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NMPF’s Work Advances Dairy’s Interests

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney
  • Secured funding to advance dairy industry disease preparedness
  • Submitted comments reflected in USDA rulings on school meals
  • Intensified dairy advocacy in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
  • Defended dairy’s interests against proposed EPA changes including manure reporting, rodenticide

The Regulatory Affairs team this year has protected and advanced dairy’s interests across areas including disease preparedness, nutrition, on-farm environmental practices and animal health.

The detection of HPAI H5N1 in dairy cattle in March spurred industry-wide coordination and partnership with state and federal agencies with NMPF central to the ongoing response, staying in constant communication with the agencies involved.

NMPF in August was awarded a cooperative agreement with USDA to collaborate on an H5N1 technical group that will address pressure points in the outbreak response. The technical group consists of dairy farmers, cooperative and processor representatives, veterinarians, state animal and public health officials, National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratorians, milk quality testing laboratorians, licensed milk haulers and other federal regulatory representatives. The group will evaluate current challenges and gaps in H5N1 testing and surveillance, culminating in recommendations on strategies and industry guidance. NMPF will communicate response and recovery strategies to our stakeholders as the discussions progress.

Building on a 2021 grant from USDA which allowed for the creation of the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Biosecurity Program, NMPF secured funding from USDA APHIS’ National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP) in May to support two projects advancing dairy cattle disease preparedness. The first project, which kicked off in July, will expand on the current enhanced biosecurity resources and develop an in-person enhanced biosecurity plan training. The second grant, which launches in December, will bring together a group of stakeholders including dairy farmers, veterinarians, dairy cooperatives and processors, NAHLN laboratories and state and federal animal health officials to look at implementing the Foot and Mouth Disease bulk tank milk test during an outbreak.

NMPF filed comments Feb. 13 and joined with other agriculture groups in coalition comments to EPA’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking weighing in on the reporting of air emissions from manure under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Air emissions reporting under EPCRA has been an ongoing battle that NMPF has contested for years.  NMPF and other agriculture groups also sent comments to EPA on Feb. 13 strongly opposing any policy in the “Draft Biological Evaluation for the Rodenticides and the Rodenticide Strategy” that involves making rodenticides restricted-use products.

In nutrition, a critical area of regulatory concern this year, a dozen years of steady NMPF effort paid off for dairy farmers and the broader industry April 24, when USDA solidified 1% and fat-free flavored milk in school meals for children of all ages in its final school nutrition standards rule. This rule also includes added sugar limits by product and a weekly sodium limit. The amount of added sugar in flavored school milk generally falls below the new limit thanks to the dedication and work of NMPF members.

NMPF also underscored the significant role dairy plays in American diets in comments submitted July 26 to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. NMPF also jointly with IDFA sent a letter on Aug. 19 to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra expressing concern with how the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans process has been unfolding. The letter voices concern with the committee’s lack of transparency when developing draft conclusion statements and urges the departments to adhere to the law’s science-based mandate for drafting, considering and publishing the guidelines.

The guidelines have significant effects on nutrition in the United States as the basis of federal nutrition policy and programs; they also help guide health promotion and disease prevention initiatives at the federal, state and local levels. The dietary guidelines committee is expected to release its scientific report with recommendations to USDA and HHS for updating the guidelines later this year; NMPF is committed to highlighting dairy’s value for American nutrition.

NMPF Makes Dairy a Farm Bill Force for Consensus, Notches Other Wins

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney
  • Secured common dairy priorities across farm bill titles in all three farm bill proposals
  • Built bipartisan congressional support to restore “higher of” Class I mover formula
  • Won legislative victories on flavored milk and sodium to shape school meals rule
  • Advocated successfully for FDA authorization of Bovaer to curb enteric methane emissions

NMPF has worked with Congress throughout the year to ensure that both chambers reflect strong and shared support for dairy priorities, even as work to pass a new farm bill stalled. The result is overlapping, pro-dairy policies in every significant legislative farm bill proposal offered thus far, including the House farm bill sponsored by Chairman GT Thompson, R-PA, the Senate Democratic framework introduced by Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, and the Senate Republican framework proposed by Ranking Member John Boozman, R-AR.

Each of these proposals reauthorizes the Dairy Margin Coverage safety net and updates its production history calculation to use recent data. They also require USDA to conduct mandatory, biennial manufacturing cost surveys to provide dairy stakeholders with better data to inform future make allowance discussions. And each also continues USDA’s voluntary conservation programs and moves the remaining Inflation Reduction Act funds into the conservation baseline while keeping the Environmental Quality Incentives Program’s 50% livestock set-aside. And all of them continue important trade promotion programs and include vital language to protect the use of common food names worldwide.

Differences remain, of course. NMPF is pleased that the House bill and the Senate Republican framework include the bipartisan Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act to reverse the underconsumption of nutritious milk in schools. Similarly, NMPF is glad that the Senate Democratic framework includes the bipartisan EMIT LESS Act to better target conservation programs toward helping farmers reduce enteric methane emissions. Both provisions merit inclusion in the final farm bill.

NMPF also appreciates efforts among dairy’s congressional champions to restore the “higher of” Class I mover formula to reinstate orderly milk marketing. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Thompson included this fix in the House’s farm bill, while Senate Dairy Subcommittee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, led a bipartisan letter urging USDA to restore the previous formula. Finally, House Ag Representative Nick Langworthy, R-NY, and others in both parties advocated vocally for the restoration in the House farm bill. NMPF is pleased that USDA included this proposal for most milk in its Federal Milk Marketing Order recommended decision and commends these members of Congress for pushing for this solution.

NMPF secured more policy successes in other vehicles while laying farm bill groundwork. The fiscal year 2024 agriculture funding package included language to allow schools to offer low-fat flavored milk and to follow manageable sodium rules in any final school meals rulemaking. These provisions ensured that USDA’s school meals rule, made final in April, would enable schools to serve nutritious dairy foods that students will consume.

Years of NMPF efforts also drew dividends in May when the Food and Drug Administration announced that it had completed its review of the Bovaer feed additive and granted Elanco Animal Health, its U.S. sponsor, the right to market the product for use in lactating dairy cows. Bovaer has a proven track record of reducing enteric methane emissions, so this represents a milestone in NMPF’s years-long advocacy for enteric-reducing solutions. NMPF continues to seek enactment of the bipartisan Innovative FEED Act to provide FDA with clear authority to review similar future products as foods, not as drugs. This bill is included in the Senate’s fiscal year 2025 Agriculture-FDA funding bill, a path to enactment this year.

NMPF’s work all year also sets the stage for potential progress during the post-election “lame duck” congressional session, when Congress will need to pass either a farm bill or an extension and likely will need to pass a government funding bill.

FMMO Persistence Pays off for Farmers

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney
  • USDA’s recommended FMMO decision incorporates NMPF proposals
  • Economics team member provided market outlooks and FMMO process updates across the country

NMPF’s Joint Economics Unit saw intense Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization in 2024, especially in the year’s earlier months. NMPF submitted its final legal brief to USDA in March, emphasizing that farmers are the reason the order system exists and that they should be the priority as USDA considers its final decision.

USDA released its recommended FMMO modernization plan July 1, agreeing in large part with the underlying principles of NMPF’s proposal. USDA’s biggest difference with NMPF was its establishment of a Class I mover for extended shelf-life products, which consists of the average of with an adjustable mover, even as most of the U.S. milk supply would revert to the “higher-of” formula in effect until 2019, as NMPF and its members advocated. NMPF-USDEC Joint Economics team members explain USDA’s recommended decision here.

Members of NMPF’s FMMO task force have reconvened to write comments on the recommended decision, which will be handed in by the Sept. 13 comment deadline for all stakeholders. USDA will review submissions and issue a final decision in November, followed by a producer referendum likely near the end of the year. Any changes will be implemented in early 2025, ending the formal FMMO modernization process.

Even as FMMO consumed team energy, members of the economics team traveled the country in 2024, providing expertise on changing market conditions throughout the year and updates on the FMMO modernization process.

Stephen Cain, senior director of research and economic analysis for NMPF, and Dr. Peter Vitaliano, vice president for economic policy and market research for NMPF, presented updates on the federal order modernization efforts to the NMPF Young Cooperators in February, the Southeast Milk Inc., Leadership Experience (SMILE) in May, and to the NMPF Board of Directors periodically. In August, Cain travelled to Detroit to update Michigan Milk Producers Association on the next steps in the process.

Producers were also updated on current and changing market conditions through 2024. Will Loux, senior vice president of global economic affairs for NMPF and USDEC, presented a domestic and export market outlook to South Dakota Dairy Producers in January and Dairy Farmers of America in July, as well as an update on the state of the dairy industry to the Idaho Milk Processors Association in August.

The economics team also met with the boards of United Dairymen of Arizona, Agri-Mark, Land O’Lakes, and Michigan Milk Producers Association to provide an update on Cooperatives Working Together renewal and modernization efforts. Cain and Dr. Vitaliano also provided outlook presentations for the National Ice Cream Mix Association annual meeting in January and to the American Butter Institute in April. Dr. Vitaliano also gave a butter-specific presentation to the joint American Dairy Products Institute-American Butter Institute annual conference in April.

Amid this backdrop, the dairy economy itself showed signs of improvement. The Dairy Margin Coverage Program, the main federal safety net for U.S. milk producers, saw its fourth highest ever margin in July, at $12.23/cwt, with the all-milk price at $22.80/cwt. End of August dairy and grain futures indicated that the DMC margin would average around $12.25/cwt for all of calendar year 2024.

Editor’s Note

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s September newsletter sums up the work its dedicated staff have done for dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own so far this year, heading into the critical election season. With August a slower month in Washington in late summer because of the annual congressional recess, Labor Day week is a great chance to take stock of what’s been done so far.

Thank you for reading this team-by-team update of NMPF’s work so far this year and that you find it useful. We strive to lead dairy toward its best possible prospects for policy progress, no matter who may win in November. Thank you, again, for this opportunity to serve.

Dairy Deserves Prominence in the Dietary Guidelines

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The federal government is pressing ahead in crafting a new iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the twice-a-decade guide to science-based advice on what to eat and drink for health and well-being. The guidelines also inform federal nutrition programs, such as school meals and food assistance.

Dairy, to no one’s surprise, is critical to the discussion. For the sake of our nation’s health, this discussion has to be done right, with proper deliberation and dairy maintaining its role as a central component of healthy eating.

A committee of experts is reviewing the latest evidence and preparing recommendations for the next iteration of the guidelines, due next year. As we said in the comments we submitted to that committee: Dairy foods are essential for optimal nutrition and health. Foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt provide a unique package of nutrients American often lack, such as calcium, vitamin D, potassium, protein and iodine. Dairy also reduces chronic disease risk, lowers blood pressure, improves blood sugar control, and protects bone health. And dairy is especially important for children, who need adequate calcium and protein for growth and development.

When the government released its current guidelines in 2020, it noted that dairy is under-consumed by 89 percent of the population. Dairy’s role as a critical nutrient provider, and its underconsumption, is why dairy needs to continue as its own food group, with three recommended servings per day, in the 2025 guidelines. That standard is consistent with current practice, reflected in the nutrition guidance of many other countries and health organizations, and supported by decades of scientific research. Guidelines that don’t give dairy its due simply would not be credible – not when the science, the general public and the mainstream nutrition community all recognize that, without dairy, health outcomes suffer and families, especially families with children, don’t get the nourishment they need.

Maintaining dairy’s place at the bedrock of proper nutrition is of paramount importance as the guidelines are under review. NMPF is fighting for dairy’s necessary pride of place through our public comments, our meetings at all levels of decision-making, our partnerships with allied organizations, and our daily fight against anti-dairy misinformation in media interviews and outreach. Because, as is inevitable in Washington, the guidelines are the subject of intense advocacy efforts, often by groups that have goals in mind other than better nutrition.

For example, some vegan and environmental activists are pushing for replacing some dairy foods with plant-based alternatives in the guidelines, all in the name of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Even setting aside the flawed sustainability arguments, the answer to that is no. Plant-based products are not nutritionally equivalent to dairy foods and do not have the same health effects. In fact, most plant-based alternatives are low in protein and have added sugars, oils, and synthetic nutrients that are in no way nutritionally equivalent to dairy in terms of human health.

Children who consume plant-based alternatives instead of dairy may be at risk of nutritional deficiencies, growth impairment, and bone fractures. Pregnant women who avoid dairy may not get enough iodine, which is essential for fetal brain development. Three of the four nutrients identified in 2020 as issues of public concern because of their widespread under-consumption — specifically vitamin D, calcium and potassium — are abundant in dairy, but not so much in plant-based products. And low-income consumers who choose plant-based alternatives may face higher food costs and lower nutrient density.

And when we talk about low-income consumers, inevitably we need to talk about equity. Dairy foods are widely available, affordable, and culturally acceptable for most Americans. They’re also a major component of federal nutrition programs, such as school meals and WIC, which serve millions of low-income and vulnerable Americans and help ensure that children and families have access to nutritious foods that support their health and learning.

Dairy is an excellent nutritional option for populations who face disproportionate rates of chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, and osteoporosis. And dairy foods can accommodate different preferences and needs, such as lactose intolerance, vegetarianism, or environmental concerns.

Contrary to the claims of misguided social-justice activists that dairy products can’t possibly serve diverse populations because of intolerance, the reality is that lactose-free and low-lactose dairy products, such as lactose-free milk, yogurt, and hard cheeses, can provide the same nutrients and benefits as regular dairy. For all these reasons and more, dairy needs to maintain its prominence in American diets, in federal programs, and in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The guidelines also need to be the product of thoughtful, science-based, and careful deliberations. Another threat facing dairy is that, as election-year politics combine with activist agendas, a devil’s brew of flawed science and ill intentions could result in hastily released guidelines that do a disservice to American health and destroy the very legitimacy of the guidelines. This is the worst possible outcome of all – and it’s one we’re guarding against as we work on this issue through the fall.

Dairy foods are essential for optimal nutrition and health. They provide a unique package of nutrients, they’re an equitable option for health and wellness, and they’re widely available, affordable, and culturally acceptable for most Americans. They deserve thoughtful consideration and a prominent place in the dietary guidelines, as well as in our plates and cups.

Gregg Doud

President & CEO, NMPF

 

NMPF’s Bjerga on Dairy’s Role in Equitable Diets

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Executive Vice President Alan Bjerga talks about how dairy can offer nutritious solutions to all consumers in an interview with RFD-TV. The current drafting of a new version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is featuring concerns over lactose intolerance and the nutritional barrier it presents some consumers. Bjerga points out the wide range of low-lactose and lactose-free products, which represents an important part of dairy’s future.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Milk’s Value for Everyone

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF Executive Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the plethora of low- and no-lactose dairy products available to meet America’s nutritional needs in an interview with Dairy Radio Now. With societal concerns about equitable nutrition access informing conversations over the upcoming Dietary Guidelines, dairy needs to make it clear that it’s a nutrition solution for all, Bjerga says.

NMPF’s Castaneda on Colombian Trade, FMMO

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

NMPF Executive Vice President, Policy Development & Strategy Jaime Castaneda discusses potential dairy trade issues between the U.S. and Colombia, the latest on FMMO updates, and common food names with host Jesse Allen on this Agriculture of America podcast.

Milk Serves Americans Well, Lipps Says

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

The federal government is seeking comments related to the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as it reviews the science behind healthy eating, with a plan expected next year. Dairy has always had a central role in proper nutrition, and newer science reinforces that. That doesn’t mean the process is easy, two experts said in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.

“One of the biggest distinguishing factors in this year’s advisory committee is a focus on using a health equity lens to ensure that the committee considers factors such as socioeconomic position, food security, race, and, or ethnicity and culture,” said Brandon Lipps, who during his time as USDA deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, oversaw the writing of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services. “With products like milk that have so many available nutrients, we can serve Americans so well. And we need to make sure that the committee thinks about the basics when they’re talking about that.”

Lipps, co-founder of Caprock Strategies, was joined by NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs Miquela Hanselman in the podcast. You can find and subscribe to the Dairy Defined podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

Media outlets may use clips from the podcast on the condition of attribution to the National Milk Producers Federation.

Congress can stand up for dairy’s nutrition

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

By Paul Bleiberg, Executive Vice President, Government Relations, National Milk Producers Federation

Milk and dairy products supply 13 essential nutrients, including three that continue to be identified as nutrients of public health concern: calcium, potassium, and vitamin D.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services have historically recognized dairy’s important value in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are updated once every five years and are due next year. The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines should continue to maintain dairy as a distinct food group, one that does not include plant-based imitation products that are not nutritionally equivalent to real milk and do not deliver dairy’s unique nutrient package.

But before the new guidelines are completed, Congress has the opportunity this year to highlight dairy as a nutrition powerhouse that cannot be easily replicated. Below the radar of a tumultuous presidential election year, the bipartisan DAIRY PRIDE Act, introduced in both houses of Congress, has steadily picked up additional support, with nearly 50 members now cosponsoring the House measure.

The DAIRY PRIDE Act directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce dairy standards of identity, which are rooted in dairy’s critical nutrient profile and the fact that milk is the product of an animal that can’t be replicated by substitute ingredients or concocted in a lab. Standards of identity were developed to promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers. These terms, including “milk” and “cheese,” have come to carry distinct meaning in the minds of consumers, with built-in expectations for nutritional values.

FDA’s continued failure to require the proper labeling of plant-based alternative products is a public health problem, plain and simple. When consumers make misguided, but well-intentioned, decisions to purchase imitation products in place of real dairy, the result will be more and more Americans not meeting the recommended intake of dairy outlined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Multiple public health organizations have given voice to this concern, urging that young children not be fed most plant-based alternatives in place of real dairy as their nutrition profiles are largely not equivalent.

After years of anticipation, FDA issued proposed guidance last year intended to address this topic. But while the agency acknowledged the nutritional inferiority of most plant-based imitation products relative to real dairy, FDA still made no attempt to dissuade the makers of these products from labeling them using dairy terms – the true cause of consumer confusion.

The DAIRY PRIDE Act would fix this by deeming mislabeled dairy imitators as misbranded. It then would require FDA to promptly require the proper labeling of alternative products – without the unfettered use of dairy terms. This pro-public health, truth-in-labeling bill would spotlight dairy as a unique source of essential, underconsumed nutrients and can swiftly pass Congress before year’s end.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Aug. 15, 2024.