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CWT Assists with 1.1 Millon Pounds of Dairy Product Export Sales

Posted on by Khadija Gibson-White

ARLINGTON, VA – Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted nine offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 1.0 million pounds (468 MT) of American-type cheese and 44,000 pounds (20 MT) of whole milk powder. The product is going to customers in Asia, Middle East-North Africa and South America, and will be delivered from September through December 2023.

CWT-assisted member cooperative year-to-date export sales total 36.3 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 908,000 pounds of butter (82% milkfat), 26,000 pounds of anhydrous milkfat, 38.6 million pounds of whole milk powder and 6.9 million pounds of cream cheese. The products are going to 25 countries in five regions. These sales are the equivalent of 692.6 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives by fostering the competitiveness of U.S. dairy products in the global marketplace and helping member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share for U.S. dairy products. As a result, the program has helped significantly expand the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk that produces those products.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT pays export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by required documentation.

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The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins.

NMPF’S GALEN DISCUSSES CHANGING FLUID MILK PRICING SYSTEM

Posted on by Chris Galen

Chris Galen, NMPF’s senior vice president of member services and governance, discusses the fifth week of USDA’s national hearing on Federal Order modernization, which focused on returning to the “higher of” Class I fluid milk price system.  Galen also discussed what may happen to the hearing process if the federal government shuts down in October.

 

All the Cool Kids (and Their Parents!) are Eating Cottage Cheese

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

For those of you not yet in the know, cottage cheese is the It Dairy Product of 2023. That may be hard to believe, since it seems like only yesterday that Korean music group BTS was making “Butter” ubiquitous — but like milk, the zeitgeist flows. So move over, K-Pop superstars – curds and whey haven’t been moving this fast since the spider sat next to Miss Muffet.

The hype is significant, but the product lives up to it. We’ve read about it in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. We’ve seen it on TikTok, where the high-protein snack is being featured in all sorts of creative recipes, like cottage cheese and mustard, cottage cheese in cookie dough, and cottage cheese as a base for ice cream. But most importantly, we’ve seen it in sales, and in new consumers, as shown via some number-crunching from our friends at Dairy Management Inc.:

Revenues are up, and that’s not just due to inflation – consumption is rising as well. Most importantly, more people are eating cottage cheese, period, and that builds a base for continued growth.

Breaking it down further: Cottage cheese’s success isn’t merely a media perception. It’s real, and it’s broad-based. While nearly half of all new consumers are coming from the social-media-savvy Gen Z and Millennial sets, the other half comes from older generations, with the most growth by far coming from Generation X, a cohort decidedly less dedicated to TikTok than their younger counterparts. (Why Gen X? Is it an attempt to gain a tasty dairy fix with less fat, right at the age where waistlines are more difficult to tame? Nostalgia for their childhoods in the 1970s and 1980s, the last time cottage cheese was so central to American diets? Maybe they’re just smarter than other generations – after all, You Live, You Learn.)

In any case, cottage cheese is reasserting itself in ways not seen in decades. The cool kids are eating it – and so are their parents. Its success shows yet again how dairy remains resilient, adaptable, and innovative. And with that, we can only wonder, what’s next?

Anyone care for a glass of whole milk?

Driving Interest From Butter Bombs to Cookies

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

By Christopher Galen, Executive Director, The American Butter Institute

In a year when dairy commodities have been hit hard by slumping prices, butter has remained at the head of the class, barely dipping below $2.50 per pound at the wholesale level and recently rebounding to $2.75 per pound heading into the holiday baking season. Part of the reason for the strong demand, even with high inflation over the past two years, has been the American Butter Institute’s consumer awareness campaign about the value of butter in so many uses.

Our “Go Bold With Butter” campaign — funded mostly through the national dairy checkoff — reminds consumers of how useful butter is compared to plant-based oils and spreads. It also offers new recipes and product use ideas, from butter boards to butter bombs. You’ve probably heard of butter boards; basically, they are party-ready charcuterie trays featuring softened butter rather than meats and cold cuts. Meanwhile, butter bombs are a social media-worthy creation of a hollow sphere of butter filled either with savory ingredients like herbs, which people can melt on a grilled steak, or sweet ingredients like cinnamon sugar, suitable for use on breakfast foods like pancakes.

We also recently started a new consumer education program we’re calling “Butter Bits.” These are digestible snippets of friendly education we are sharing on social media that highlight butter as the solution to everyday cooking and baking challenges. This series of videos will follow a problem-and-solution format in a fast-paced, engaging, and entertaining way.

Since we are approaching the prime Christmas cookie-baking season, one of our regular seasonal promotions is our recipe contest. Each fall, the contest invites consumers to submit as many original cookie recipes as they wish. The “Go Bold With Butter” experts narrow the field of entrants to a few dozen and then bake up a (baker’s) dozen of the finalists to determine the best of that year’s class. The contest is open from now until November 1, and the rules and entry requirements are at www.goboldwithbutter.com.

Butter has clearly won the hearts, minds, and stomachs of many consumers whose preference for real dairy over vegetable spreads in the past generation has forced competitors to start calling their margarines “vegan butter.” But we can’t rest on our laurels: The “Go Bold With Butter” campaign reminds us that even though retail butter prices may rise, the elevated value real butter offers is worth it.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on September 18, 2023.

CWT Assists with 1.3 Million Pounds of Dairy Product Export Sales

Posted on by Khadija Gibson-White

ARLINGTON, VA – Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted eight offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 974,000 pounds (442 MT) of American-type cheese, 99,000 pounds (45 MT) of butter and 190,000 pounds (86 MT) of cream cheese. The product is going to customers in Asia and Middle East-North Africa, and will be delivered from September through December 2023.

CWT-assisted member cooperative year-to-date export sales total 35.2 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 908,000 pounds of butter (82% milkfat), 26,000 pounds of anhydrous milkfat, 38.6 million pounds of whole milk powder and 6.9 million pounds of cream cheese. The products are going to 25 countries in five regions. These sales are the equivalent of 682.3 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives by fostering the competitiveness of U.S. dairy products in the global marketplace and helping member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share for U.S. dairy products. As a result, the program has helped significantly expand the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk that produces those products.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT pays export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by required documentation.

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The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins.

Farmers Key to FMMO Success, NMPF’s Cain Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Even as the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) provides USDA officials with exhaustive research and expert analysis at its Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Modernization hearing in Carmel, IN, the department is paying attention to what farmers have to say as they testify to support NMPF’s plan. That makes farmer participation critical to the hearing’s success, said Stephen Cain, NMPF’s Senior Director or Economic Research and Analysis, in the latest Dairy Defined podcast.

“They want to hear from farmers. This is a federal program that is meant to support farmers and is continued at the behest of farmers,” Cain said. “USDA has really wanted to hear from them, and that’s a big piece to make sure that these proposals that are being put forth are the right things to do.”

For more information on NMPF’s FMMO efforts and to follow the hearing, click here. The full podcast is here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file below. Please attribute information to NMPF.

Milk Advocates Stress Dairy’s Unique Nutrition Benefits Before Dietary Guidelines Committee

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s Regulatory Affairs Director, along with an Olympic athlete (and dairy farmer), told the government’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee how dairy is a critical component of diet that should be considered in light of its full range of benefits in comments made today before the panel.

Miquela Hanselman from NMPF, and Elle St. Pierre, a farmer-member of the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and a world medalist track athlete who represented the United States in the women’s 1,500-meter race in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, both offered their perspectives on dairy’s role in diet before the panel that will shape the scientific report informing the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Both Hanselman and St. Pierre hold degrees in nutrition and public health.

“Nearly 90% of Americans don’t consume the recommended servings of dairy,” said Hanselman. “Dairy products have always been an integral part of the dietary guidelines. Milk is a good or excellent source of 13 essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium and vitamin D, three of the four nutrients of public health concern.”

Hanselman’s comments focused heavily on how dairy at all fat levels benefits diverse communities and how current guidelines work against including varieties of milk that Americans consume the most. “With the scientific question focused on sources of saturated fats, this committee has the opportunity to remedy a previous oversight and include the newer science on dairy fats and the dairy matrix,” she said. “Dairy foods, regardless of fat level, appear to have either neutral or beneficial effects on chronic disease risks including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and stroke. This committee shouldn’t default to the overly broad recommendation to avoid saturated fats regardless of food source.”

St. Pierre, a U.S. track and field champion and recent new mom, spoke out against the proliferation of plant-based imitation beverages that offer wildly inconsistent nutritional value, cautioning against any consideration of them as potential dairy replacements. Plant-based beverages “are so nutritionally different from real milk that whether one views them positively or negatively, their impact on health cannot be assumed to be the same as, or even similar to, that of milk,” said St. Pierre, who lives near Berkshire, VT. “I strongly caution against and oppose any inference that health impacts associated with milk consumption would apply to plant-based milk alternatives.”

Today’s hearing is part of the committee’s information-gathering process for the next set of guidelines. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is convened every five years by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services to make recommendations for American diets, affecting numerous federal nutrition programs.

Long-Awaited Support Now Available for Dairy Farmers Impacted by Natural Disasters in 2020, 2021 and 2022

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

USDA today announced critical, long-awaited financial assistance for dairy farmers affected by natural disasters. The Milk Loss Assistance program (MLP), administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), will compensate eligible dairy farms for milk dumped due to qualifying disaster events in 2020, 2021 and 2022, including droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms and smoke exposure.

Dairy farmers can sign up for MLP beginning today and running through Oct. 16. Affected producers are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible. See below for eligibility and application information, as well as details about how payments will be calculated.

How did we get here?

Since Congress approved funding in 2021, NMPF has held numerous meetings with FSA staff highlighting dairy farmers’ disaster needs. Most recently, NMPF helped provide USDA with cost estimates for the program to help speed up its implementation and met with Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie to urge action on the issue. NMPF also sent a public letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging that funds be released quickly and engaged members of Congress to ensure accountability, among other initiatives. These efforts came on top of NMPF advocacy for the funds to be included in legislation, a wide-ranging effort that involved grassroots activism and numerous meetings with dairy champions in Congress.

Am I eligible for support?

MLP will compensate dairy operations for milk dumped or removed without compensation due to qualifying disaster events, including droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), and smoke exposure that occurred in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 calendar years. Tornadoes are considered a qualifying disaster event for calendar year 2022 only.

The milk loss claim period is each calendar month that milk was dumped or removed from the commercial market. Each MLP application covers the loss in a single calendar month.  Milk loss that occurs in more than one calendar month due to the same qualifying weather event requires a separate application for each month.

The days that are eligible for assistance begin on the date the milk was removed or dumped and for concurrent days milk was removed or dumped. Once the dairy operation restarts milk marketing, the dairy operation is ineligible for assistance unless after restarting commercial milk marketing, additional milk is dumped due to the same qualifying disaster event. The duration of yearly claims is limited to 30 days per year for 2020, 2021 and 2022.

How will payments be calculated?

The calculation for determining MLP payment is: (Base period per cow average daily milk production x the number of milking cows in a claim period x the number of days milk was removed or dumped in a claim period) ÷ 100) x pay price per hundredweight.

For MLP payment calculations, the milk loss base period is the first full month of production before the dumping or removal occurred.

The payment percentage will be 75% for most producers, and 90% for underserved farmers, including beginning, veteran and socially disadvantaged farmers.

Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limitations do not apply to MLP, however the payment limitation for MLP is determined by the person’s or legal entity’s average adjusted gross farm income. Specifically, a person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general partnership, cannot receive, directly or indirectly, more than $125,000 in payments under MLP if their average adjusted gross farm income is less than 75% of their average AGI or more than $250,000 if their adjusted gross farm income is at least 75% of their average AGI.

How can I apply for assistance?

To apply for MLP, producers must submit:

  • FSA-376, Milk Loss Program Application
  • Milk marketing statement from the:
    • Month prior to the month milk was removed or dumped.
    • Affected month.
  • Detailed written statement of milk removal circumstances, including the weather event type and geographic scope, what transportation limitations occurred and any information on what was done with the removed milk.

If not previously filed, applicants must also submit a few other FSA forms within 60 days of the MLP application deadline. However, most producers will have these required forms already on file. However, those who are uncertain or want to confirm the status of their forms can contact their local FSA county office.

What about co-op losses?

Although MLP support is targeted for producers, cooperatives that spread losses across their membership should contact Steve Peterson at FSA (steve.peterson2@usda.gov) to inquire about eligibility for support to distribute to producers whose milk income was reduced due to milk dumping.

What’s next?

NMPF is grateful for this critical USDA support but recognizes that for affected producers, its delay has caused significant economic hardship. NMPF will continue to work with Congress and USDA to better prepare for and respond to natural disasters impacting the dairy community, including 2023 weather events.

Check out FSA’s announcement for more information and contact us at info@nmpf.org with any questions or comments.

CWT Assists with 8 Million Pounds of Dairy Product Export Sales

Posted on by Khadija Gibson-White

ARLINGTON, VA – Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 12 offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 351,000 pounds (159 MT) of American-type cheese, 7.1 million pounds (3,219 MT) of whole milk powder and 529,000 pounds (240 MT) of cream cheese. The product is going to customers in Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, Middle East-North Africa and South America, and will be delivered from September through March 2023.

CWT-assisted member cooperative year-to-date export sales total 34.3 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 809,000 pounds of butter (82% milkfat), 26,000 pounds of anhydrous milkfat, 38.6 million pounds of whole milk powder and 6.7 million pounds of cream cheese. The products are going to 25 countries in five regions. These sales are the equivalent of 669.6 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives by fostering the competitiveness of U.S. dairy products in the global marketplace and helping member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share for U.S. dairy products. As a result, the program has helped significantly expand the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk that produces those products.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT pays export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by required documentation.

The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins.

NMPF Applauds Long-Awaited Assistance for Dairy Farmers Hard-Hit by Natural Disasters

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) applauded today’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide critical, long-awaited financial assistance for dairy farmers affected by natural disasters.

The Milk Loss Assistance program administered by the Farm Service Agency will compensate eligible dairy farms and processors for milk dumped due to qualifying disaster events in 2020, 2021 and 2022, including droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms and smoke exposure.

“On top of the challenges created by wild price gyrations and the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy farmers since 2020 have also faced an inadequate federal mechanism for addressing unforeseen weather catastrophes, further straining finances at a time when strains have been hard to bear,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “NMPF never accepted that situation, and we’re very appreciative of USDA’s diligent work over several months to finalize the compensation plan that will address this backlog of disaster assistance. We thank Congress for providing this necessary funding, and we encourage both Congress and USDA to find ways to address future natural disasters more quickly. We also urge farmers affected by these disasters to sign up, and we stand ready to assist them as they go through this process.”

As producers of a highly perishable product that’s created 24/7, 365 days a year, dairy farmers have been—and continue to be—uniquely challenged by disaster events. The Milk Loss Program will help farmers and, in certain cases, cooperatives, recover losses previously overlooked by disaster assistance.

Dairy farmers and cooperatives can sign up for the Milk Loss Program beginning Sept. 11 and running through Oct. 16, 2023. Affected producers are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible. For eligibility and application information, as well as details about how payments will be calculated, visit USDA’s Milk Loss Assistance program announcement.