During this year’s holiday season, it is appropriate for most of us in the dairy community to take a moment to give thanks for 2014’s bounty.

For dairy farmers, this year will be one for the record books. The cornucopia typically celebrated during Thanksgiving was harvested by dairy farmers this year in the form of record-high milk prices, lower feed costs, and a resulting economic blessing that greatly helps salve the losses generated by far different conditions in 2009 and 2012. This year, farmers in the U.S. fully reaped the benefits of the growing global market for dairy foods. Driven by a surge in world demand for dairy foods, America’s dairy farmers responded to the emerging middle class consumer base across Asia by boosting our exports to meet that demand. Milk prices were high elsewhere in the world, but were much higher, and for a longer period of time, here at home, as our farmers fully capitalized on great opportunities abroad.

For that, we can in part thank the Cooperatives Working Together program, which so far has helped to export the equivalent of more than 2.5 billion pounds of cheese, butter and whole milk powder – about half of the year-to-date increase in U.S. milk production. Tighter inventories in American warehouses helped buck up farm-level milk prices, even as world dairy commodity markets began to sag a few months ago.

Those strong prices for butter and cheese – each of which set a new record this year at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange – were all the more welcome when paired with the lower cost of feed for livestock producers. The five-year fever that boosted corn and soybean prices finally broke in 2014, and great weather across the Corn Belt this summer generated a bountiful harvest this autumn. Lower grain prices are a blessing for cattle, pork and poultry farmers who needed the cost of production pendulum to swing back in their favor.

No end-of-year assessment by dairy farmers would be complete in 2014 without acknowledging the five years of hard work in the national policy arena that have finally produced a new safety net in the form of the USDA Margin Protection Program. The MPP, which NMPF developed and nurtured through the legislative process, is destined to be a more flexible, fair and generous form of catastrophic insurance coverage than any program dairy producers have seen for generations. The start of the program this fall is the culmination of dedicated effort by farm groups that, in the true spirit of the Pilgrims, sought new opportunities and brought them to fruition through their dogged perseverance.

Any holiday celebration for these developments must be tempered somewhat by the challenges that remain, and will need to be confronted in the months and years ahead. Milk prices will be a different story in 2015. And, because Congress chose otherwise, there will be no market stabilization program to soften the price decline. Fortunately, farmers who enroll in the MPP will protect some of their downside risk. But those who don’t could be riding another milk-price roller coaster.

Here in Washington, the recent announcement of the White House executive action on immigration policy did not directly address the needs of farm employers, and at the same time, lack of action this year by Congress ensures that immigration policy will remain a contentious battleground into next year.

There are other ongoing challenges as well, ranging from food safety, to animal welfare, to environmental protection. None of these issues is going to be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction in the near future. All will need our continued due diligence, strategic engagement and collaboration to turn them, where possible, into opportunities for the dairy sector, rather than liabilities.

But back to a glass-more-than-half-full frame of mind. For my part, I am thankful for the warm reception and strong support I have received across the dairy industry as I’ve embarked on my new role as head of NMPF. This has been a great year of renewed relationships and new friendships, of learning and leading, listening and advocating. This is a wonderful industry, and I am thankful to be part of it.

ARLINGTON, VA – What has 53 tables, 20 graphs and tells you almost anything you need to know about milk production, dairy product production and sales and dairy exports and imports?

The answer is the 2014 edition of Dairy Data Highlights, the National Milk Producers Federation’s handy, pocket-sized booklet including national and state milk and dairy production data from the 1970s through 2012 or 2013. 

Dairy Data Highlights has been published annually by NMPF for more than 60 years. A must for anyone involved in milk production, it is available to NMPF member cooperatives and associate members for $7.50 a copy, or $5 for orders of more than 10 copies. For nonmembers, the cost is $10 for single copies or $7.50 for bulk orders. An order form is available on the NMPF website.

All aspects of milk and dairy products production are covered, as well as producer, wholesale and retail milk and dairy product prices; federal milk marketing orders; sales and consumption data for milk and dairy products, and comparative information for U.S. dairy imports and exports. 

New this year is a table showing historical monthly income-over-feed cost margins, as defined by the 2014 farm bill for the new Margin Protection Program. The table goes back to January 2000. With two accompanying line graphs, it is a timely addition for producers now making participation decisions on the new federal dairy safety net program.

• National milk production data going back to 1925
• Cow numbers, farms and herd size data going back to 1950
• Milk production and prices, production-per-cow, cow numbers and dairy herd by state, with comparative data from earlier years
• Class III, manufacturing grade and all-milk wholesale prices by year from 1965
• Annual wholesale prices for butter, cheddar cheese, and nonfat dry milk from 1975
• The share of commercial sales by product, including milk, butter, cheese, frozen products and nonfat dry milk from 1970
• Annual production and per-capital consumption of key cheese, butter and frozen products from 1970
• Annual exports of milk, butter, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, and nonfat dry milk by region and country
• A short glossary of dairy industry terms and useful conversion factors for milk and dairy products

From Jim Mulhern, President and Chief Executive Officer, NMPF:

“The executive action announced by the White House this week will not solve the current or future needs of dairy farmers. We still need congressional action, in the form of comprehensive legislative reform of our broken immigration system. This is both an opportunity and an obligation for Congress. We need action in both the House and Senate, with support from both Republicans and Democrats, to do the job that needs to be done.

“NMPF’s focus remains the same going forward, as it has been in the past decade: we must secure a permanent fix to our broken immigration system – and that must be done by the Congress. “Regardless of the executive order announced by the White House, we must continue pressing for a long-term, meaningful solution that provides permanent relief for current workers and future labor needs. It is imperative that Congress address this issue in 2015 and resolve it, once and for all.”

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the wellbeing of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 32,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Milk Producers Federation has recommended a series of changes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial Waters of the U.S. regulation, a proposal that could greatly expand the waterways subject to regulation under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA).

NMPF, the voice of more than 32,000 dairy producers in Washington, asked EPA to either include the organization’s recommendations in the proposed regulation, or withdraw the proposal and rewrite it.

In lengthy comments filed with the agency, NMPF stressed that, above all, agriculture needs certainty on which waterways fall under the jurisdiction of the CWA, and which do not. The draft regulation, it said, doesn’t provide that clarity.

NMPF asked EPA to clarify numerous terms in the draft, including “other waters,” “upland ditches,” ‘‘floodplain,’’ ‘‘tributary,’’ and ‘‘significant nexus.” In addition, it urged that any final regulation exclude from federal jurisdiction intermittent streams and wetlands adjacent to excluded streams. NMPF also asked EPA to publish maps clearly indicating the features that make a waterway covered under the CWA.

“Clean water is essential to milk production and the dairy industry is very willing to work with EPA to protect U.S. waters,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “But EPA’s draft would only lead to more confusion and uncertainty around which waterways fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. In addition, it would intrude on state responsibilities and do nothing to actually stop pollution.”

“This doesn’t help dairy farmers and doesn’t meet the requirements of the Supreme Court rulings that triggered the need for the regulation,” Mulhern said.

NMPF submitted 23 pages of comments on the EPA regulation, along with additional comments on EPA guidance for when farmers must seek CWA permits for a long list of normal farming activities near wetlands.

The draft WOTUS regulation, issued in March, expanded the waterways covered under the Clean Water Act to nearly all those connected to U.S. navigable waters. Many opponents argued the draft would have a devastating impact, particularly on agriculture.

NMPF first urged the EPA to rethink the regulation last spring, citing its many ambiguities and uncertainties. A subsequent NMPF analysis demonstrated that the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers’ proposal does not meet the requirements of various Supreme Court rulings that were the catalyst for the development of the regulation.

“As a result,” Mulhern said, “the proposed regulation does not provide certainty for the dairy industry, and it needs to be reworked, either through this comment process, or with a new proposal from the agency.”

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the wellbeing of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 32,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.

Friday, December 5, is the new deadline for signing up for the revamped federal dairy program, known as the Margin Protection Program, or MPP. The U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed to NMPF’s request to extend the deadline because the previous cutoff was the day after Thanksgiving, when many Americans are preoccupied with the holiday.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack (pictured taking a sip of chocolate milk during his speech), announced the extension in a presentation at the NMPF annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas, October 29. “We want dairy producers to have enough time to make thoughtful and well-studied choices,” Vilsack said. “Markets change and the Margin Protection Program can help protect dairy producers from those changes.”

NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern joined Vilsack in urging dairy farmers to look closely at the details of the new program, which substitutes margin insurance for price supports. “Even if you only want barebones coverage next year, it will only cost you $100,” Mulhern said.  “For a relatively small investment, you can do a lot to protect the future of your farm.”

NMPF has a variety of tools on its Future for Dairy website to help farmers make decisions on the program.  Producers can sign up for the remainder of 2014, all of 2015, or both.

Also in his comments, Vilsack hinted that USDA is sympathetic to concerns that Margin Protection Program rules make it harder for older producers to pass farms on to their children. “USDA is committed to creating strong opportunities for the next generation of farmers and ranchers,” Vilsack said. “If our current rules hinder intergenerational changes or if improvements are needed in these programs, we want to hear from dairy producers,” he said.

Interested parties have until December 15 to comment on the interim rules for the program, which are available on the government’s website for pending regulations. NMPF was instrumental in developing the new safety net program, which was included in the farm bill enacted early this year.

(Photo Credit Eric Priddy)

NMPF President Jim Mulhern and Board Chairman Randy Mooney (pictured) spelled out NMPF’s goals for 2015, now that the new federal dairy program is up and running.

Top priorities for the organization will include immigration reform, opening more foreign markets to U.S. dairy products, addressing environmental issues and strengthening the industry’s farm animal care program.

Mulhern said congressional inaction in immigration this year would not keep NMPF from pressing the fight for reform in 2015. “Our industry and our members must continue to beat the drum in Washington, and – more importantly – in states and congressional districts across the nation, that immigration reform must be dealt with, and finally resolved, in the coming year,” he said. [See related story below about the elections and immigration reform.]

On exports, Mooney and Mulhern said the U.S. dairy industry is intent on being a major player in world markets from here on out. “World trade in dairy is today’s reality and tomorrow’s opportunity,” said Mooney.

Mulhern said dairy farmers have a lot riding on trade negotiations involving both Europe and Asia. “Japan is a huge potential opportunity,” he said. “We could export a lot more dairy products … if the U.S. government can achieve a breakthrough in negotiations and bring back a trade agreement providing meaningful increased market access there.”

But both in Japan and Europe, Mulhern said, entrenched domestic dairy interests don’t want more competition from the United States. “The European defense strategy includes an outrageous focus on clawing back, for their own protectionist use, the names of many common foods,” he said. “These foods include many cheeses that we’ve been making for decades…”

Both leaders pointed to the important role of NMPF-managed Cooperatives Working Together in today’s favorable dairy export picture. “The rise in exports in the past decade is due to a number of factors, but a big one is that we have, in our Cooperatives Working Together program, a very effective tool to help seal the deal in markets where we are competing with products from other countries,” Mooney said.

This year alone, CWT, which is funded completely by farmers, has helped find markets for 92 million pounds of cheese, 53 million pounds of butter and 37 million pounds of whole milk power in 43 counties on six continents.

The complete text of the Mooney-Mulhern comments is on the NMPF website.

Also at the annual meeting, held at the Gaylord Texan outside Dallas, NMPF welcomed four new dairy cooperative members, two new board members and one new board officer.

The new cooperative members are Bongards’ Creameries, Norwood, Minnesota; Cortland Bulk Milk Producers Cooperative, Cortland, New York; Mount Joy Farmers Cooperative Association, Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, and Oneida-Madison Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Sherrill, New York.  These new members bring the number of NMPF-member cooperatives to 31.

The two new NMPF board members are Michael Doyle, president and CEO of Foremost Farms USA in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Scot Meyer, board member of Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Ellsworth, Wisconsin. In addition, board member Keith Murfield (pictured), CEO of United Dairymen of Arizona, was elected NMPF secretary.

NMPF also recognized six outgoing board members for their service to the organization and presented the NMPF Political Action Committee Award to board member Dan Senestraro of Dairy Farmers of America.

The outgoing board members receiving certificates of appreciation were William Blalock, Cooperative Milk Producers Association; Albert Knegendorf, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery; Dennis Donohue, FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative; David Newhouse, Farmers Cooperative Creamery; Dave Fuhrmann, Foremost Farms USA; and Donald DeJong, Select Milk Producers.

In other NMPF annual meeting news, a provolone made by Dairy Farmers of America in its Turlock, California, processing plant received the top award in the 2014 cheese competition, while Michelle Carter, communications specialist for Northwest Dairy Association/Darigold in Seattle, was named 2014 NMPF Communicator of the Year. Complete cheese contest results are on the NMPF website. In all, 12 NMPF cooperative members submitted 145 entries, totaling 2,150 pounds of cheese.

The incoming 2015 Young Cooperator council elected its leadership for the upcoming year. Brian and Carrie Preston, Michigan Milk Producers Association, were chosen to serve as the YC Chaircouple. Tommy and Anna Watkins, Southeast Milk, will serve as the Vice Chaircouple, and Donald and Bernadette Harwood, Upstate Niagara Cooperative, will be the Secretary Couple.

At the conclusion of the meeting, nearly 1,200 pounds of unused food was donated to the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth. Included were cheese from the competition, milk, yogurt and ice cream. The food bank serves Tarrant and 12 neighboring counties on the west side of Dallas/Fort Worth.

In the wake of major Republican gains in the mid-term elections on Tuesday, both the House and Senate agriculture committees will see new leadership.

With Republicans assuming control of the Senate in January, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas (pictured with current Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow) is likely to be the new chairman of the Senate panel. Roberts withstood a challenge from independent Greg Orman to win his fourth Senate term.

The current senior Republican on the committee, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, is expected to lead the Senate Appropriations committee, rather than serve as chairman of the farm panel. That would pave the way for Roberts to be the chairman. The current committee chair, Sen. Stabenow of Michigan, will become the panel’s senior Democrat.

In the House, both Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and senior Democrat Collin Peterson (D-MN) were reelected, but Lucas is term limited as chair of the Agriculture Committee. That paves the way for Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) to be the farm panel’s new chairman. Peterson, who withstood his strongest challenge in years from a Minnesota state senator, will remain as senior agriculture committee Democrat.

On the policy front, the Republican election left uncertain the prospects for congressional action on comprehensive immigration reform next year. NMPF and other farm organizations have pledged a major push on immigration in 2015. However, if any major reform legislation passes in the Republican-controlled Senate, it is likely to be somewhat different from the 2013 Senate bill, which was backed by NMPF. That bill included an historic agreement ensuring that dairy farmers could both maintain their current workers and have the workforce needed to meet future needs.  NMPF will work to ensure that any immigration reform legislation considered by the House and Senate leadership reflects the major priorities of dairy farmers across the country.

Meanwhile, since the summer President Obama has indicated that, in the absence of Congressional action on the issue, he would take administrative action before the end of 2014 to address the status of undocumented immigrants. However, whatever action the White House may take administratively will not solve the workforce problems facing American agriculture. NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney said dairy farmers need to keep sending a strong message to Capitol Hill on the need for comprehensive reform. “Without a vocal expression from farmers, it will be easier for politicians to ignore (the issue). We can’t afford to let that happen,” he said.

In order to help quantify the importance of immigrant workers to dairy production, NMPF is working with Texas A&M University to conduct a survey of dairy farmers about their labor needs.  This effort will update the 2009 survey NMPF conducted of the industry.  To obtain a copy of the survey, please contact Jaime Castaneda or John Hollay by Nov. 16.

In other election news, voters in Colorado as well as in Oregon rejected measures that would have required labeling for foods made with genetically modified ingredients. The Colorado measure failed, 32 percent to 68 percent. In Oregon, the referendum failed 49 percent to 51 percent.

According to NMPF CEO Jim Mulhern the results demonstrate that when consumers have enough information on GMOs they understand that mandatory labeling is meaningless and unnecessary. “It is heartening to see reasoned judgment prevail,” Mulhern said. “Extensive scientific research and billions of servings consumed by both humans and animals show that there are absolutely no health or safety issues with GM products that have been approved by government authorities. These defeats for the science-deniers will hopefully be a turning point that will enable us to move on to real issues of how to sustainably feed a growing world population.”

In October, Cooperatives Working Together helped member cooperatives make 31 export sales of 6.8 million pounds of American-type cheese, 5.2 million pounds of butter and 4.7 million pounds of whole milk powder. The products will go to customers on six continents from October 2014 through April 2015.

The October CWT-assisted sales bring the year-to-date total to the equivalent of 2.3 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. That is equal to the annual milk production of over 100,000 cows.

CWT is a voluntary, farmer-funded program that provides assistance to member cooperatives to maintain and expand world markets for U.S. dairy products made from milk produced by America’s dairy farmers.

At the NMPF annual meeting in Texas, President and CEO Jim Mulhern credited CWT with helping to keep U.S. dairy product prices at historical highs amid a steep decline in dairy prices worldwide. “By moving additional quantities of product from the U.S. market into world markets,” Mulhern said, “CWT, in conjunction with strong domestic sales, has kept domestic inventories low. That increased demand created through CWT has helped strengthen milk prices across the board.”

NMPF joined the U.S. Dairy Export Council last month in detailing for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative some of the key trade barriers affecting the domestic dairy industry. The organizations submitted 18 pages of comments as part of USTR’s annual exercise of summarizing important trade barriers to U.S. exports.

The comments covered a range of issues, including Japanese and Canadian dairy tariffs, closed markets in Russia and India, regulatory challenges in China, and European Union efforts to erect nontariff barriers to U.S. cheese exports around the world.  The organizations said EU efforts to restrict the use of common cheese names by non-EU producers “put at risk hard-won U.S. market access opportunities” and “must be vehemently rejected as the protectionist measures they are.”

USTR’s annual National Trade Estimate helps focus efforts to preserve and expand U.S. export opportunities.