ARLINGTON, VA – The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) filed comments today in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Nov. 14 proposal to exempt manure air emissions reporting from the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (ECPRA).

In October 2017, EPA concluded that air emissions from manure did not need to be reported under EPCRA while signaling it would take a substantive approach through rulemaking to explain its thinking on the issue. EPA’s assessment largely was based on the fact that the air emissions were a result of “routine agricultural operations” exempt from EPCRA reporting.

EPA’s current actions with EPCRA are consistent with Congress’ recent action to exempt manure emissions reporting requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).

In today’s comments, NMPF expressed support for that approach and noted that the legislative history of EPCRA showed that Congress did not intend for continuous air emissions reports to be filed under EPCRA if they were not required under CERCLA. In further support of EPA’s action, NMPF has noted that the emergency response community has no use for these reports and that they impede their emergency response function.

“The record is clear,” NMPF said in its comments. “Congress, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Emergency Responders around the country all oppose air emissions from manure reporting. We appreciate the opportunity to share our views on this important topic and commend the agency for its diligence.”

NMPF also concurred with EPA’s proposed new definitions of “Animal Waste” and “Farms.” NMPF looks forward to EPA finalizing this rulemaking as proposed.

###

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 the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

Following the announcement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is extending the public comment period on the fake-milk labeling issue, NMPF is urging its members to provide feedback to the agency before the Jan. 28 deadline.

Since NMPF released its first four-page document of key messages and data points at its Annual Meeting in October, it has expanded its toolkit of resources, including an instructional video, colorful graphics, a dedicated webpage and a social media marketing campaign – all intended to demonstrate  why the FDA needs to enforce its existing labeling standards. NMPF is asking not just its members, but also consumers, family members and even pediatricians to explain how misbranded dairy imitators mislead consumers and harm public health.

“We’re really revving the engine on this issue,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “With less than two months to go before the commenting deadline, we intend to drum up support from our engaged membership and use it to highlight the public health issues at stake.”

Informational materials now available on the NMPF website include:

• A four-page document that includes instructions for submitting comments and key points
• An instructional video with screen grabs illustrating the step-by-step process of how to comment on the FDA docket
• A library of graphics to share in newsletters or on social media

Beverages made of water, emulsifiers and plant ingredients have long used dairy terms to falsely associate themselves with the positive traits of milk-based foods, including milk’s nine essential nutrients. While FDA standards clearly specify that milk is the product of an animal, enforcement of those rules has been neglected for decades. FDA finally took up the standards-of-identity issue earlier this year, holding a hearing in July before putting out an initial request for comments with a deadline of Nov. 27. NMPF successfully requested that the deadline be pushed to the end of January, after which the FDA may consider a new rule governing dairy labeling.

Current labeling practices create false impressions of nutritional and quality equivalence that prompt consumers to make decisions they might not otherwise make with proper labeling.

“U.S. consumers shouldn’t receive false signals about products,” said Mulhern. “This situation requires FDA’s intervention, for the benefit of consumers and transparency in the marketplace. Until then, the dairy producer community has to lead the charge in providing clear, compelling arguments for why action is needed.

In an important step toward ending trade disputes that have harmed U.S. dairy exports, President Donald Trump joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in signing the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement on Nov. 30 in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, praised the leaders for reaching a deal that preserved the agreement’s duty-free terms for U.S.-Mexico dairy trade; included notable reforms to Canada’s dairy pricing system; created additional dairy-market access; and ushered in beneficial new rules in multiple key agricultural trade areas. Mulhern also noted that work was not yet finished, as Mexican retaliatory tariffs on U.S. cheeses levied in response to U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel still hang over the market, creating a drag on farmers’ prices.

“We appreciate the Trump Administration for continually raising our issues of concern and fighting for a better agreement with Canada,” he said. “We encourage the administration to remo

ve other tariffs that are hampering North American trade, including the steel and aluminum tariffs still imposed on Mexico, and to continue making progress in striking new free trade agreements and resolving ongoing trade conflicts.”

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council will shortly submit comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission on the USMCA to help the agency analyze the agreement and ensure that dairy producers continue to have a voice in the process. A key focus remains driving home the need to implement the agreement in a manner that keeps with both the letter and the spirit of the deal. ITC will issue its report on the economic merits of the USMCA in early 2019, as part of the Congressionally-mandated Trade Promotion Authority process.

In addition to the headline issues, NMPF worked hard to guard American dairy producers’ interests in the agreement, such as working with negotiators to safeguard existing U.S. cheese sales to Mexico, countering European Union efforts to block the sale of U.S. products.

Looking ahead, NMPF is gearing up for the congressional stage of USMCA approval, working with the Office of the Trade Representative and Agriculture Department to spotlight key implementation areas that need attention and urging the administration to drop its steel and aluminum tariffs in the wake of the USMCA signing.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for completing congressional approval of a new farm bill and sending to the White House a law that will provide important economic assistance to dairy producers in times of need. NMPF urged President Donald Trump to immediately sign the bill.

“The farm bill passed by the full Congress represents a truly bipartisan spirit and offers genuine hope for agriculture,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The dairy provisions adopted by Congress will bring critically important assistance to the nation’s dairy farmers. The sooner the president signs the bill, the sooner that the Agriculture Department can implement these important policy improvements.”

The farm bill’s adoption by the House follows yesterday’s Senate vote of approval and reflects months of work in both chambers.

Among House members, Reps. K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), the chairman and ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, worked tirelessly to reach a final agreement. In addition, NMPF thanked several members of the conference committee who advocated strongly for dairy, including Vice Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA) and Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Ann Kuster (D-NH), Sean Duffy (R-WI), Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), Bob Gibbs (R-OH), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Jodey Arrington (R-TX), and Tim Walz (D-MN). NMPF also appreciates the advocacy of Reps. David Valadao (R-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Joe Courtney (D-CT), John Faso (R-NY), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Mike Simpson (R-ID), and Mike Bost (R-IL) on specific provisions included in the bill.

The farm bill features several important policy reforms for dairy, including:

• Affordable higher coverage levels in the Dairy Margin Coverage program (DMC) (renamed from the Margin Protection Program) will permit all dairy producers to insure margins above $8.00 on their Tier I (first five million pounds) production history.
• The bill will reduce the cost of $5.00 margin coverage by roughly 88 percent. This aids larger producers and is critically important in times of catastrophically low milk prices.
• Greater flexibility to allow producers of all sizes to access Tier I premium rates.
• Expanded access to additional risk management tools, allowing producers to participate in both the DMC and the Livestock Gross Margin insurance program.
• An option that will allow producers to receive a 25-percent discount on their premiums if they lock in their coverage level for the entirety of the bill.

Collaborative work across the dairy sector was instrumental in securing this year’s pro-dairy bill, Mulhern said. NMPF and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) forged an unprecedented industry consensus during discussions of the bill dating to last year. The final bill includes an agreement reached between the two organizations on risk management that will help producers, cooperatives and processors to better hedge price risk.

“IDFA worked closely with colleagues at NMPF to unite behind shared solutions for dairy,” said Michael Dykes, DVM, president and CEO of IDFA. “Members of Congress have called our collaborative efforts historic, refreshing and, best of all, exceedingly helpful to their farm bill efforts. The dairy provisions included in the bill represent the positive outcomes we can gain through sustained industry collaboration.”

“Dairy works best when it works together,” Mulhern said. “Congress noticed. Hard work and cooperation among NMPF, IDFA, member co-ops, state associations and the entire dairy community helped craft a bill that will benefit us all.”

For more details on the new law’s benefits to dairy, see this letter sent to Congress by NMPF urging the farm bill’s adoption.

###

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 the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

Pending trade talks with Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom – if pursued with the right goals in mind – hold promise for greater for U.S. dairy exports.  The U.S. dairy industry plans to take an active role in crafting agreements, and NMPF is working on providing officials direction to help shape those negotiations to best align with dairy-producer priorities.

The United States and Japan announced in September that they would hold bilateral trade talks, a move that set aside the threat of tariffs on Japanese auto imports as part of an ongoing U.S. assessment of national security issues related to trade in that sector.

The goal for U.S. negotiators is to gain better access to the Japanese market for agriculture goods, including dairy, in which American producers have faced high import tariffs. This is particularly vital as Japan moves ahead with implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (the successor treaty to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which the United States didn’t join) this month and its agreement with the EU next year. Collectively, the two treaties will increase access to one of the largest export markets for the three biggest U.S. dairy competitors, making it more important for the United States to swiftly secure terms of trade that exceed those prior agreements and keep U.S. dairy products competitive in Japan.

NMPF’s Jaime Castaneda testified about the proposed U.S.-Japan agreement at the International Trade Commission hearing on Dec. 6, explaining why Japanese market access must increase and why those gains must be greater than those offered under the CPTPP or EU-Japan agreement. NMPF staff will also testify before the U.S. Trade Representative on Dec. 10.

NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern will also testify at a hearing later this month regarding planned talks between the EU and the United States, arguing that agricultural issues deserve a seat at the table in any comprehensive trade agreement, a position the EU disputes. In other negotiations, talks between the United States and the United Kingdom still contain many unknowns, but the dairy industry is poised to keep U.S. farmer interests in front of trade negotiators, pointing out how vital it is that such a deal tackle the full range of constraints U.S. exporters may face in selling to the UK.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) thanked the Senate for quickly passing a farm bill that includes needed reforms to dairy programs that will boost producer incomes in a tough economic environment. NMPF urged the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately approve the bill.

“The farm bill’s bipartisan support in the Senate is a vote of confidence in U.S. agriculture, and it’s a reason for hope among dairy producers,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “As dairy struggles with low prices and disrupted exports, the Senate has stepped up with improved programs that will help producers. We urge the House to pass this legislation and send it to the White House.”

Mulhern congratulated Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for their leadership in building consensus for the bill. NMPF also thanked Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who served on the conference committee and has long played a role in shaping dairy policy, as well as conferee Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for their advocacy.  Additionally, NMPF commends Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Tina Smith (D-MN) for their work to strengthen the bill for dairy farmers.

The farm bill features several important policy reforms for dairy, including:

• Affordable higher coverage levels in the Dairy Margin Coverage program (DMC) (renamed from the Margin Protection Program) will permit all dairy producers to insure margins above $8.00 on their Tier 1 (first five million pounds) of production history.
• The bill will reduce the cost of $5.00 margin coverage by roughly 88 percent. This aids larger producers and is critically important in states where margins fall more quickly.
• Greater flexibility to allow producers of all sizes to access Tier 1 premium rates.
• Expanded access to additional risk management tools, allowing producers to participate in both the DMC and the Livestock Gross Margin insurance program.

###

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 the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is pleased that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have begun the process of replacing the 2015 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.

NMPF staff were given an overview of the newly proposed WOTUS rule that will replace the 2015 version in a ceremony at EPA headquarters today. As NMPF reviews the proposal, staff are highly confident it will improve upon the current rule, which has led to unnecessary legal fees, compliance costs and confusion for U.S. dairy producers.

“Dairy farmers have a vested interest in the outcome of this rulemaking and its potential impact on their operations,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We look forward to working with the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to achieve the proper clarity that dairy farmers need on WOTUS to continue to meet our shared commitment to clean water.”

NMPF, other trade associations and state governments have had grave concerns about the current rule, which is overly broad and potentially unconstitutional. NMPF has repeatedly called on the EPA to rewrite the 2015 regulation and narrow its scope. The rule has faced an enormous amount of litigation around the country and was on track to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The new rule will be subject to a public comment period that will last 60 days from its publication in the Federal Register, which is expected by January.

###

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 the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, Va. – With the release of a farm bill that Congress will vote on in the coming days, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) joined its member cooperatives and state dairy associations in urging Congress to pass the new law, which includes several measures crucial to dairy during tough economic times.

“Dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own are enduring a period of prolonged economic distress,” NMPF writes in a letter to the chairs and ranking members of each congressional agriculture committee – Reps. Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), and Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). “Timely reauthorization of the Farm Bill will provide effective, needed risk management tools to dairy producers across the country as we enter yet another year of uncertainty.”

The Farm Bill features several important policy reforms for dairy, including:

• Affordable higher coverage levels in the Dairy Margin Coverage program (DMC) (renamed from the Margin Protection Program) will permit all dairy producers to insure margins above $8.00 on their Tier 1 (first five million pounds) production history.
• The bill will reduce the cost of $5.00 margin coverage by roughly 88 percent. This aids larger producers and is critically important in states where margins fall more quickly.
• Greater flexibility to allow producers of all sizes to access Tier 1 premium rates.
• Expanded access to additional risk management tools, allowing producers to participate in both the DMC and the Livestock Gross Margin insurance program.
• An option that will allow producers to receive a 25 percent discount on their premiums if they agree to lock in their coverage level for the entirety of the bill.

In addition to strong dairy-producer support, NMPF worked closely with the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) to forge an unprecedented industry consensus. The final bill includes an agreement reached between the two organizations on risk management that will help producers, cooperatives and processors to better hedge price risk.

###

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 the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) thanked members of Congress, especially the bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, for crafting a farm bill that includes much-needed reforms to help American dairy farmers. The 2018 Farm Bill reached a key milestone on Monday with the release of a long-awaited conference report.

“Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle should be commended for reaching a deal that will benefit U.S. agriculture and ensure safe, affordable food for Americans and the world,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “A new law is especially important for dairy, a sector struggling with low prices and disrupted exports. We thank lawmakers for addressing our concerns with measures that will help producers in need.”

NMPF called on the full Congress to pass the bill quickly while thanking its four principal negotiators: Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), as well as House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN).  While the bill includes a vast array of farm policy changes, improvements benefiting dairy include:

• Higher coverage levels in a renamed Margin Protection Program (MPP) that address deficiencies in the current program’s feed-cost formula
• Greater flexibility to allow producers of all sizes to access Tier 1 premium rates
• Expanded access to additional risk management tools, allowing producers to participate in both MPP and the Livestock Gross Margin insurance program
• Continued support for land and water conservation programs that assist dairy producers
• Full funding for Farm Bill trade promotion programs, a crucial concern in an era of markets lost to tariffs
• Nutrition provisions intended to enhance consumption of fluid milk

The law’s provisions build on improvements enacted in the Bipartisan Budget Act earlier this year, including dairy safety net reforms spearheaded by Stabenow and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), as well as risk management provisions championed by Conaway and Peterson.

###

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 the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

The monthly margin under the dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) for October 2018 was $8.96/cwt., $0.70 higher than the September margin. The MPP margin has improved by $2.24/cwt. over the past three months. The October all-milk price was $17.40/cwt., also $0.70 higher than in September. The October MPP feed cost formula was essentially unchanged from a month before. Very minor changes in the three individual MPP feed cost formula components offset each other between September-October. Over the past five months, the MPP feed cost has fallen by $0.98/cwt.

The USDA online MPP Decision Tool was recently updated to show projections for 2019. Based on the Dec. 7 dairy futures settlement prices, the tool indicates that the MPP margin may remain in the $8.00-$9.00/cwt. range during at least the first half of next year.

USDA’s MPP margin forecasts can be accessed online. NMPF’s Future for Dairy website offers a variety of educational resources to help farmers make better use of the program

The National Milk Producers Federation commended Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for returning low-fat (1%) flavored milk as part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. The final rule implementing regulatory changes needed to add low-fat flavored milk to more school menus and other nutrition programs serving children was announced today by the USDA and will be published later this month in the Federal Register.

“NMPF thanks Secretary Perdue for completing this step that will encourage milk consumption in schools,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the NMPF. “USDA’s own studies have shown that students drank less milk after low-fat chocolate milk was removed from schools. Returning low-fat flavored milk to school menus will help reverse this harmful trend.  Milk has been an integral part of school meals since their beginning, and greater milk consumption equals better nutrition for America’s kids. The new rule is good news for schools, students and American dairy farmers.”

The final rule makes permanent the changes Secretary Purdue implemented last year to streamline the process by which schools can serve low-fat flavored milk. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture eliminated low-fat flavored milk as an option in school meal and a la carte programs, after which milk consumption in schools dropped. Students consumed 288 million fewer half-pints of milk from 2012-2015, even as public-school enrollments grew.

The USDA action will allow schools to offer low-fat flavored milk without requiring them to demonstrate either a reduction in student milk consumption or an increase in school milk waste, bureaucratic hoops that had limited their ability to offer low-fat flavored milk in the 2017/18 school year.

NMPF appreciates the bipartisan efforts of numerous members of Congress who advocated for this change, most notably Reps. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA) and Joe Courtney (D-CT).

###

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 the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.