely pleased that Congress makes it clear in this bill that farmers with 500 or fewer employees should be able to access COVID-19 EIDLs, removing a significant obstacle that has prevented small business support from reaching America’s farmers. On the PPP side, we are hopeful that the measure’s provisions aimed at ensuring small lenders – including community banks and credit unions – have adequate access to PPP funds will make it easier for dairy producers and others in rural areas to apply for support.

“It’s important to note that issues remain with these programs, including challenges family farms and other sole proprietors face when trying to apply for a PPP loan. NMPF will continue efforts to address remaining problems so farmers are better enabled to fulfill their critical role in helping our nation throughout this pandemic.”

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.