The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said last month that it will not seek to revise the standards for dust, alleviating major concerns for farmers and ranchers throughout the country, especially in the West.

Recently, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced her plans to retain the current National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for coarse particulate matter (PM10). There is still anxiety by some that this announcement is just a slight victory, while the days of farm dust being regulated further by EPA is not too far down the road.

There have been ongoing efforts in Congress to delay or halt EPA from revising the standards. Legislation has been introduced by Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) that would contain EPA’s regulatory overreach, and virtually exempt farm dust from ever being regulated by the agency. A large coalition of agriculture stakeholders, including NMPF, have signed a letter pledging support for Rep. Noem’s legislation (HR 1633).

With the compliance deadline rapidly approaching, the EPA has proposed to amend the date by which farms must prepare or amend and implement their Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans to May 10, 2013. Currently, farmers and ranchers are required to have these plans in place and finalized by Nov. 11, 2011. If there are no adverse comments to the proposed delay, the postponement will come into effect after the 15-day public comment period closes.

It important to note that this does not remove the regulatory requirement for owners or operators of farms in operation before August 16, 2002, to maintain and continue implementing an SPCC plan in accordance with the SPCC regulations then in effect. Also, this amendment does not relieve farms from the liability of any spills that occur while there is not an SPCC plan in place.

For detailed information on the proposed amendment, please visit the Government Printing Office website.

NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney of Rogersville, MO, was given his state’s Governor’s Award for Agricultural Achievement last month, which honors outstanding farmers, growers and processors in a variety of agriculture commodities. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon visited Mooney’s farm M&M Dairy LLC to present the award and tour the facilities.

Mooney, his wife, Jan, and partner Kent Miller milk 300 dairy cows at M&M Dairy, which utilizes an innovative grass-based dairy system. This pasture management system was adopted in 1992, and is designed to maximize forage use by intensively managing plant growth and grazing time.

In addition to his role as chairman of NMPF, Mooney also serves as chairman of Dairy Farmers of America and is active in other various dairy organizations.

Members of the dairy industry will be packing their bags next week and heading West to attend the joint annual meeting of NMPF, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. The meeting will be held November 14 – 16 at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center in San Diego, CA, and focus on the theme “Navigating a New Course.”

The activities will begin with a leadership and development program on Monday, November 14 for the Young Cooperators, as well as various board and committee meetings. General programming for all attendees will begin at 9:30 am on Tuesday, November 15th, with NMPF’s Town Hall Meeting, where NMPF staff members will discuss efforts to dramatically reform U.S. dairy policy through Foundation for the Future and the Dairy Security Act of 2011. After the Opening Luncheon, with a presentation by NFL commentator John Lynch, participants will hear from Marci Rossell, a former CNBC chief economist and “Squawk Box” co-host, as well as leading executives from the dairy industry’s policy and promotion groups. The first day will conclude with the annual cheese reception, which will feature the winning entries from NMPF’s cheese competition.

On Wednesday, November 16th, the day will begin with a welcome from Rep. Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. That will be followed by speakers representing a range of dairy processor, cooperative and promotional organizations. After the Awards Luncheon, the NMPF Focus Session will delve into issues such as immigration reform and antibiotic residue testing. The meeting will end with the annual reception and banquet, which will feature the Hodads, a southern California party band.

Although early registration for the annual meeting has closed, anyone interested in attending may still register (subject to a $150.00 late fee). Visit www.nmpf.org/nmpf-joint-annual-meeting for more information about the meeting. During the meeting, updates will be posted whenever possible on NMPF’s Facebook page, and Twitter users can follow the conversation using #JAM11, led by NMPF’s Twitter handle.

As States Waver in Face of Pressure, Feds Need to Hold Fast in Defense of Food Safety

ARLINGTON, VA — The nation’s top public health organization needs to stand firm in the face of mounting pressures to further legalize the direct sale to consumers of a potentially dangerous product: raw milk, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) said today, as it urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) not to waver in the face of pressure tactics from raw milk supporters.

Those supporters were out in force today at the FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, urging FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to cease federal efforts to ban the trafficking in raw milk sales across state lines. Current FDA law prohibits the interstate sales of raw milk, although the majority of states allow some form of in-state sales and/or distribution of raw milk.

Raw milk supporters have increased their criticism of the FDA interstate sales restriction “in spite of the clear and compelling documentation that raw milk is a proven means of transmitting serious human pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella,” said NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak. “We hope that Commissioner Hamburg looks at the evidence, and doesn’t just listen to the noise from those who would weaken public health protections.”

While raw milk advocates have made numerous statements touting the benefits of consuming raw milk, these claims mislead consumers and have not been supported by science-based studies, Kozak said.

“Raw milk consumption is inherently dangerous because the product can contain pathogens that are capable of causing foodborne illness,” Kozak said. “Pasteurization is one of the most effective food safety tools developed and, when properly conducted, is the only way to ensure that milk is free from disease-causing microorganisms.”

Kozak said it is particularly concerning that a key constituency in the raw milk movement includes mothers who wish to purchase the product to feed to their children. He noted that more than three-quarters of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with raw milk or milk products involve a child.

“Kids are particularly vulnerable to the diseases caused by the pathogens that may be consumed with raw milk. There are numerous cases where long-term illnesses have resulted from the ingestion of raw milk,” Kozak said. “The FDA needs to stand on the side of protecting public health, especially the health of minors whose parents may not fully grasp the potential consequences of the hazards they are exposing their kids to.”

“Many diseases are not preventable, but where there is a clear and effective prevention against milk-transmitted foodborne illness, why would we allow the myths and untruths to remove that protection?,” Kozak asked.

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 31 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 (NMPF) today questioned the selective and simplistic interpretation of new dairy legislation by organizations opposed to the Dairy Security Act (DSA) that Congress is now debating.

On Oct. 24th, the Dairy Business Association (DBA), an organization of dairy producers and corporate interests based in Wisconsin, issued a press release that cited the findings of a review of the congressional dairy legislation by Dr. Mark Stephenson of the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. Chuck Nicholson of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

The release, which was jointly issued by DBA and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA), noted that with high participation by dairy producers in its safety net programs, the Dairy Security Act could cost the U.S. government “About $2 Billion More than Current Dairy Programs.”

However, on October 25th, a short paper authored by Drs. Stephenson and Nicholson reported that the provisions of the DSA, if enacted with high dairy producer participation, would save the U.S. government close to $700 million. Specifically, the DBA interpretation reported government expenditures of $3.663 billion, versus a baseline of $1.601 billion during 2012-2020, while the recent Stephenson/Nicholson paper shows government expenditures of just $824 million, versus a baseline of $1.592 billion during 2012-2018, under a high participation scenario.

According to NMPF, these contrary findings “clearly illustrate the challenges associated with simplistic attempts to communicate results from complex economic modeling,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF.

The authors themselves note on page 2 of their paper that, “Each of these assumptions about how producers will respond to the program is highly uncertain.” Those uncertainties are illustrated by the fact that although their paper says that the market stabilization program will be in effect 40 to 45% of the time, the reality is that between 2006, and the present, it would have triggered in only 9% of the time, Kozak said.

“Some economic models are acutely sensitive to the assumptions used in the analysis – as is the case with the Stephenson/Nicholson model. Unfortunately, the more sensitive the model, the more likely that dramatic differences in outcomes will result from relatively minor changes in the assumptions underlying the analysis,” he said.

Because of the great variation in reported results, “it must be concluded that changes in the assumptions used in the analysis occurred between the issuance of the DBA release, and the subsequent appearance of the authors’ own papers. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to utilize any background information or results from this study in a substantive public policy discussion,” Kozak said.

Drs. Stephenson and Nicholson themselves noted the limitations of their model with respect to how the DSA would affect net farm operating income (NFOI) due to lower prices:

“It is important to note however, that the current volatility imposes costs on farms (that is, it usually requires changes in management and financing that have costs) and can result in substantial equity loss and a higher probability of business failure. These costs and risks are not directly included in our analysis, so it is not possible to conclude on the basis of reduced average NFOI that dairy farmers would be worse off under the proposed legislation.”

“Such caveats by economic researchers are often excluded by those attempting to focus on specific outcomes which serve their messaging purposes. This certainly appears to be the case regarding the press release issued by the Dairy Business Association and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association,” Kozak said.

“No one’s interests are well served when the debate surrounding efforts to reform federal dairy policy is subjected to selective or less than complete reporting of pertinent research,” said Kozak.

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 31 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.

For the November CEO's Corner, we are including the joint presentation made November 15th, 2011 by Jerry Kozak and NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney at the NMPF Annual Meeting in San Diego, California.

 

Jerry Kozak (JK):

Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. I know that our presentation is all that’s standing between you and the cheese reception, so we’ll try to make this short and sweet. Let us begin by reflecting not on the time of day, but on the time of the year.

Last Friday was Veteran’s Day: the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011. So it’s appropriate that we start this speech by acknowledging and thanking the veterans in our audience. Let's have our veterans stand, and let us thank them for their service to our country.

Randy Mooney (RM):

And next week, of course, is Thanksgiving. I want to thank my wife Jan for her support as I serve in this role. I should also thank Gail Kozak, for allowing Jerry to spend the time and effort that goes into his role. I know that requires a whole lot of patience and support. It’s also worth pausing a moment to reflect on the things for which we are grateful. Certainly, 2011 was a better year for dairy farmers than the previous two years, and we can be thankful for that. That said, the U.S. economy continues to stumble along, and farmers have every right to be nervous about what that means for consumer demand, and dairy prices.

Closer to home, I think the thing we should be very grateful for is the unity that our organization has shown during the past two years that we’ve been working on major dairy policy reform. It’s been a long road since the creation of a Strategic Task Force in June 2009 designed to come up with a better safety net for dairy farmers…and yet, the end is now in sight.

Release Date: May 10, 2007

U.S. Dairy Industry Welcomes Lifting of Mexican Retaliation Tariffs

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) today hailed the full and complete lifting of retaliatory tariffs by Mexico in the cross-border trucking dispute. This action came after the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented a pilot program to allow a selected number of Mexican carriers to operate on the U.S. side of the border under strict safety standards.

“These actions mean that dairy products on Mexico’s retaliation list will now be free of the 20-25% tariffs that were restricting access to our best foreign market,” said Tom Suber, president of USDEC. Mexico’s retaliation against a total of $2.4 billion in U.S. exports had come after successfully challenging the U.S. ban on Mexican trucks that has remained in place, despite a 1994 U.S. commitment under NAFTA to lift it.

“It is a huge relief to cheese processors and their dairy farmer suppliers that their products will no longer be caught in the crossfire of a dispute not of their making,” Suber said. “We are convinced that the DOT program will lead to a permanent solution to this 17-year long dispute, in a manner that will uphold strong safety standards for U.S. roads.”

The DOT pilot program announced in April provided for a 30-day comment period and another period of approximately 30 days to assess the comments received. Subsequently, DOT published a final Federal Register Notice, which outlined the implementation process for the project. Based on this notice, a final agreement was signed by the U.S. and Mexico, and Mexico immediately reduced its retaliatory tariffs on all products by 50%. Removal of the remaining tariffs only awaited today’s Mexico Federal Register announcing the Mexican President’s action of accepting that the first Mexican carrier as eligible to operate across the border.

Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of NMPF, also applauded the actions by both sides to resolve the dispute, and urged members of Congress to allow the program to work.

“We appreciate the efforts by officials in both governments to follow through on the March agreement by Presidents Obama and Calderon to address concerns on both sides of the border, and allow us to once again fully service the fast-growing Mexican dairy market,” Kozak said. “We now hope that political pressures to nullify the arrangement can be resisted so that the thousands of jobs that were lost due to the blow to our exports can be recovered,” he added.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the export trade interest of U.S. milk producers, proprietary processors, dairy cooperatives, and export traders. Its mission is to enhance international demand for U.S. dairy products and assist the industry to increase the volume and value of exports. USDEC accomplishes this through market development programs that build overseas demand for U.S. dairy products, resolving market access barriers and advancing the industry’s trade policy goals. USDEC activities are supported by staff in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, South America, Middle East and Europe. Website: www.usdec.org.

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 31 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.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) applaud the passage Wednesday by the House and Senate of three free trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Panama and Colombia.

“We wish to thank President Obama and his trade team, and leaders in both houses of Congress, who worked hard in recent months to make these favorable votes possible,” said Jerry Kozak, president and chief executive officer of NMPF.

“The FTAs will expand U.S. dairy exports and, when fully implemented, will create thousands of export-supporting jobs in the dairy industry,” said Tom Suber, president, USDEC. “We hope that all necessary steps can be taken in the coming months by all four countries so that the agreements may enter into force at the beginning of the year and benefits to the U.S. economy can begin to be felt immediately.”

“The U.S. dairy industry stands ready to assist in any way possible to help ensure that the FTAs take effect as soon as possible,” added Kozak. “Our producers are excited about the new export opportunities that will be realized once the agreements take effect, especially the trade pact with South Korea. The export gain for dairy from the Korea FTA in the first few years after implementation will be approximately $380 million per year, on average, and the gains from the Colombia and Panama FTAs will add another $50 million annually.”

Suber pointed out that the agreements will not only help expand export sales for such products as cheese, whey, skim milk powder, and other dairy products, they also will prevent foreign competitors from taking market shares that the U.S. industry has developed in each of the countries in collaboration with USDEC. “In international trade, unless we continue to move forward, we risk falling behind our competitors,” he said. “These agreements will ensure that, for America’s dairy farmers and processors, export sales will continue to expand, not contract.”

The leaders noted that the agreements are all about giving dairy farmers greater market opportunities and better prices so that more can remain profitably in business. But Kozak also pointed out that it is not solely about bolstering milk prices for producers; it is also about expanding sales and jobs in the dairy processing and transportation sectors. “We estimate that as many as 10,000 additional jobs, both on and off the farm could be created by the Korea agreement alone,” he said.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the export trade interest of U.S. milk producers, proprietary processors, dairy cooperatives, and export traders. Its mission is to enhance international demand for U.S. dairy products and assist the industry to increase the volume and value of exports. USDEC accomplishes this through market development programs that build overseas demand for U.S. dairy products, resolving market access barriers and advancing the industry’s trade policy goals. USDEC activities are supported by staff in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, South America, Middle East and Europe. Website: www.usdec.org.

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 31 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 40,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.

Indiana Republicans Adopt Dairy Security Act as Marker for Dairy Portion of Farm Bill

ARLINGTON, VA – Senior Senate Agriculture Committee member Dick Lugar (R-IN) has introduced a farm bill proposal that includes the dairy policy reforms advocated by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), a development that NMPF welcomed today “as a major step forward in improving dairy policy.”

Lugar, a former chair of the Senate Ag Committee, and Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), a freshman member of the House Agriculture Committee, have jointly introduced a bill they call the Rural Economic Farm and Ranch Sustainability and Hunger Act (REFRESH). This bill would reduce farm program spending by $16 billion, and save a total of $40 billion compared to current policy. A complete bill summary and legislative draft of REFRESH may be found at www.stutzman.house.gov.

For the dairy title of the Farm Bill, the REFRESH legislation includes the key elements of the Dairy Security Act (DSA) of 2011, which previously was introduced in the House as HR 3062 by Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Mike Simpson (R-ID). The DSA is modeled after the extensive dairy reforms first proposed by NMPF. The DSA itself represents a 20 percent savings compared to the current dairy program budget, amounting to $131 million over ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“We appreciate Sen. Lugar and Rep. Stutzman recognizing the value of including the principles of NMPF’s Foundation for the Future in their Farm Bill proposal,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “The REFRESH bill, along with the Dairy Security Act in the House, now gives us the opportunity in both chambers of Congress to push for dairy reforms that will give farmers protection, stability and growth.”

The key dairy policy changes in the REFRESH bill include: replacing the dairy price support (DPPSP) and milk income loss contract (MILC) programs with a voluntary margin protection program that covers 80 percent of the producers’ production history when margins fall below $4 per hundred-weight; giving producers the option of whether to enroll in a market stabilization program; and reforming the Federal Milk Marketing Order system by moving to a competitive pay price.

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 31 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 40,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.

Dairy Group Pushes for Guest Worker Program, Opposes Enforcement-Only Approach

ARLINGTON, VA – In written testimony provided today to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) said that current labor and immigration policies put the U.S. dairy farm sector at a disadvantage, and that a change in laws is necessary in order to address the realities of dairy production in America.

In testimony presented to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, which held a hearing Tuesday on the agricultural labor crisis, NMPF wrote that there remains a persistent shortage of native-born workers interested in employment on dairy farms, which is why farmers cannot find enough American workers to milk cows and perform other critical job functions on dairies.

“Even in this time of high unemployment, our dairy farmers universally report an inability to find enough American workers…even if they offer better pay than other jobs,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “Sufficient numbers of local workers are simply not available or not interested in working on dairy farms.”

The challenge of hiring workers in 2011 is no different than in 2008, when NMPF conducted a survey to quantify the workforce hiring practices of dairy farms. That survey found that U.S. dairies employed 138,000 full-time equivalent workers, of which an estimated 57,000, or 41%, were foreigners.

Some other sectors in agriculture facing the same problem may be able to use the H-2A visa program to hire seasonal immigrant workers despite the significant flaws in the program, but the dairy sector cannot, a situation that is “fundamentally unfair. America’s dairy farmers need and deserve to have the access to legal foreign workers as other sectors of the agricultural industry,” Kozak said.

Most current proposals to provide agriculture with a labor fix are designed to address the seasonal hiring needs of other portions of agriculture, but not the labor needs of dairy farmers every day of the year, NMPF’s position is that the domestic dairy sector needs a year-round guest worker program.

Among other key criteria, such a program must feature no seasonality requirement, as does the H-2A program currently, along with most agricultural labor proposals in Congress; allow immigrants to work for at least three years; and make the process of applying for work simpler and quicker, NMPF said.

NMPF’s testimony also highlighted concerns the organization has with an enforcement-only approach to immigration policy, such as shifting to the mandatory use of the E-Verify database system for verifying the immigration status of prospective workers.

“If Congress is going to enact a nationwide E-Verify requirement, then it also needs to provide agriculture with a workable guestworker program to meet our future needs and a means to allow those who are currently working in undocumented status to be eligible for that guestworker program.”

“A failure to do so risks severely damaging the economic vitality of the nation’s entire agriculture sector,” NMPF wrote.

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the well being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s 31 cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 40,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is working to build support for H.R. 3062, the Dairy Security Act of 2011, which was formally introduced in the House of Representatives last month. The bill closely follows the concepts of NMPF’s Foundation for the Future proposal to reform and improve federal dairy policy, but contains several improvements compared to the original concept, changes that were endorsed last month by NMPF.

These changes include making voluntary the Dairy Market Stabilization Program (DMSP), which will help reduce milk output during times of low margins. While farmers will not be required to participate in efforts to stabilize markets, if they wish to enroll in the subsidized margin insurance program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, they will automatically be enrolled in the DMSP so that they are promptly alerted when additional production may affect their overall margins.

The new legislation is also an improvement over the earlier version because it extends the Basic level of margin insurance coverage to 80 percent of a producer’s production history, up from 75 percent as initially proposed. The Supplemental margin coverage option is also improved, as it will now allow producers to purchase insurance for growth in their milk production history.

Other changes to the final version of the legislation include a refined provision in the Dairy Market Stabilization Program to ensure that it does not activate during times when signals for farmers to reduce production may impinge on the ability of the U.S. to export dairy products. Also, all of the money collected by USDA through the DMSP will go to dairy product purchases.

Lastly, the Dairy Security Act of 2011 simplifies the Federal Milk Marketing Order pricing system through a formal hearing process conducted by USDA. The proposal directs changes in the way milk used to manufacture cheese (Class III) is priced, from a complicated end-product formula, to a more market-oriented competitive pricing system.

The Congressional Budget Office has scored the legislative draft to assess its budget impact, and finds that the DSA will reduce federal spending by $167 million during the next five years, and $131 million during the next ten. That level of savings “represents one of the major benefits of this approach, since it will not only provide farmers better security, but also save the government money when the main topic of conversation in Washington is on reducing the deficit,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF.

In the photo: Members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Dairy expressed their misgivings with current dairy policies during a hearing in September. The Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL), seen at right, discussing policy options with NMPF President Jerry Kozak.