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NMPF Unanimously Endorses Marketing Order Modernization Plan in Annual Meeting

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) leadership unanimously endorsed a proposal to modernize the Federal Milk Marketing Order milk-pricing system at its annual meeting in Denver, which concludes tomorrow. It also welcomed new directors — as well as a new member.

“Dairy is positioned to be a trusted anchor in an uncertain world,” said NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney in remarks at the meeting, part of a joint event held by NMPF, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. “Together we can seize opportunities to feed the world. Our product is one of the most nutritionally valuable foods available. We create vibrant rural communities that keep America strong by helping to retain local schools, build energy independence, preserve the environment, and ensure food security for everyone.”

Central to discussions was recommendations developed on federal milk pricing after more than 100 meetings that have taken place over the past year. NMPF’s Board of Directors endorsed a proposal that:

  • Returns to the “higher of” Class I mover;
  • Discontinues including barrel cheese in the protein component price formula;
  • Extends the current 30-day reporting limit to 45 days on forward priced sales on Nonfat Dry Milk and dry whey to capture more exports sales in the USDA product price reporting;
  • Updates milk component factors for protein, other solids and nonfat solids in the Class III and Class IV skim milk price formulas;
  • Develops a process to ensure make-allowances are reviewed more frequently through legislation directing USDA to conduct mandatory plant-cost studies every two years; and
  • Updates dairy product manufacturing allowances contained in the USDA milk price formulas.

NMPF continues work on the Class I milk price surface as it examines information on county-level Class I price differentials. That work is expected to be completed later this year. Any final proposal will be reviewed by the organization before it’s submitted to USDA to be considered for a federal order hearing.

“We have made tremendous progress and are moving forward with the strong level of consensus in the producer community that we will need to achieve our goals of modernization,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “We’ve had many challenging conversations that were important to getting to a national consensus because of the regional nature of federal milk orders. But the give and take that’s needed to get to anything important done will place the entire industry on a sounder footing, creating a lasting benefit for all.”

NMPF, whose member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of the nation’s milk, also welcomed Burnett Dairy Cooperative to its membership. Burnett Dairy Cooperative, based near Grantsburg, WI and founded in 1896, is one of the nation’s few remaining full-service cheese-producing cooperatives. It is a frequent winner at both national and worldwide cheese contests.

New directors elected to the Board of Directors and approved by NMPF delegates in 2022 include:

  • Jeff Sims – Lone Star Milk Producers
  • Kevin Ellis – Upstate Niagara Cooperative
  • Cory Vanderham – California Dairies Inc.

NMPF also held its annual dairy contest in conjunction with the meeting. Ellsworth took the top prize, while a yogurt also took high honors in the first-ever inclusion of that category, in prizes awarded in the held in conjunction with NMPF’s annual meeting. 

 The NMPF Chairman’s Award went to Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery for their Pepperoni with Marinara Rub cheese, which achieved a 99.8 score. Agri-Mark received the Chairman’s Reserve Award for its 10% Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt, which also won the award for best yogurt. Tillamook County Creamery Association earned the Best Cheddar award for its 2012 Makers Reserve, while Foremost Farms won the best Italian Cheese for its Mozzarella. Prairie Farms won the Best Cottage Cheese competition and also gained the most ribbons among co-ops participating in the contest, with 18. 

NMPF’s Bjerga on Annual Meeting, Dairy’s Challenges

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga talks about some of the challenges dairy farmers face, and how they’re facing it together, in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. As NMPF members gather in Denver this week for the organization’s annual meeting, milk-pricing modernization, sustainability and stewardship, and international trade are all taking the spotlight.

U.S. Dairy Leaders Highlight Sustainability, Global Food Security at World Food Prize

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

DES MOINES, Iowa — A nutrition expert, an innovative dairy farmer and a global food-security leader shared how animal agriculture and dairy can be part of world climate and hunger solutions in a panel discussion side event at the World Food Prize. The panel also discussed the upcoming U.S. hosting of the 2023 International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit in Chicago, the world’s biggest global dairy conference.

Panelists include Katie Brown, EdD, RDN, Senior Vice President for Scientific and Nutrition Affairs at National Dairy Council; Suzanne Vold, a dairy farmer near Glenwood, MN; and Jay Waldvogel, Senior Vice President of Strategy and International Development for Dairy Farmers of America and a board member of Global Dairy Platform, an organization that brings together dairy companies, associations, scientific bodies and other partners to collaborate pre-competitively to lead and build evidence on dairy’s role in the diet and show the sector’s commitment to responsible food production.

“To meet the grand challenge of nourishing a growing global population with limited natural resources, dairy is answering the call of providing sustainable, efficient, high-quality nutrition that can be accessed worldwide,” said Brown. “The foods we choose every day contribute to dietary patterns that can promote health and wellness and reduce risk of chronic diseases at all stages across the lifespan. Dairy foods now and in the future will be critical to meeting the challenges malnutrition poses to the planet, just as U.S. dairy will be important to making sure the world is sustainably nourished.”

“In a fragile world, dairy farms are strengthened by their generational focus and family bonds, a truth that’s followed by dairy farmers across the United States as they show global leadership in innovation,” said Vold. “In other words, we care for our cows and protect our resources so that our farms may thrive for generations to come and help nourish the needs of a growing world.”

“The global dairy industry is a one-billion-person community, starting with more than 130 million farmers around the world, with 600 million people living and working on those farms, farms that create 125 million jobs, jobs that are supporting hundreds of millions of other family members, collectively more than a billion people,” said Waldvogel. “The sheer scale alone indicates our role in food security. But even beyond that, if you look at how dairy plays out locally, its nutrition, its shorter supply chains, women-led in many cases, it’s a combination of the sheer size and scale of dairy and its role in food security, but also that local touch where dairy is very much around the corner for the people who need it.”

Panelists also discussed next year’s IDF World Dairy Summit, set for October 16-19, 2023 at Chicago’s McCormick Place conference center. The honor provides an opportunity to showcase the dairy sector’s innovations in sustainability, nutrition and health, standards, safety and quality, to accomplish its purpose of nourishing the world with safe, nutritious and sustainable foods.

The IDF World Dairy Summit provides a vital forum for dairy leaders, experts, farmers, processors, traders and journalists worldwide to discuss how to further advance the collective global dairy sector forward in a positive, sustainable way. Held in the United States for the first time since 1993, this year’s meeting is themed “BE Dairy –Boundless Potential. Endless Possibilities.” U.S. dairy is developing programming that will feature global and industry leaders, experts, scientists, technical specialists, farmers and more, exploring the global dairy sector’s most significant opportunities today and tomorrow.

For more information about the 2023 IDF World Dairy Summit, visit www.idfwds2023.com.

For more information about IDF, visit www.fil-idf.org. For more information about US-IDF, visit www.usidf.org.

DFA Farmer Named NMPF “Communicator of Year,” Tillamook Recognized Among Co-ops

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Laton, CA dairy farmer Melvin Medeiros, a family farm-owner of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), was named the National Milk Producers Federation’s (NMPF) Farmer Communicator of the Year at the organization’s annual gathering of dairy-cooperative communicators. Tillamook earned top overall communications honors among NMPF member co-ops.

Medeiros, who milks around 1,600 cows roughly 30 miles northwest of Visalia, is a member of NMPF’s executive committee. Melvin serves as chair of the Agricultural Council of California’s Dairy Committee, sits on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the California Cares and Environmental Justice Fund Committee. He is also chairman of DFA’s Western Area Council and a member of DFA’s Executive Committee.

He’s also a member of NMPF’s Dairy Voice Network of farmer spokespeople and was profiled in a recent NMPF Farmer Focus. He is the second straight DFA farmer to earn Farmer Communicator of the Year, following last year’s awardee, Charles Krause of Buffalo, MN.

“Melvin is a consistent advocate for dairy,” DFA wrote in its nominating letter. “This year specifically, Melvin testified in front of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture. It’s imperative that dairy farmers tell their story in front of the committees that work on relevant and pertinent farm policy, and we’re proud Melvin was collectively representing dairy farmers alike in front of this committee.

“Producers like Melvin, who tell their story to the congressmen and women alike who are further away from dairy, create a trusted source and sounding board for policy decisions that directly affect dairy farmers.”

Tillamook was recognized for its numerous first-place awards in NMPF’s annual communications contest, highlighted by its “Best in Show” recognition for its 2021 Annual Report, led by Tillamook’s Corporate Communications team.

“Great balance of content across having the required business stats, mixed with content on leadership, cows, dairy products and most importantly the people who make it all happen,” read the judge’s comments in response to one of Tillamook’s prize-winning entries. “Loved the beautiful graphics, product highlights. Unique size/binding of the piece was a nice touch. Well done!”

Medeiros and Tillamook will also be recognized at NMPF’s annual meeting in Denver next week. A full list of the winners of the NMPF communications contest, which received entries from 13 member cooperatives, can be found here.

NMPF Urges Farmers to Consider Federal Risk Management Tools as USDA Announces DMC Signup

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Milk Loss Disaster Program in Works

With rising costs eroding dairy margins despite high farm milk prices, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is urging farmers to sign up for maximum 2023 coverage under USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, an important component of federal dairy risk-management programs supported by NMPF.

USDA has announced that DMC signup begins today, with a deadline of Dec. 7. Despite record prices this year, accompanying record costs resulted in DMC payments for August for farmers enrolled at the maximum coverage level.

“The current combination of high prices with costs that can be even higher illustrates the basic value of DMC for producers who can benefit from the program,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “By calculating assistance via a margin rather than a target price, DMC offers a measure of protection against the current cost volatility that’s challenging many milk producers.”

Farmers should also consider signing up for federally backed risk-management programs appropriate to their operations, Mulhern said.

DMC is designed to promote stable revenues and protect against financial catastrophe for small and medium-sized producers. It’s part of a suite of federally backed risk-management tools, including the Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP) program and the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Producers (LGM-Dairy) program, which were revamped in the 2018 Farm Bill at NMPF’s urging.

DMC resulted from NMPF’s effort to improve inadequate federal margin-protection insurance. LGM-Dairy and DRP were made workable via NMPF’s efforts to remove spending caps and a ban on enrollment in multiple programs, which previously limited their usefulness.

Mulhern also reminded eligible farmers who did not sign up for supplemental DMC coverage in 2022 based on updated production levels that they have another opportunity to do so this year.

NMPF also reminds producers that USDA is developing a separate milk loss program, as provided for in legislation enacted last year. This program will reimburse dairy producers of all sizes for milk dumped on account of disasters that occurred in 2020 and 2021, including, but not limited to, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms including polar vortexes, droughts, hurricanes, and wildfires. NMPF is working with USDA as it develops the initiative.

Krause Holsteins Spreads Dairy Message Far and Wide

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Charles Krause doesn’t have to talk to groups of schoolchildren. Or host dairy farmers from New Zealand. Or speak at a Farm Bill listening session. Or feature his family on a video shown at local gas stations.

But it helps dairy. The Dairy Farmers of America producer, who owns a roughly 300-cow, fifth-generation farm outside Buffalo, MN, that he operates with his son, Andrew, sees telling dairy’s story as part of his responsibility to the industry and his fellow farmers. Connecting with consumers and non-farm stakeholders is critical for dairy’s future, he said.

“I wouldn’t say I’m all that different than anyone else, I’m just willing to take a little bit of extra time out of my day to do those things and tell my story,” he said. “Whether it’s a conversation one-to-one, one-to-few, or one-to-many, everyone can play a role, whether it’s talking to someone at a grocery store, or talking to a group at church or getting on social media and taking a stab at it that way.”

In the latest Farmer Focus, Krause, who last year became NMPF’s first Farmer Communicator of the Year, shares his motivation for bringing dairy’s story to broader audiences, and the importance of continuing to connect with the consumer.

For more Farmer Focus stories, co-sponsored by NMPF and the FARM Program, check out NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page, which also includes its Dairy Defined thought-leadership series and CEO’s Corner, a monthly column from NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern.

View the Farmer Focus Profile

NMPF and USDEC Discuss Recent Shipping Challenges with FMC Chairman Maffei

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) met with Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Daniel Maffei today to discuss the implementation of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and ongoing shipping challenges. Several dairy company executives from a working group addressing export supply-chain issues joined NMPF and USDEC.

Exports play a significant role in the success of American dairy farms and manufacturing facilities. Currently, the milk from one in six tankers leaving U.S. farms ends up abroad in the form of exported milk powder, cheese and other dairy products.

USDEC and NMPF members have made it clear that exporters are still encountering high costs, fees, and unreliable scheduling. Collaboration between the agricultural industry and federal agencies such as the FMC is crucial to building a supply chain that works for American suppliers and consumers around the world.

“We have an excellent opportunity to bring American dairy products to many more markets around the world now and in the coming years,” stated Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “To do that, we will need better service from the entire ocean freight system. We’re confident in Chairman Maffei’s leadership of the FMC and value the agency’s critical role in ensuring that international shipping is a two-way street, not merely a superhighway for imported goods.”

“We appreciate Chairman Maffei for his leadership, and for taking the time to discuss recent shipping challenges,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “This is a tumultuous time in ocean shipping, but we’re confident that there’s more we can do together to ease the burden that the dairy sector is facing.”

Hall of Famer Stammer Says Cooperatives as Valuable as Ever

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

To celebrate National Cooperative Month (and the centennial of the Capper-Volstead Act that underpins farm cooperatives to this day), Cooperative Hall of Fame Member Rich Stammer, former CEO of Agri-Mark, says the values of cooperatives remain important as new challenges to dairy farmers emerge.

“As more and more people moved away from the farm, didn’t know anything about farming, co-ops have played a bigger role in informing consumers about dairy and farmers and what they do,” he said. “We have attacks from animal rights groups. Dairy farmers take great care of their animals, but getting that message out to consumers with all the negative things that come down, is an important role of co-ops. We have a program, our FARM program, basically to ensure animals are treated right, to have a measurable way of animal care, and to get that message out to consumers about how well we care for our animals.

“You have more and more challenges on the environmental side of our business. And dairy co-ops have become very involved in sustainability efforts, and again, showing how sustainable dairy farms are and how we take care of our land. We are much more involved in getting messages out to consumers, representing farmers and environmental laws, and there’s so many areas,” he said.

For more about the value cooperatives provide, NMPF has a page here. The full podcast is below. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. A transcript is linked below. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

NMPF’s Larson on White House Nutrition Conference

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

The U.S. dairy industry has a long-standing commitment to the nutrition and health of the nation. Ensuring that people have consistent and equitable access to the nutrition they need is a key priority for the National Milk Producers Federation, just like the recent White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

Claudia Larson, NMPF senior director of government relations, tells the National Association of Farm Broadcasters that most people know that dairy is nutritious, but not everybody knows the details of dairy’s potential in fighting nutrition insecurity.

September CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales Totaled 12.2 Million Pounds

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

CWT member cooperatives secured 62 contracts in September, adding 11 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 198,000 pounds of butter and 403,000 pounds of cream cheese to CWT-assisted sales in 2022. In milk equivalent, this is equal to 113 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. These products will go to customers in Asia, Central America, Middle East-North Africa, South America and Oceania and will be shipped from September 2022 through March 2023.

CWT-assisted 2022 dairy product sales contracts year-to-date total 81.1 million pounds of American-type cheese, 657,000 pounds of butter, 7.5 million pounds of cream cheese and 30.3 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 1.044 billion pounds on a milkfat basis.

Exporting dairy products is critical to the viability of dairy farmers and their cooperatives across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter, anhydrous milkfat, cream cheese, or whole milk powder, moving products into world markets is essential. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome U.S. dairy’s trade disadvantages.

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