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U.S. Dairy Pursues Opportunities in UK, EU

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF President and CEO Gregg Doud and Executive Vice Presidents Shawna Morris and Jaime Castaneda led a U.S. dairy leadership delegation to Europe the week of June 23 to promote U.S. dairy exports and push for greater market access.

NMPF Board Member and USDEC Vice Chair Alex Peterson, USDEC Chair Becky Nyman, and USDEC President and CEO Krysta Harden also headed up the delegation, offering perspectives as industry leaders.

The trip’s first leg in the United Kingdom featured farm visits and tours, where NMPF learned more about the British dairy industry’s sustainability ambitions, market considerations, competitiveness, and future opportunities for collaboration and engagement. NMPF also met with Graham Floater, the United Kingdom’s Chief Negotiator for Trade with the United States, and other policymakers, to highlight how increasing imports of safe, high-quality, nutritious, and competitively priced U.S. dairy ingredients would benefit British businesses and consumers.

The group’s Brussels stop included meetings with EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen, the U.S. embassy team including Charge d’Affaires Norman Thatcher Sharpf, and the offices of the Directorate-General for Health & Food Safety (DG Sante) and Directorate-General for Trade & Economic Security (DG Trade), as well as senior political leaders from both those areas. Meetings with leading EU private sector organizations, Eucolait and COPA-COGECA, and the International Dairy Federation, rounded out the trip.

NMPF emphasized the nearly $3 billion dairy trade deficit between the United States and the European Union, driven largely by unjustified nontariff and tariff barriers. NMPF highlighted the importance of EU regulations being World Trade Organization-compliant, as opposed to the overly detailed and prescriptive approaches presently taken which are so  counterproductive to fair and healthy trade.

NMPF Strengthens South America Ties on Trip with NMPF Members

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF Executive Vice President for Policy Development and Strategy Jaime Castaneda, along with representatives from member cooperatives California Dairies Inc. and Darigold, and seven other U.S. dairy exporters and traders traveled to Lima, Peru, June 9-12 on a USDA trade mission to explore business opportunities.

The trip featured in-depth market briefings, site visits, and networking events for U.S. dairy suppliers to meet with buyers from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.

The host of next year’s Latin America Nutrition Congress, Peru has been a key market for U.S. dairy exporters since the U.S.-Peru Trade Agreement was signed in 2009. The Congress, which NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) will lead, will help align public dietary guidance with up-to-date dairy science, and further strengthen partnerships between U.S. and Latin American health and agriculture sectors.

NMPF Names Four Dairy Scholarship Winners

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Four graduate students researching in areas that benefit dairy cooperatives and farmers are receiving scholarships as part of the 2025 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program, with one being honored through a scholarship created this year. Recipients of the scholarships, announced at NMPF’s June Board Meeting, include:

Dallas Soffa, a doctoral candidate in Physiology of Reproduction in Animal Science at Texas A&M. Soffa’s research explores the hormonal influence on reproductive microbiota and immune cell signaling in cattle.

Margaret Costello, a doctoral candidate in Animal & Dairy Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on integrating emerging sequencing technology and non-invasive sampling techniques with rumen microbiome research to address key industry concerns.

Marina Rocha Dorella, a master’s student in Animal Science at the University of Minnesota. Her research explores enhancing dairy industry sustainability through precision dairy technology, more specifically, optimizing hyperketonemia treatment efficiency and labor allocation.

The committee also selected a student to receive the newly created Dr. Peter Vitaliano Legacy Scholarship. The scholarship, created in March, supports individuals who demonstrate a passion for the industry through community engagement, academic interests and advocacy. This year’s scholarship was awarded to:

Maria Belen Ugarte Marin, a doctoral candidate in Veterinary Medical Sciences at the University of Florida studying the identification of detrimental milking characteristics and their association with dairy farm performance. Maria’s dedication to mentorship, serving as a teaching assistant, and overall passion for supporting the next generation embodies the vision for dairy leadership by Dr. Vitaliano, who retired from NMPF last year after nearly four decades as an economist with the organization.

“Congratulations to each recipient of this year’s National Dairy Leadership Scholarships,” said NMPF President and CEO Gregg Doud. “We are proud to continue to focus on the future of the industry by supporting these young professionals in their endeavors. Farmers can be confident in their investment in education and the next generation of dairy leaders.”

To learn more about and contribute to the NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship program, please visit the scholarship website.

Senate Budget Reconciliation Proposal Includes NMPF Priorities

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The U.S. Senate on July 1 passed a budget reconciliation bill that largely resembles the House-passed version when it comes to critical dairy issues. The bill passed by a vote of 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie, and House Republican leaders are hoping to send the bill to President Donald Trump by July 4.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s portion of the bill, released by Chairman John Boozman, R-AR, on June 11, includes numerous NMPF-backed requests that would strengthen dairy and farm policy, including:

  • Renewing the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program through 2031; updating DMC’s production history calculation to be based on the highest production year of 2021, 2022, or 2023; and extending the ability for producers to receive a 25% premium discount for locking in their coverage for the duration of the bill;
  • Providing mandatory funding for USDA to conduct mandatory dairy processing cost surveys every two years to provide better data to inform future make allowance conversations;
  • Folding remaining Inflation Reduction Act conservation dollars into the farm bill baseline, resulting in increased long-term funding for popular, oversubscribed programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program;
  • Providing new trade promotion funding based on current programs that return well over $20 in export revenue for every dollar invested in the programs; and
  • Increasing funding for animal health programs that help to prevent, control, and eradicate animal diseases, such as the outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cattle.

“Dairy farmers are grateful to Chairman John Boozman and his committee for putting forward legislation that will create several key opportunities for dairy,” said Gregg Doud, NMPF president and CEO in a statement. “Following last month’s successful vote in the House, we are excited that this legislation positions these investments strongly in the Senate to benefit dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own. We hope they are enacted into law as swiftly as possible.”

The Senate Finance Committee’s portion of the bill, released on June 16, makes permanent the Section 199A tax deduction, enabling dairy farmer-owned cooperatives to continue either passing the deduction back to their farmer owners or reinvesting it in their cooperatives.

NMPF will continue to work with House and Senate committee leaders and other members to maintain these provisions in the final version of the bill that eventually reaches President Trump’s desk.

Little Change from April in May DMC Margin

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The May DMC margin lost $0.02/cwt from a month earlier to $10.40/cwt, according to the DMC Decision Tool on the USDA Farm Service Agency website. The Tool had previously predicted the April margin to be the lowest for the year, but a large increase in the price of premium alfalfa hay, equivalent to $0.34/cwt of milk in the DMC feed cost formula, more than offset a $0.30/cwt increase in the May all-milk price, to $21.30/cwt, while much smaller, offsetting prices of corn and soybean meal could only bring the feed cost down by another $0.02/cwt.

The Decision Tool continues to show the DMC margin increasing steadily, now from May, to top out at $13.76/cwt in November and average $12.43/cwt for the year.

American Butter Institute Takes Aim at Country Crock

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The American Butter Institute, an organization managed and staffed by NMPF, asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take action against Country Crock’s “dairy free salted butter” in a complaint sent June 25, asserting that the product’s label violates federal regulations.

The plant-based spread’s front label, in bold letters, describes itself as a form of butter, although federal standards of identity, along with legislation passed by Congress, defines butter as a product made from milk. In reality – and as admitted in the much smaller font on the package label – the Country Crock products describe themselves as “79% plant-based oil spreads.”

“Country Crock is attempting to leverage the premium perception of real dairy butter maintained by consumers,” said Christopher Galen, executive director of ABI. “The manufacturer is clearly trying to confuse the consumer about what this product is: an ultra-processed seed oil concoction. This product may indeed be a crock from the country, but it’s certainly not butter.”

Galen said that as margarine and vegetable oil spreads have declined in sales, companies are seeking to capitalize on butter’s resurgent popularity by misappropriating the term “butter” and applying it to products that clearly do not meet butter’s federal standard of identity. Butter manufacturers have to follow federal labeling standards, but the proliferation of fake butters is eroding the integrity of the marketplace, he said.

The ABI letter was sent today to Claudine Kavanaugh, Director of the FDA’s Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling. The National Milk Producers Federation raised a similar objection to Country Crock in 2019, when the company introduced a “plant-based butter.”

FARM Provides Governance Update

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program emphasized important farmer involvement through its various governance groups in updates related to the next program cycle during NMPF’s June Board of Directors meeting.

The FARM Animal Care program area proposed to restructure its current review process to provide more opportunities for farmer feedback, which the board approved. FARM undergoes a review and revision period every three years to ensure program standards are supported by the latest science and best management practices.

NMPF’s Animal Health & Wellbeing Committee will now set priorities for the FARM Animal Care Task Force and FARM Farmer Advisory Council ahead of the initial review. The new process aims to provide a more collective representation of farmer input.

FARM opened nominations in March for its Animal Care, Environmental Stewardship and Workforce Development Task Forces. FARM received more than 60 nominations across the three task forces. Nominations were first reviewed by the FARM Farmer Advisory Council, who shortlisted nominees for consideration by NMPF’s Executive Committee. The committee reviewed the shortlisted nominations and discussed a proposed slate of new task force members, ultimately voting to seat the proposed slate June 9.

Newly seated members are:

Animal Care

  • Angela Bright, Foremost Farms
  • Doreen Dyt, CDI
  • Doug Chapin, Chapin Family Farms
  • Kaitlyn Briggs, fairlife
  • Lindsay Ferlito, Cornell University – PRO-DAIRY
  • Skyler Barney, Butterville Farms, LLC

Environmental Stewardship

  • Brian McGarry, McGarry Dairy, LLC
  • Donald Janssen, Green Hill Dairy
  • Justin Praegitzer, Skyline Dairy
  • Larry Bailey, Walker Farms, LLC
  • Suzanne Vold, Dorrich Dairy

Workforce Development

  • Karen Bohnert, Bohnert Jerseys
  • Tony Jandernoa, Dutch Meadows Dairy

FARM’s Animal Care Task Force will begin reviewing the 2028 version later this year. A stakeholder survey is set to be released in July to collect industry feedback.

Young Cooperators Push Priorities on Capitol Hill

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF welcomed 41 young dairy farmer leaders from 15 states to Washington, D.C. June 3-4 for the 2025 Young Cooperators (YC) Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum. Sponsored by Farm Credit, this year’s event marked the National YC Program’s 75th anniversary.

Attendees participated in policy discussions and advocacy training, including a panel discussion featuring experts in federal and state agricultural policy and a talk with NMPF Executive Committee member and Florida dairy farmer Jacob Larson, who offered insights on leadership and political engagement.

The YC Advisory Council also met with the White House Office of Public Liaison to present their perspectives on key policy priorities, including meaningful agricultural labor reform and expanded access to international dairy markets.

Participants also toured the U.S. Capitol, guided by Rep. Adam Gray, D-CA, who represents the largest dairy-producing district in the country.

YCs finished the fly-in with Capitol Hill meetings with lawmakers and their staffs.

Since 1950, the National YC Program has equipped young dairy farmers with the tools and knowledge to lead. The program offers year-round training and leadership opportunities for farmers under 45 who are part of NMPF member cooperatives. Contact your cooperative to find out how you can get involved, or click here and check the National YC Program box to learn more about the program and stay informed about future events.

NMPF Farmers Advocate for Dairy, Approve Trade Initiative at Board Meeting

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF members approved a new initiative to boost dairy exports and welcomed a new cooperative as well as new farmer-leaders into the fold at the National Milk Producers Federation’s Board of Directors meeting June 10-11.

NMPF’s board meeting brought together more than 100 farmers and dairy-cooperative leaders at the nation’s largest dairy farmer trade organization, which serves as the policy voice for milk producers and the cooperatives they own in Washington.

“If you imagine that on top of that the millions of people who buy something we touch every day with the products, the nutritious products that we produce, not just at dinner, not just at breakfast, but all day long, because of what you can turn dairy into, it’s a pretty amazing story, really,” said NMPF Board Chairman Randy Mooney, a farmer from Rogersville, MO, in remarks at the meeting. “We put some of the most nourishing products there are into consumers every day, globally, and that’s something that I think we can all be proud of.”

The board also voted to implement a new member-funded export assistance program called NEXT , starting today.  NEXT, which stands for NMPF EXport and Trade, is the successor to the Cooperatives Working Together program.

A majority of the milk produced by NMPF members supports the NEXT program, with a 2 cent/cwt contribution through 2028. The NEXT program focuses on supporting U.S. dairy exports in key markets around the world to help drive global demand for U.S. dairy products and support U.S. dairy prices.

Two new directors and one new cooperative member also were approved. Joining as new board members are:

  • Corey Gillins, Dairy Farmers of America
  • Tim Kuenzi, Darigold
  • Brenda Dehart, Foremost Farms

NMPF also approved a new co-op member, Lanco-Pennland Cooperative, based in Hagerstown, MD. Lanco-Pennland produces roughly 400 million pounds of milk annually and is a leading East Coast milk marketer.

The meeting also featured remarks from Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, David Valadao, R-CA, and Tony Wied, R-WI.

The meeting was held in conjunction with the Young Cooperators (YC) Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum, which brought together young dairy leaders from 15 states for two days of education and advocacy on Capitol Hill. YCs discussed key dairy priorities directly with members of Congress and staffs to advocate for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, agricultural labor reform and strong dairy trade policies.

Also in conjunction with the meeting, The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program opened nominations for its annual FARM Excellence Awards, which recognizes farmers, cooperatives and processors that provide consumers with safe, wholesome milk with integrity. Nominations may be submitted via an online form until Aug. 4.

NMPF’s Galen Outlines Complaint About Country Crock Fake “Butter”

Posted on by Chris Galen

NMPF’s senior vice president Chris Galen explains for listeners of Dairy Radio Now why the American Butter Institute, which NMPF manages, recently filed a complaint with the Food and Drug Administration about the labeling of Country Crock’s “dairy free butter.” Galen, who is the Executive Director of ABI, says that a plant-based seed oil spread is by law not real butter, and shouldn’t be allowed to disguise itself as such.

NMPF Applauds Senate Reconciliation Dairy Provisions, Urges Congress Toward Final Action

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation, the largest U.S. dairy-farmer organization, commended the U.S. Senate for the bill’s dairy and agriculture provisions, which will create greater financial certainty for producers. NMPF is hopeful that the House will take up the bill and get it to the president’s desk quickly.

“Dairy farmers are grateful for legislation that will create several key opportunities for dairy,” said Gregg Doud, NMPF president and CEO in a statement. “Following last month’s successful vote in the House, we are excited that the Senate’s legislation also positions these investments to benefit dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own. We hope they are enacted into law as swiftly as possible.”

Congress is attempting to pass the measure prior to the July 4 Congressional recess.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s portion of the bill includes numerous NMPF-backed requests that would strengthen dairy and farm policy, including:

  • Renewing the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program through 2031; updating DMC’s production history calculation to be based on the highest production year of 2021, 2022, or 2023; and extending the ability for producers to receive a 25% premium discount for locking in their coverage for the duration of the bill;
  • Providing mandatory funding for USDA to conduct mandatory dairy processing cost surveys every two years to provide better data to inform future make allowance conversations;
  • Folding remaining Inflation Reduction Act conservation dollars into the farm bill baseline, resulting in increased long-term funding for popular, oversubscribed programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program;
  • Providing new trade promotion funding based on current programs that return well over $20 in export revenue for every dollar invested in the programs; and
  • Increasing funding for animal health programs that help to prevent, control, and eradicate animal diseases, such as the outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cattle.

The Senate Finance Committee’s portion of the bill, released on June 16, makes permanent the Section 199A tax deduction, enabling dairy farmer-owned cooperatives to continue either passing the deduction back to their farmer owners or reinvesting it in their cooperatives.

NMPF is grateful to House and Senate committee leaders, including Agriculture Committee Chairmen GT Thompson, R-PA, and John Boozman, R-AR and tax-writing committee chairs Rep. Jason Smith, R-MO, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID, and other members who have authored these provisions in the bill moving toward President Trump’s desk.

In Washington, Change is a Challenge

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

As the initial flurry of activity in the new administration and Congress moves into the heat of summer in Washington, the challenges and fault lines that come with addressing major issues including labor, trade and taxes are becoming increasingly clear.  

This should come as a surprise to no one.  

To put it plainly, change is difficult. Movement on issues that have seen decades of gridlock and tinkering along the edges because of a lack of political will are especially hard. This isn’t a secret, and the turbulence agriculture policy is seeing is likely to continue for some time. While that’s occurring, it will be important for everyone in dairy and agriculture to remain focused on advancing our industry and ensuring that we embrace the current environment for its opportunities while remaining vigilant among its threats.  

Take labor, for example. The balance between the administration’s goals of ensuring border security and deporting people who are not legally residing in the United States with ensuring the economic health of rural communities by maintaining an adequate workforce for farms is clearly recognized by the president and by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. We are grateful for the president’s sympathy for farmers and the secretary’s work on their behalf — still, but more importantly, his continued willingness to tackle complex policy topics that have languished for decades. 

That’s why we agree with Jim Boyle, the vice-chairman of NMPF member co-op the United Dairymen of Arizona who we recently profiled in our Farmer Focus feature series. “The president is right about securing the border, but any enforcement action needs to go hand-in-hand with a labor reform package,” he said.  

We continue to work for either a change to the current H2-A farmworker visa that will accommodate dairy’s year-round nature or, in the absence of that, a new guestworker program that meets dairy’s needs. In the meantime, dairy farmers who are meeting requirements for worker documentation shouldn’t be living with worries about immigration raids on their farms. It isn’t good to have open borders and criminals crossing over it. But it’s also not good for dairy farmers, or rural communities, to be deprived of hard-working, law-abiding labor that’s paid well and willing to do work native-born Americans have always been less willing to do, caring for animals around the clock and ensuring a steady supply of nutritious dairy products for Americans and the world.  

Similarly, efforts to dramatically reset trade relationships worldwide are inevitably meeting challenges. But for all the concern over tariffs, it’s also important to remember that, through April, the value of U.S. dairy exports in 2025 is actually higher than it was the previous year. While no one is claiming that everything is roses on the trade front, it’s critical to remember that U.S. dairy continues to compete successfully and build relationships with global partners amid the day-to-day noise of headlines.  

And finally, policy advancements are happening domestically. The Senate is poised to pass its own version of The Big, Beautiful Bill that the House approved in May. The differences between the two chambers are significant, and negotiations over details may take maddeningly long. But with major tax increases looming in 2026 if Congress doesn’t get its work done in time, the incentives to complete a package are overwhelming. And both versions contain significant wins for dairy farmers, from the extension of the Dairy Margin Coverage Program through 2031 to making permanent the Section 199(A) tax deduction that helps cooperatives stay competitive.  

Rome wasn’t built in a day, decades of unfair trade policies won’t evaporate overnight, and farm-labor issues that haven’t been taken seriously since the last major legislation in 1986 won’t be solved in one growing season. But dairy will survive, and can thrive, as these critical questions gain serious attention and a genuine desire for answers. We are in for a hot summer and a challenging fall. But we can, and will, come out ahead.  

Gregg Doud

President & CEO, NMPF