U.S. government staff met in early July with European Union (EU) authorities to discuss the EU’s new somatic cell count (SCC) certification requirements, which will require each farm to meet a 400,000/ml. threshold.

The meeting yielded some positive information, but much work remains. Although the basic EU SCC requirements remain unchanged, the time period for implementation of a revised SCC certificate program in the U.S. has been extended. Specifically, the U.S. will not have to put in place a new SCC testing and certification program by Dec. 1, 2010 (the date on which the new EU dairy certificate takes effect). Rather, if changes to our SCC certification program are ultimately agreed upon by the U.S. government and industry, the U.S. would have additional time to develop and implement a revised certification program.

The current anticipated steps for this are as follows, should the U.S. dairy industry agree to continue pursuing this avenue for ensuring that the market remains open:

• The Food and Drug Administration has written to its EU counterpart agency to confirm key elements of the discussion held in July on this issue.
• After receiving the EU’s response, it is expected that the U.S. government will work closely with the U.S. industry to develop a new implementation program and propose a revised certification system. The development by the U.S. government and dairy industry of a workable program has been a core NMPF priority throughout this process.
• This program would be made public for comment.
• After the comment period and evaluation of input from the dairy industry, a final proposal would be released.
• Following an industry educational period, the new program would then be put in place. No collection of data prior to the effective date of the new program is anticipated.

New information continues to come to light about the many ways in which EU countries allow their producers to undermine the stated intent of the EU regulations to maintain somatic cell count levels less than 400,000. NMPF continues to explore these reports in order to ensure that U.S. dairy producers are not held to a higher standard than EU dairy producers with respect to this requirement, particularly given the complete lack of scientific or trade justification for the necessary imposition of a 400,000 SCC limit on individual dairy farms.

NMPF will be reaching out to members to continue to gain additional information and share details as this process moves forward. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact Shawna Morris (smorris@nmpf.org).

NMPF submitted joint comments last month with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) in response to President Obama’s call for input on the National Export Initiative (NEI), a goal to double U.S. exports over five years (from 2009 levels). NMPF and USDEC focused on several important areas which would help to reach this goal and either stimulate or safeguard dairy export markets for U.S. products.

The dairy organizations addressed major concerns that could impede U.S. dairy exports, such as the ongoing dairy health certificate discussions with China, the EU’s unscientific somatic cell count regulation, and India’s de-facto ban on U.S. dairy exports through its inappropriate dairy certificate requirements. The comments also addressed the need for greater coordination between the agencies skilled in determining the best strategies for resolving trade disputes (USTR and FAS) and the regulatory agencies that frequently are essential in securing resolution from a technical standpoint (FDA, AMS, and APHIS).

The comments urged support for the three pending U.S. free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, with a particular focus on the significant importance of the agreement with South Korea (NMPF also joined a coalition of 41 other agricultural and food organizations that urged congressional leaders to take action on the three trade deals). The comments also noted that our competitors are swiftly negotiating meaningful agreements such as with China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in important dairy markets; the only new U.S. trade initiative is the TPP, which offers only very limited new export potential to the U.S. dairy industry. Given this greater focus by competing nations on bilateral trade deals, it makes the conclusion of a well-negotiated WTO Doha Round agreement all the more important.

NMPF and USDEC addressed the topic that NMPF wrote to President Obama about in July: the concern that ongoing lack of U.S. compliance with our NAFTA trucking obligations to Mexico puts U.S. dairy exports at risk of retaliatory tariffs from Mexico. Given that Mexico is by far largest export market for the U.S., this poses a grave risk to U.S. exports. On another front, the EU’s efforts to claw back generic cheese names such as parmesan, feta, and provolone poses a threat to growing U.S. cheese exports. The comments urged USTR to expand its efforts to combat this inappropriate market share grab by the EU.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that NMPF would receive matching funds of $25,000 to inform and educate producers about revised regulations for oil storage and pending regulations for milk storage containers.

Funding will be used to help dairy producers understand the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulation, including development of a self-certification template. The Environmental Protection Agency requires farms, under the SPCC, to have a plan in place to minimize any problems from oil spills. Later in the year, NMPF anticipates conducting a series of webinars to train dairy producers in the use of the self-certification template. Additionally, NRCS will work with NMPF to evaluate how NRCS can most effectively provide technical assistance to dairy producers to comply with the SPCC regulations.

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, for 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 a letter to NMPF dated June 9th, the EPA committed to finalizing the SPCC exemption for bulk milk storage “as expeditiously as possible…to have that process completed by early 2011.” In addition, EPA will be extending the compliance deadline for the revised regulation.

The National Dairy FARM Program has concluded the last of three “Train the Trainer” workshops, and will begin second-party evaluator courses in the coming weeks. The Train the Trainer workshop is a two-day course with classroom and on the farm training designed to prepare instructors to teach the “Second Party Evaluator” course. The second-party evaluator course is a four-hour classroom training session to train for on-farm evaluations. Three regional Train the Trainer workshops were completed by the end of last month (Rochester, MN on May 24-25; Fresno, CA on June 29-30; and Harrisburg, PA on July 20-21) with attendees from all areas of the dairy industry including veterinarians, cooperative staff, processor staff, and university extension personnel.

Outreach continues to various groups across the country. Dairy FARM staff has met with a variety of different cooperatives, producer groups, universities, and processors about the program. Response continues to be supportive and we expect to have good participation in the program as it is put into operation. In California, DFA, Land O’Lakes, Hilmar, and CDI have all supported the implementation of the program. Dairy FARM will be rolling out participation information to cooperatives, processors, and independent producers in the coming months including the participation fee, which will be used to perform third-party verification.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued a temporary injunction last week blocking implementation of the toughest provisions of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, known as SB 1070. As expected, Judge Bolton allowed other less controversial sections of the state statute to stand. The ruling blocks the section that required local and state law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of those they suspected were illegal immigrants. The Obama administration argued that the law would usurp the exclusive federal right to implement and enforce immigration law.

Bolton’s injunction also blocks the portion of the law that made it a state crime for an illegal foreign resident in Arizona to solicit, apply for, or perform work. Much of the rest of the law remains intact and those provisions took effect Thursday, July 29.

The judge’s ruling means that Arizona officials will begin enforcing the remaining parts of the law, even while litigation about the entire law – and the enjoined sections – continues in the courts. Among the parts of the law that have taken full effect is a provision allowing Arizona residents to sue any state office or agency for failing to fully enforce immigration laws. Also still in the law are provisions creating a new state crime of human smuggling, stopping a motor vehicle to pick up day laborers, and knowingly employing illegal foreign residents.

Mark your calendars now for the 2010 Joint Annual Meeting of NMPF, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB), and the United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA). The three organizations will be at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV from October 26 – 28, which has reduced the room rate to $79 for attendees. When available, information about the meeting will be posted online at www.nmpf.org/nmpf-joint-annual-meeting.

At its June meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee was pleased to select five M.S. and Ph.D. students to receive $9,500 in scholarships as part of the 2010 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program.

These five scholarship recipients are all conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers.

The 2010 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Chad Mullins (left). As a student at Kansas State University, Mullins is working toward his Ph.D. in Animal Science. His research will test whether or not zilpaterol hydrochloride improves transition cow health. Mullins hopes to provide the dairy industry with a way to enhance the metabolic status of periparturient dairy cows by inducing prepartum lipolysis and increasing lean tissue mass.

The other four scholarship recipients were:

• Karen Lobeck, a student at the University of Minnesota, is working toward her M.S. in Animal Science. Her research will examine dairy calf health and behavior with automated group feeding.
• Phil Cardoso is attending the University of Illinois, as he works for his Ph.D. in Animal Science. Cardoso will study the bioavailability of Naringenin administered to lactating dairy cows and their metabolic responses to an insulin resistance induction (IRI).
• Jaymelynn Farney, a student at Kansas State University, is pursuing a Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition and Physiology. Her research will address the therapeutic treatment of bovine fatty liver by sodium salicylate.
• Joseph Loquasto is pursuing his Ph.D. in Food Science at Penn State University. Loquasto will conduct a comparison of the complete genomes of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis ATCC 25527 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DSMZ 101040.

The Scholarship Committee was impressed by the response rate this year. Committee members thanked all of the students who submitted applications for the 2010 program and encouraged them to apply again next year.

Photos of this year's scholarship recipients are posted in an album at www.facebook.com/nationalmilk. If you have any questions about the NMPF scholarship program, please contact Sarah Olson

During the August recess, NMPF urges farmers to contact their Members of Congress about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement, and specifically, about why the dairy producer community opposes the inclusion of trade between the U.S. and New Zealand in that agreement.

It is also important at this stage to encourage Congress to demand that that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) handle tariff agreements with each country separately, so that dairy producers’ concerns about New Zealand can be properly addressed, while at the same time maximizing any broader U.S. export interests that may exist in the overall agreement.

Talks on this TPP agreement continue to move forward rapidly. USTR is negotiating again with the TPP countries in mid-August, and could be soon making decisions about the structure of the agreement that would negatively impact our ability to get the type of outcome dairy producers urgently need.

Key components of the National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management are now available in Spanish. That announcement was made at the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) Board of Directors meeting last month, where producers and industry leaders from across the country were provided an update on the on-farm animal well-being program.

 

Created by NMPF, with support from Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), the National Dairy FARM Program is a voluntary, nationwide program designed to bring consistency and uniformity to animal care through education, on-farm evaluations and objective third-party verification.

“Since U.S. dairy production involves a number of native Spanish speakers who are responsible for animal care on a day-to-day-basis, the National Dairy FARM Program recognized the need for animal care materials to be available in Spanish,” said Betsy Flores, NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs.

The materials now available in Spanish are the Animal Care Manual (Manual de Cuidado Animal) and Animal Care Quick Reference User Guide (Cuidado Animal Guía de Referencia Rápida para el Usuario).

For more information on the National Dairy FARM Program, contact Betsy Flores (BFlores@nmpf.org) at (703) 243-6111, or visit to www.nationaldairyfarm.com.

At their summer meeting on June 9, NMPF's Board of Directors overwhelmingly agreed to move forward with a variety of changes in federal dairy policies that will better protect dairy producers, and position them more favorably in an increasingly volatile global marketplace.

The NMPF Board voted to support the package of concepts contained in the Federation’s approach to reforming dairy policy entitled “Foundation for the Future.” NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak said that package will be used as the basis for the future direction of the dairy provisions in the next Farm Bill, or in some other form of federal legislation that Congress may consider in the future.

“If there is anything good that has come out of the past 18 months of economic struggle, it’s the shared feeling among NMPF’s members that we can use this experience as the catalyst to make needed changes in dairy policy,” said Randy Mooney, NMPF Chairman and dairy farmer from Rogersville, MO. “’Foundation for the Future’ is a carefully and meticulously prepared set of programs that not only will help our industry prevent a repeat of what happened in 2009, but also provide for a most prosperous future for dairy producers and their cooperatives.”

The features of NMPF’s plan include: transitioning the existing safety nets of the Dairy Product Price Support and Milk Income Loss Contract programs into a new Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program to guard against periods of severe financial pressures; establishing a Dairy Market Stabilization Program to help address periodic imbalances in milk production and demand; and reforming the Federal Milk Marketing Order program.

“It’s clear we need a new safety net that focuses on margins, not just milk prices,” said Kozak. “It’s also clear we need a system that sends timely, unmistakable signals to farmers that less milk is needed during periods of relative imbalance. The Foundation for the Future addresses both of those key issues, and it does so in a fiscally responsible, politically‐realistic fashion.”

The Federation’s proposal to revamp the federal safety net involves creating an insurance program tied to the margin between the national average cost of feed, and the national average all‐milk price. After farmers choose to enroll in the base level of the Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program at no cost to them, they would receive indemnity payments during periods when their margins are severely compressed, as they were for most of 2009. In addition, farmers would have the option of purchasing supplemental coverage to protect a higher margin level between feed costs and milk prices.

Another key element of the Foundation for the Future will be a Dairy Market Stabilization Program that sends a signal to producers that an imbalance in the marketplace could result in lower farm‐level margins. Like the Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program, the Stabilization Program is tied to farmers’ margins that could be reduced either by low milk prices and/or high feed costs.

The Stabilization Program was shaped by some key principles: that it allows for the growth of U.S. production, doesn’t encourage imports or hinder exports, and keeps government intervention at a minimum.

Lastly, the Foundation for the Future also calls for changes in the Federal Milk Marketing Order program to create a competitive milk price, maintain Class I differentials, and eliminate unpopular aspects of the current system, such as make allowances. The changes in the Federal Order system are intended to be revenue neutral so that farmers’ milk checks are not adversely impacted.

Kozak said that NMPF will now begin a comprehensive education effort to inform the entire dairy producer community, as well as policymakers, about the merits of Foundation for the Future.

Young Cooperators (YCs) from around the country descended on Washington, DC early last month to attend the 2010 YC Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum, held in conjunction with NMPF's Board of Directors meeting.

After listening to a legislative update, the YCs trekked to Capitol Hill where they stopped by the offices of their members of Congress to inform them about the latest dairy issues important to them and their farms.

2010 YC Chaircouple Marty and Lisa Burken with Swiss Valley Farms met personally with Senator Chuck Grassley from their home state of Iowa (in the upper left photo), and they were fortunate to also visit with Iowa's other senator Tom Harkin. Other YCs were successful in their congressional visits as well.

When the congressional visits were complete, the YCs headed for NMPF's annual Capitol Hill Reception, where they mingled with members of Congress, Hill staffers, NMPF board members, and other guests while sampling cheese and other hors d'oeuvres.

The next morning, NMPF was given an update from Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-IA), who spoke at the Political Action Committee (PAC) Breakfast. YCs sat in on the Board of Directors meeting following the breakfast, and the meeting concluded with a luncheon for all in attendance.

For more information on NMPF's YC Program, please visit www.nmpf.org/about-nmpf/young-cooperators. Photos from the YC and board meeting are available at www.flickr.com/photos/nmpf.

CWT announced on May 27th that it would carry out its tenth herd retirement since the CWT program was initiated in 2003. The action was taken because a review of a number of economic factors indicated that a herd retirement at this time should result in adding positive momentum to the milk price recovery that is underway.

Bids had to be postmarked no later than June 25th to be considered during the bid selection on July 7th. CWT farm auditors will begin visiting selected dairies on July 12th, and all bidders will be notified no later than July 30th if their bid was selected.

An audited financial statement of CWT’s 2009 activities, along with a 2010 financial statement through April 30th, is now available on the CWT website. Visit www.cwt.coop for more information.