With 2010 promising to provide continued challenges to the U.S. dairy industry, such as milk price volatility, increased costs, increases in government regulations, and marketplace pressures, NMPF announced today a reorganization of its staff to achieve the best possible results in the year ahead.

"This reorganization will strengthen NMPF's expertise in all areas vital to its member cooperatives," noted NMPF President & CEO Jerry Kozak. "It will ensure that the structure of the organization will be commensurate with future priorities."

Staffing changes include the appointment of Jaime Castaneda to Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Trade Policy. In this role, Castaneda will be responsible for the development of NMPF's strategic direction on public policy, including the current work of the NMPF Strategic Planning Task Force, and continue as the lead person for immigration reform. In addition, he will continue to lead efforts on all matters related to trade policy and international relations. Castaneda will be supported in the latter role by Shawna Morris, who has been promoted to the position of Vice President, Trade Policy.

Congressional relations and other government relations activities will now be led by Dana Brooks, who has been promoted to Vice President, Government Relations. Brooks will be assisted in NMPF’s day-to-day advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill by Mary Knigge, Manager of Government Relations. Knigge will also continue her role as staff liaison with the Young Cooperators’ Program.

Jim Tillison will assume the position of Senior Vice President, Marketing and Economic Research, and continue to serve as the Chief Operating Officer of the Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Program. He will supervise economic and market research efforts, including all matters related to Federal Milk Marketing Orders. Tillison will be supported in these activities by Peter Vitaliano, Vice President, Economic Policy & Market Research, and Roger Cryan, Vice President, Milk Marketing & Economics. With respect to CWT, Khadija Gibson-White will provide on-going support as the CWT Program Assistant.

NMPF's communications and public relations efforts will remain under the direction of Chris Galen, Senior Vice President, Communications. Galen will be supported by Sarah Olson, who has been promoted to Manager of Communications.

Executive Vice President Tom Balmer will continue to supervise administrative functions, in addition to serving as Executive Director of the National Ice Cream Mix Association (NICMA). He will be supported in this position by Gail Mobley, Director of Finance and Administration. Balmer will also have direct oversight of NMPF's scientific and regulatory efforts, which are led by Jamie Jonker, Vice President of Scientific & Regulatory Affairs. Betsy Flores will continue in her position as Director of Regulatory Affairs. Her principal responsibilities include management of animal health and welfare efforts through the National Dairy FARM Program.

In order to bolster NMPF’s capabilities regarding scientific and technical issues, NMPF is also hiring Dr. Beth Briczinski as the Director of Dairy Foods & Nutrition. Briczinski will begin her duties on February 1st. She comes from the University of Wisconsin, where she served on the staff of the Food Science Department. Briczinski received her PhD in Food Science from Pennsylvania State University where she specialized in dairy foods research.

Anuja Miner, Senior Director for Executive Office & Member Relations, will continue her role in managing the Executive Office and all matters pertaining to the NMPF Officers and Board of Directors. Miner also has the primary responsibility for membership recruitment, the associate member program, and the American Butter Institute (ABI).

U.S. dairy producers and exporters urged the government to exclude any dairy-related changes in the trade relationship between the United States and New Zealand as part of a new free trade agreement between the countries.

In a letter sent to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) reaffirmed their commitment to seek full exclusion of trade in dairy products between the United States and New Zealand under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement, because of the New Zealand dairy industry’s unique structure and excessive degree of control over dairy markets globally and in the United States.

Kirk notified Congress in December that President Obama intended to enter into negotiations of a regional Asia-Pacific trade agreement, known as the TPP, which would create a new free trade pact that would include seven other nations: Australia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Brunei, Vietnam and New Zealand. The United States already has trade agreements with these countries, except for New Zealand, Vietnam, and Brunei.

New Zealand is the world’s largest dairy exporter, and benefits tremendously from the virtual dairy monopoly that currently exists there, whereby one company controls more than 90% of the country’s milk production.

“NMPF and USDEC firmly believe in the value of balanced trade agreements in reducing and ultimately eliminating [global] trade distortions,” the two organizations wrote. “This is why we have strongly supported the vast majority of FTAs pursued by the United States over the years, and it is why we also support the three FTAs currently pending congressional approval…as this Administration focuses on growing our competitiveness in Asia, we urge USTR to focus strongly on the agreement already in hand: the U.S.-South Korea FTA.”

The House of Representatives passed the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Bill of 2009 (HR 4154) by a vote of 225-to-200 on December 3, 2009. The legislation would have permanently extended the current exemption for estates up to $3.5 million per individual and $7 million for married couples and set a maximum rate of 45 percent on estates above this threshold. In addition, the measure would repeal the enactment of carryover basis rules that would require many heirs to pay additional taxes on built-in gains of property inherited starting in 2010.

The tax rate was not indexed for inflation and could affect more families each year. Based on historical inflation data, the value of the estate tax exemption could be cut in half with every passing generation.

The Senate failed to pass any estate tax measures, thereby allowing for permanent repeal of estate taxes for 2010 only. The Senate is expected to take up a tax package quickly upon return in January.

Congress is expected to pass an extension of 2009 rates for one year retroactive from January 1, 2010, prior to a bigger tax reform package being debated with additional changes to the estate tax.

NMPF will continue to support the highest exemption levels possible while maintaining the stepped-up basis. It is essential that Congress additionally deal with the unique problems that farmers and forest owners face with generational family transition.

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has been in the process of wrapping up its third herd retirement of 2009. Farm audits were completed in late November, and over 80% of the selected dairies have been paid. All dairies should be paid by the end of January 2010.

Meanwhile, NMPF’s Strategic Planning Task Force CWT Subcommittee will meet January 11th to continue the process of developing new CWT program options going forward.

Visit the CWT website for more information about the program: www.cwt.coop.

James P. “Tom” Camerlo, past Chairman of NMPF, passed away on December 3, 2009, after a courageous battle with cancer. Tom was truly a unique and special individual who profoundly impacted not only everyone at National Milk but the entire dairy industry – more than any individual in our history. Tom, who committed a lifetime of service to the global dairy industry, was known as the World’s Dairy Ambassador. His leadership skills were always on display, whether it was for NMPF, DFA, or the many organizations he represented during his many years of service.

Tom was the essence of friendship and fellowship whose warmth and infectious personality brought everyone together for the common good of the industry. Tom provided years of expertise and leadership to the dairy industry in the broader arenas of dairy trade, farm policy, cooperative marketing, and dairy product promotion.

He also provided leadership at the local level by being active with the Florence Elks, Lion Club, Chamber of Commerce, and St. Benedict’s Catholic Church. He also served on the board of the K-12 Foundation for Education and Destination ImagiNation. Tom’s leadership was rewarded by being named World Dairy Expo’s Dairyman of the Year in 2003. He also received the National Council of Farmer Cooperative’s National Cooperative Statesman Award in 1999; and in 1996 the Soil Conservation Service presented him the Conservationist of the Year Award. Tom was inducted into the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2001.

Tom was also devoted to his family which included his wife Barbara and four grown children, Tommy, Jimmy, Patty, and Brooke.

A scholarship to honor Tom’s legacy – the James P. “Tom” Camerlo, Jr. Memorial Scholarship – has been established at Colorado State University, his alma mater. Contributions in Tom’s name can be sent to the Colorado State University Foundation at P.O. Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO 80522. Checks should mention the James P. “Tom” Camerlo, Jr. Memorial Scholarship in the memo line.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that it will spend all of the $60 million it was given by Congress on the purchase of consumer-ready cheeses, as NMPF had urged the Department to do. The FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill, passed by Congress this summer and signed into law by the President in October, included $60 million for the purchase of dairy products; NMPF urged all the purchases to be for cheese, as it will have the maximum benefit for producer prices.

The USDA said that it will procure cheddar and mozzarella cheese for delivery between March 16 and December 31, 2010. The products will be distributed through the Emergency Food Assistance Program. Solicitation is expected to be available on or after December 29, 2009, and will be available electronically on USDA's website.

There is no word yet on how USDA will distribute the other $290 million in dairy aid in the form of direct payments to producers. However, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) has instructed its state and county offices to collect all production data for February through July 2009, including production over the original MILC cap, in anticipation of the payment distribution process.

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has generated a return on investment of $1.54 per hundredweight so far in 2009, according to an independent economic analysis of the voluntary dairy farmer-funded and managed self-help program.

That evaluation was released at the 2009 NMPF Annual Meeting in Grapevine, TX, by Dr. Scott Brown of the University of Missouri, a nationally-known farm policy expert who is regularly called on by the U.S. Congress to assess agricultural economic issues.

Brown evaluated the impact of CWT’s two completed herd retirements in 2009, along with the lingering effect of the two conducted in 2008, as well as the herd retirement in 2007. He also noted positive contributions to price because of the bred heifer option that CWT has offered in recent years, along with CWT’s Export Assistance program, which while dormant this year, was active in 2007 and 2008.

Brown’s analysis showed that the combined effect of CWT’s cow-removal programs, as well as its export assistance program, helped raise farm-level milk prices by $1.54 per hundredweight this year, and added $2.4 billion to farm-level milk receipts in a year when dairy income is expected to shrink by more than $10 billion because of the global recession.

Dairy producers now have online access to key components of the new National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management. That announcement was made November 12, 2009, during NMPF's Annual Meeting in Grapevine, TX, where producers and industry leaders from across the country were introduced to the on-farm animal well-being program.

Created by NMPF, with support from Dairy Management Inc., 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.

The program was formally launched October 1st during a news conference at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. The session at NMPF’s Annual Meeting allowed dairy industry leaders to learn more about the program, and about the Animal Care Manual and Animal Care Quick Reference User Guide, now available online at www.nationaldairyfarm.com/animal-care-resources.html.

To participate in the National Dairy FARM Program, producers, co-ops, processors, and state and regional dairy producer organizations can contact NMPF. On-farm evaluations will begin in 2010; third-party verification will follow in 2011. Additional National Dairy FARM Program modules designed to assure the quality, safety, and wholesomeness of dairy products will be introduced in the future.

For more information on the National Dairy FARM Program, contact Betsy Flores at (703) 243-6111 or visitwww.nationaldairyfarm.com.

NMPF held its 93rd Annual Meeting November 10 – 12 in Grapevine, TX, which was attended by more than 900 people. Highlights of the meeting included presentations by USDA Under Secretary Jim Miller; Domino’s Pizza CEO Dave Brandon; Bain Consulting’s Clinton Anderson; and NFL TV analyst Daryl Johnston.

The 2009 Championship Cheese contest winner was a Cabot Sharp Cheddar from Agri-Mark’s Middlebury, VT, plant.

Many of the presentations, including the joint address to NMPF’s membership by Chairman Randy Mooney and President & CEO Jerry Kozak, are available on the NMPF website. The website also features a video presentation of NMPF’s key activities in 2009.

At last month’s NMPF Annual Meeting in Grapevine, TX, USDA Under Secretary Jim Miller reiterated the Department’s strong support for dairy farmers, and asked for suggestions for the use of nearly 60 million pounds of surplus nonfat dry milk purchased by the Commodity Credit Corporation earlier this year under the price support program.

In response, NMPF has urged USDA to work with the Department of Defense to ship those stocks to Afghanistan for processing into school milk at a new plant outside Kabul. In this way, U.S. powder stocks would support the fledgling Afghan dairy processing industry, help establish outlets for Afghan farmers, and develop markets for U.S. exports.

More importantly, U.S. commanders on the ground in Afghanistan have identified education as a “number one priority” in promoting Afghanistan’s peaceful development. Under this program, surplus dry milk stocks will also provide important nutrition for Afghan children and encourage many parents to send their children to school who would not otherwise do so, providing critical support to America’s troops in the country.

NMPF President & CEO Jerry Kozak said of the initiative: “We believe this is the best possible use for this surplus powder, on many levels.”

If you have questions, please call Roger Cryan or Dana Brooks in the NMPF office.