Congress has left Washington to begin campaigning in earnest for the November 2nd elections, but will return later next month to wrap up unfinished business during a lame duck session.

There are as many as 20 pieces of legislation that the House and Senate will act on during the lame duck period. Following is a list of bills that are competing for floor time:

1. Extension of Bush tax cuts
2. Defense Department authorization
3. DREAM Act
4. Senate bill to pre-exempt EPA action on carbon emissions
5. Spending bills (12 appropriations bills or an omnibus)
6. Tax extenders package
7. Renewable electricity standards
8. START treaty
9. Medicare physician payments
10. Unemployment insurance benefits
11. Cybersecurity
12. Child Nutrition
13. Food Safety
14. China currency
15. FAA multiyear authorization
16. Mine safety
17. South Korea trade pact
18. NASA authorization
19. Education Act reauthorization
20. Intelligence authorization

NMPF has been aggressively engaged in eight (bolded) of the twenty bills pending on issues that directly impact the dairy industry, and will be prepared to reengage on them when the House and Senate return to Capitol Hill.

Last month, NMPF completed the development of a self-certification template tool to assist dairy producers in developing Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans that covers all fuel and oil storage on the farm. The template, developed with assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is available on the NMPF website.

“Dairy farmers want to do the right thing on environmental regulations, but in many cases lack readily available tools to assist with the complex regulations,” said Shawn Reiersgaard, Chair NMPF Environmental Issues Task Force. “The SPCC template provides dairy producers with a valuable tool to successfully implement SPCC plans on their farms and continue to be excellent stewards of our environmental resources.” The template was unveiled at the NMPF Environmental Issues Task Force meeting yesterday in Rosemont, IL.

The goal of the SPCC program is to prevent oil spills into waters of the United States and adjoining shorelines. A key element of the program calls for farmers and other facilities to have an oil spill prevention plan, called an SPCC plan. The SPCC plans are required for farms which have an aggregate storage capacity of oil products of 1320 gallons, or more, counting every storage container larger than 55 gallons. A farm with less than 10,000 gallons of total storage capacity and no single storage greater than 5,000 gallons can self-certify its SPCC plan.

Farms that do not meet this exemption must have a plan certified by a professional engineer. In August, EPA proposed to extend the compliance deadline for the bulk milk storage requirements until the SPCC exemption for bulk milk storage is finalized. Dairy producers are still required to comply with SPCC regulations for all other fuel and oil storage.

The National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management™ is now accepting enrollment in the Animal Care Program. This officially launches the second phase of the implementation process, which included the start of on-farm evaluations for participating producers. The National Dairy FARM Program, created by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), provides consistency and uniformity to best practices in animal care and quality assurance in the dairy industry.

A participation fee is a shared responsibility for all participants of the National Dairy FARM Animal Care Program to fund the enrollment of on-farm data in a private database, as well as to pay for third-party verification of the program. While support for the development of educational training materials has been available from the national dairy check-off, such funding sources cannot be drawn upon for third-party verification.

“Producers can participate independently or through their cooperative or processor. Producers who are affiliated with a cooperative or proprietary processor should contact their representative to see if their milk marketing organization is participating in the program; or to encourage them to join in,” said Betsy Flores, NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs. Participation information can be found at www.nationaldairyfarm.com.

To participate in the National Dairy FARM Program, producers, co-ops, processors, and state and regional dairy producer organizations can contact Betsy Flores at (703) 243-6111, or log on to www.nationaldairyfarm.com.

All the cows that were accepted in the Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) 2010 herd retirement (except for some treated dry cows) have gone to packing plants. When the few dairies have sent these last cows for processing, this latest herd retirement round (the sixth in three years) will be complete and final figures for number of dairies, number of cows, and pounds of milk production removed will be released.

Meanwhile, during the month of September, CWT accepted seven bids for export assistance in selling 1,173 metric tons (2.6 million pounds) of American cheeses to Asia and the Middle East. The total cheese that CWT has helped members sell to 23 countries on four continents now totals 44.5 million pounds in 2010. CWT has also assisted members in making export sales of 33.1 million pounds of butter and anhydrous milkfat since it started offered export assistance on March 18th.

The House Dairy Farmer Caucus (DFC) devoted considerable time this past month to addressing issues threatening some of our most important foreign markets.

On Sept. 28th, 56 members of the Caucus wrote to the U.S. Trade Representative to urge a robust defense of America’s dairy industry against efforts by the European Union to claw back for its countries’ sole use several generic cheese names such as parmesan, provolone, and feta, as well as other names of importance to the U.S. dairy industry.

This bipartisan effort was led by Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Courtney from Connecticut; Devin Nunes from California; Tim Walz from Minnesota; and Peter Welch from Vermont. The DFC applauded the dedicated efforts that the Trade Representative’s office has invested in this area, and stressed the importance of ensuring that as the United States exports more American-made cheeses, America must retain the right to use these common names that are so recognizable to consumers around the world. For more information, see NMPF’s press release on this issue.

The four Caucus Co-Chairs also took further action on behalf of dairy producers this month by writing to President Obama about another issue of concern: retaliatory tariffs by Mexico that threaten our largest export market (readNMPF's summary of the issue). The chairs urged the President to take swift action address this situation that’s already having a negative impact on cheese sales from many areas throughout the country.

In addition to the efforts by the Dairy Farmer Caucus Co-Chairs, Rep. Bill Owens (NY), a strong defender of New York's dairy farmers, led several members from the upstate NY delegation in sending a letter to President Obamasimilarly urging swift action by the President to resolve this situation that’s negatively impacting New York's dairy industry and threatening exports from that state to Mexico. NMPF applauded the willingness of these members to stand up and urge action by the White House to address a situation of great concern to the dairy industry.

Dairy farmers across the country will be able to use a federal visa program to access immigrant workers under new legislation introduced last week in the Senate. The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) “supports this approach to helping farmers ensure that their workforce needs are met,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF.

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Charles Schumer (D-NY) have introduced the H-2A Improvement Act, which will authorize foreign dairy workers, sheep herders, and goat herders to remain in the U.S. for an initial period of three years, and gives the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services the authority to approve a worker for an additional three-year period.

Kozak said that NMPF continues to support comprehensive efforts to reform the nation’s immigration policies, including the AgJOBS bill being sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The new H-2A visa legislation “won’t resolve all of the labor challenges facing our dairy sector, but it does close the existing loophole allowing other farm employers to use the H-2A program, while denying that opportunity to dairy owners.”

The Senate legislation has been introduced in part because the U.S. Department of Labor announced last February that it has “no legal authority” to include the dairy industry in the H-2A visa program. The legislation will rectify that situation, according to NMPF. Under present law, farms that hire seasonal workers to harvest fruits and vegetables can utilize the H-2A visa program. Dairy farms are not included because milk production is not considered seasonal work.

USDA’s monthly Agricultural Prices report was issued Wednesday. September’s preliminary all-milk price is $17.20, up 50¢ from the revised August number and up $4.20 from September 2009. This is the highest all-milk price in nearly two years, and October and November prices are projected even higher.

September corn prices were up, soybeans were down modestly, and alfalfa was unchanged. Farmers received an estimated $4.34/bu. for corn in September, 69¢ higher than August’s revised number and $1.09 higher than September 2009. Farmers received an estimated $9.94/bu. for soybeans, 16¢ lower than August’s revised number, but 19¢ higher than September 2009. Finally, farmers received an estimated $111/ton for alfalfa, even with August’s revised number, but up $6 from September 2009.

Futures markets project milk prices to fall early in 2011, while feed prices are expected to rise through the spring, tightening margins for dairy producers.

For those hoping to attend the joint NDB/NMPF/UDIA Annual Meeting October 26-28 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, the window of opportunity is closing with the approach of the registration deadline this Thursday, October 7.

Participants should register for the meeting and make their hotel reservations before Thursday's deadline. Online registration is encouraged by visiting www.dairyevents.com.

Prior to the opening General Session, NMPF will hold the first part of its Town Hall meeting, which will focus on the "Foundation for the Future" that NMPF has been working on for more than a year.

The opening luncheon will feature television football analyst and former Oakland Raiders defensive lineman, Howie Long. Mike Adams from Agri-Talk Radio will once again serve as Master of Ceremonies for the general sessions. The general session includes keynote speaker Jason Jennings, a researcher and author who will share information about “Stewardship, instead of leadership,” followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dairylea CEO Greg Wickham, with panelists Bill Siebenborn, Missouri dairy producer and UDIA Chair; Paula Meabon, Pennsylvania dairy producer and NDB Chair; and Jay Bryant, CEO of Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association.

In addition, NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney and President and CEO Jerry Kozak will report 2010 NMPF activities and accomplishments. The day will conclude with a "Welcome to Nevada Reception" featuring cheeses produced by NMPF member cooperatives.

On Thursday, participants will hear from Jim Wiesemeyer, Senior Vice President of Policy and Trade Issues at Informa Economics Inc., as he speaks about “Washington politics and farm policy: The outlook for the 2012 Farm Bill.” The morning will also include a dairy industry panel that is moderated by Arizona dairy producer and DMI Chair Paul Rovey, with panelists Larry Jensen, Leprino Foods CEO and Chair of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy; Steve McCormick, LALA USA CEO; and Alex Conti, McDonald’s Corporation Senior Director of Menu Management. The annual meeting general session will conclude with a report by DMI CEO Tom Gallagher, who will share results and highlights of the dairy producer checkoff program.

The awards luncheon will take place at noon on Thursday, and that afternoon will conclude with the second part of NMPF's Town Hall Meeting. Thursday evening's banquet will feature a performance by Gloriana, a country music group that includes Tom Gossin, Mike Gossin, Rachel Reinert, and Cheyene Kimball.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available for interested organizations. For more information, or for general meeting information, fees and registration, and the full meeting notice, visit www.nmpf.org/nmpf-joint-annual-meeting.

President Barack Obama signed a new mandatory price reporting bill into law last Monday. The bill reauthorizes mandatory price reporting programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for five years, and more importantly, it launches a new mandatory, electronic reporting system for dairy products.

While dairy price reporting was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, it was never funded by USDA. Now USDA has 12 months to implement the electronic system to collect the data that is currently surveyed. The law directs the Secretary to publish the information reported through the electronic reporting system by 3:00 PM ET, each Wednesday.

NMPF thanks Congress and the Administration for quickly passing the law to increase transparency and efficiency in the price reporting system.

USDA’s final rule on defining Class I milk products was published in the Federal Register on August 24. The rule was originally published in the Federal Register on June 14 (with atechnical correction issued on June 24), and was approved by producer referendum in all ten Federal Milk Marketing Orders.

As noted in June, the new rule requires a milk product to have less than 2.25% protein, as well as less than 6.5% skim milk solids, in order to be exempted from Class I status on the basis of its skim solid composition. Previously, the product could be exempt with only a skim milk solids test below 6.5%. This closes a pricing loophole that encouraged some processors to formulate low-lactose milk products in order to get them priced as Class II products.

However, the rule also exempts yogurt drinks, yogurt-based drinks, and ‘kefir’ from Class I status, based on a proposal by yogurt makers. This will move a number of Class I yogurt drinks into Class II.

The rule will go into effect on January 1, 2011. This implementation time is longer than usual in order to allow the Market Administrators time to examine all the products whose classification might change and to allow processors time to adjust to the new rules.

If you have any questions, contact Roger Cryan at RCryan@nmpf.org.

In late July, the House Agriculture Committee approved the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010, H.R. 5852, while the Senate Agriculture Committee approved an identical piece of legislation, S. 3656, in early August. The bills reauthorize mandatory price reporting programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for five years. Most importantly for the dairy sector, the bills include language authorizing mandatory weekly electronic reporting for dairy products.

NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak welcomed the passage of the bills because “NMPF has been working since 2000 to improve the open, transparent discovery of dairy prices, but we’ve been frustrated by the stumbling blocks that have prevented the implementation of mandatory reporting. These bills make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the USDA will have to do what it takes to establish dairy price reporting.”

NMPF helped include mandatory price reporting language in the 2008 Farm Bill. But that measure was contingent on available funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the USDA has never had adequate funding to implement price reporting. These new bills will ensure that the USDA collects and reports pricing data that is currently surveyed.

The bills contain the follow specifications:

• Amending section 273 of the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946 to require the Secretary to establish an electronic reporting system for dairy.
• Directing the Secretary to publish the information reported through the electronic reporting system by 3:00 PM ET, each Wednesday.
• Requiring the Secretary to implement the electronic reporting system for dairy not later than one year following enactment of this Act.

The full House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate, must still approve the respective Mandatory Price Reporting bills before they can become law. The bills represent an important improvement in the transparency of the dairy industry.