With the deadline for 2020 farmer Dairy Margin Coverage program signup looming on Friday, Dec. 13, forecast margins remain high for 2020.

The National Milk Producers Federation is urging producers to visit their local Farm Service Agency offices to take advantage of the DMC, which is meant to provide risk management tools for farmers and provide some relief against financial hardship. The popular program paid dairy farmers more than $308 million in benefits for 2019.

All farmers who signed up for 2019 are encouraged to re-enroll for 2020, given the unpredictability of dairy markets. Farmers who elected to enroll for the full five-year life of the program need to visit their FSA office to keep their information current for the upcomingina year.

In October, the milk price/feed cost margin calculated under the Dairy Margin Coverage program was $10.88 per cwt., $0.46 per cwt. higher than the September DMC margin and remaining above the threshold below which payments are triggered. The October all-milk price was $0.60 per cwt. higher than September’s, while the DMC calculated feed cost for September was $0.14 per cwt. higher than September’s, mostly due to a higher soybean meal price.

As of December 4, USDA’s DMC Decision Tool, which can be accessed online, projected the margins shown in the chart below. The DMC margin is currently projected to remain above $9.50 per cwt. for the remainder of 2019 and during all of 2020.

NMPF has a resource page on its new website with more information about the program, including a 4-page brochure summarizing key facts about the DMC and a video specific to 2020 signup.

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program, the dairy industry’s on-farm quality assurance program, today released a proposed Workforce Development evaluation tool for input from industry stakeholders.

FARM Workforce Development (WFD) is the FARM Program’s newest initiative. It focuses on human resources and safety management and has brought together stakeholders from the entire dairy value chain to create educational materials for U.S. dairy owners and managers.

FARM WFD is developing an on-farm evaluation tool that FARM Participants can choose to implement with their dairy producers. The tool is meant to help farms:

• learn about HR and safety management best practices;
• identify which best practices will be most useful to implement on their farm; and
• track improvement over time.

Also, by performing on-farm evaluations, FARM Participants can provide important assurances to supply chain customers: our dairy buyers and retailers.

The evaluation tool was developed in consultation with the FARM WFD Task Force and Working Group members, along with subject matter expert input.

FARM is also getting direct feedback from dairy producers through a pilot program that runs through the end this year. Nine cooperatives have volunteered to test the evaluation tool to solicit feedback. About 60 dairy producers are participating from across the cooperatives. Public Comment will complement the pilot.

After the comment period closes on Jan 20, FARM staff, the WFD Task Force and the NMPF Executive Committee will review and consider revisions based upon the comments, then present a final proposed evaluation tool for approval by the NMPF Board of Directors in March. The FARM Program encourages all those involved in the dairy supply chain to participate. To review the draft evaluation tool and provide feedback, please visit this link.

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The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

Created by the National Milk Producers Federation in partnership with Dairy Management Inc, the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) works with all U.S. dairy farmers, co-ops and processors, to demonstrate to dairy customers and consumers that the dairy industry is taking the very best care of cows and the environment, producing safe, wholesome milk and adhering to the highest standards of workforce development.

ARLINGTON, Va. – One of America’s many innovative dairy companies, Chobani Inc., is drawing attention with a new line of oat-based products meant to capitalize on diverse consumer tastes.

In reality, the real game-changer is likely to be its new line of dairy creamers, which will go a long way toward getting the delicious taste of real cream (rather than chemically-colored white liquids made from vegetable oil) into more U.S. coffee cups – a market that dwarfs the plant-based beverage sector

But amid the inevitable publicity about a dairy company developing a non-dairy product, it’s important to note something else about what Chobani’s doing: They aren’t using dairy terms on their plant-based offerings. And that proves an important point, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers updates to its labeling guidelines on dairy terms: Responsible marketers follow the law, and they don’t have to falsely call a plant-based beverage “milk” to compete.

One of the biggest mischaracterizations of dairy-farmers’ positions on plant-based beverages is that they somehow want to “stifle” them. Um, no. Consumers simply deserve products that call themselves what they are – and as people who know a lot about milk, dairy farmers aren’t keen on sharing that term with imitators who use dairy terms to peddle goods that offer inferior, wildly varying levels of nutrition, misleading consumers into thinking those products have benefits that they don’t.

Chobani Oat exposes the fallacy of cries from plant-based manufacturers that their products must be called milk, or cheese, or whatever – or else consumers might be confused. Standing up for labeling transparency isn’t only honest, it’s commercially viable. And don’t just ask Chobani. Ask Trader Joe’s …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or Sunnyside Farms …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or Pacific Foods …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or Dream Plant Based Beverages (a division of Hain Celestial) …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contrary to what plant-based lobbyists want consumers to believe, dairy farmers embrace responsible competition and understand that proliferating choices are a 21^st-century reality. That’s why products like dairy/plant-based blends are entering the marketplace, and that’s why a smart company like Chobani adds both oat beverages and milk-based creamers to its offerings.

But the competition should be based on merit, not manipulative marketing. Plant-based is one of several classes of beverages competing with milk for consumer dollars, and after 40-plus years of false and misleading labeling, it’s still only managed to gain about a ten percent share of the milk market. And though plant-based is far from milk’s biggest competitor (that would be water), it’s the only one whose manufacturers insist on calling their products “milk,” “cheese,” “butter” and “yogurt,” directly trying to use dairy’s success against it.

Until the bad actors stop violating existing regulations on their own – or the FDA begins enforcing its own rules — we commend the companies who do labeling right. They’re showing integrity, and more of that is badly needed to help consumers make the best decisions for themselves and for their families.

 (Note: NMPF’s Dairy Defined explores today’s dairy farms and industry using high-quality data and podcast interviews to explain current dairy issues and dispel myths.)

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, VA. – Deadlines for Dairy Margin Coverage program signup and Market Facilitation Program payments are nearing for dairy farmers, and the National Milk Producers Federation is urging producers to visit their local Farm Service Agency offices to take advantage of programs meant to provide risk management tools for farmers and provide some relief against financial hardship.

Dairy Margin Coverage signup for 2020 coverage runs through next Friday, Dec. 13. The popular DMC program, which paid dairy farmers more than $308 million in benefits for 2019, offers insurance against low prices and high feed costs. All farmers who signed up for 2019 are encouraged to re-enroll for 2020, given the unpredictability of dairy markets. Farmers who elected to enroll for the full five-year life of the program need to visit their FSA office to keep their information current for the upcoming year.

The second tranche of 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments, which USDA announced in November, is designed to help farmers suffering from damage due to foreign trade retaliation against U.S. agricultural products. In the past, NMPF has urged USDA to enhance payments for U.S. dairy farmers by using current production data.  Signup for the payments runs through this Friday, Dec. 6.

NMPF has a resource page on its new website with more information about the program, including this 4-page brochure summarizing key facts about the DMC and this video specific to 2020 signup.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, VA. – The National Milk Producers Federation today announced it has reached a settlement agreement to end a class-action lawsuit concerning a herd retirement program that ended in 2010 and was administered through NMPF’s Cooperatives Working Together initiative. The settlement will safeguard ongoing efforts to aid U.S. dairy producers, lift a years-long legal cloud and allow NMPF member cooperatives and the current CWT program to move forward with greater legal and fiscal certainty.

The plaintiffs (generally larger retailers and companies who directly purchased butter and cheese from CWT member cooperatives) in First Impressions Salon, Inc. v. National Milk Producers Federation et al, (pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois), and defendant NMPF have agreed to a settlement of $220 million in exchange for a release from all claims. Based on antitrust rules that mandate a tripling of any damages, that amount is less than 6 percent of the damages sought by plaintiffs. The settlement amount will be paid through existing CWT mechanisms, ensuring no disruption to other business operations.

Neither NMPF nor any of its member cooperatives admit any wrongdoing as a result of this settlement. NMPF is the sole defendant to be a party to the settlement, but the settlement extinguishes claims against all the defendants.

“There is no way to sugarcoat a settlement of this size, especially given that the Herd Retirement Program was a well-publicized effort designed to serve dairy producers in difficult times and was praised by two Secretaries of Agriculture as well as leading members of Congress,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, the nation’s largest organization representing dairy farmers. “Given the potential damages and the uncertainties surrounding any jury trial, resolving this case eliminates the possibility of a truly crippling outcome. Lifting this cloud will aid us in our work advancing the well-being of U.S. dairy producers, which includes the current robust CWT export assistance program.”

The plaintiffs’ litigation sought damages relating to the so-called Herd Retirement Program operated under Cooperatives Working Together. The program offered dairy farmers financial incentives to market their milking herds for beef. It operated between 2003 to 2010 and was openly lauded by USDA secretaries and congressional agriculture committee chairmen from both parties at the time as an important, appropriate way to help struggling dairy farmers.

NMPF’s decision to enter into this settlement recognized the uncertainties inherent in any jury trial, the very large damages sought by the plaintiffs and the fact that the successful Export Assistance Program is entirely unaffected by the settlement.  In 2018, CWT assistance aided 57 percent of American-type cheese exports, 44 percent of butter exports, and 39 percent of whole-milk powder shipments, helping U.S. dairy producers expand trade relationships in an extremely challenging world trade environment.

(Note: NMPF’s Dairy Defined podcast explores today’s dairy farms and industry using high-quality data and podcast-style interviews to explain current dairy issues and dispel myths.)

ARLINGTON, Va. –  Dairy’s future will depend on its next generation of farmers, many of whom are already hard at work on farms across the country. Young farmers are an important part of the agricultural landscape, and their continued involvement and leadership is needed to preserve a bright future for our dairy cooperatives. Ensuring these farmers can sustain their livelihoods is critical to the future of the dairy industry.

The average age of all U.S. farm producers in 2017 was over 57 years, continuing a long-term trend of aging in the U.S. producer population, according the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s in part because younger farmers face unique challenges, said Paul and Nancy Pyle, owners of a 150-cow dairy in Zeeland, Michigan. They’re members of the Michigan Milk Producers Association and chairs of the National Milk Producer Federation’s Young Cooperators Program. They work hard to ensure their milk is wholesome and responsibly-produced, but “it doesn’t matter how good your product is. If you can’t make money selling it, there’s a problem,” Nancy said.

To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find the Dairy Defined podcast on Spotify,  SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

ARLINGTON, Va. – “Disruption” is a present-day buzzword, and dairy has had its share. From the globalization of markets to the rise of plant- and cell-based competitors, farmers are grappling with a shifting landscape, even as dairy farms themselves have changed.

But none of that is as personally disruptive as a missed milk check – the interruption of the cash flow that’s necessary to keep a dairy operating. That’s the disruption some farmers have worried about in recent weeks, following the Dean Foods bankruptcy announcement. It’s one we at National Milk have followed closely, and it’s one that forcefully reminds us of the value of the cooperatives we serve, from their farmer-owners to the consumers who depend on them.

Cooperatives have played a crucial role in protecting their members’ economic interests for more than a century. As the industry deals with the uncertainty surrounding what the processing landscape will look like post-Dean Foods, hundreds of dairy farmers have no doubt been wondering what ultimately will happen to their milk as the bankruptcy sorts itself out.

Some cooperative members might be among those wondering — but their membership in a co-op can help provide more certain answers. Finding markets for milk is what cooperatives do, 365 days a year, regardless of disruptions that may develop. With the strength of the co-op backing them up, farmers know they have expertise and networks they can rely upon to help handle the unexpected. Even in temporary situations when milk deliveries exceed processing capacity, co-op members still have steady, predictable access to markets for their milk.

When processors struggle, co-ops help protect farmers and consumers. Cooperatives also allow farmers to become processors themselves, giving them more opportunity to profit from the production and sale of dairy products and react to changing consumer tastes. It’s no surprise, for example, that as the popularity of butter has risen, the number of cooperative-owned processing plants has risen by 8 percent since 2012, and that the cooperative-created volume of popular dairy products such as butter is rising.

This all comes down to the essence of what a cooperative is: a self-help organization in which farmers stick together in good times and bad – sharing in profits and navigating through difficulties.

Protection against supply-chain disruptions was one of the reasons cooperatives formed the National Milk Producers Federation in 1916. Public desire to see farmers succeed pushed adoption of the Capper-Volstead Act of 1922, which allowed farmers to gain greater influence in their own markets. That same collaborative spirit led NMPF in the 1930s to push for the Federal Milk Marketing Order system, which levels the playing field for farms of all sizes in all parts of the country, helping harmonize pay for producers regardless of the end use of their milk while stabilizing prices for consumers nationwide.

And it animates our efforts to the present day, through initiatives such as Cooperatives Working Together, which helps boost U.S. dairy exports, and NMPF’s own collaborations with organizations including Dairy Management Inc., the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, the International Dairy Foods Association and numerous other dairy groups that span states, regions and the globe.

Cooperatives, to be sure, can’t completely insulate anyone from disruption. But dairy is resilient, and cooperatives are fundamental to that resilience. Despite changing consumer tastes and never-ending, inaccurate campaigns against them, per-capita U.S. consumption of dairy products last year was its highest since 1962. Exports are again rising despite trade turbulence, and with potential new leadership at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, we’re even more hopeful that our decades-long battle against milk imitators who inappropriately claim our product names will be resolved in our favor.

Dean’s bankruptcy is creating uncertainty for some producers. But seen from another angle, it’s just another disruption this sector will be able to withstand, due in no small measure to the strength of cooperatives and their dairy farmer-owners. That’s worth remembering as disruption continues to challenge dairy.  We’ve always been a much stronger industry when farmers have worked together. That’s true today, and it will remain true in the months and years to come.

(Note: NMPF’s Dairy Defined explores today’s dairy farms and industry using high-quality data and podcast interviews to explain current dairy issues and dispel myths.)

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.