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Family Farms Drive Dairy
The “decline of the family farm,” purportedly replaced by the “rise of the corporate farm,” for generations has been one of the most well-trodden – and inaccurate – tropes in conversations about U.S. agriculture. It’s true, the number of dairy farms has declined. But that consolidation hasn’t diminished the dominance of family-run dairies. It’s meant that smaller family farms have generally become a bit larger, often to support additional family members coming into an existing operation.
Of an estimated 39,442 farms of all sizes with dairy cows in 2020 – a comprehensive number that’s higher than the number of licensed dairy operations — 38,286 of them were family-operated, according to USDA data. That’s 97.1 percent of dairies, an extremely high percentage that isn’t budging with consolidation. In 2016, for example, even though the overall number of farms with dairy cows was more than 48,000, the family-farm percentage that year was 97.3 percent – a remarkably consistent figure.
What’s going on? The same thing that’s been going on for generations. Dairy farmers sell their cows to fund their retirements. Farmers whose children don’t want to take over the farm sell to the farmer whose children will. A small number of “corporate farms” do exist, and because they tend to be larger, they produce a disproportionate (but still small) percentage of milk. But when dairy farms consolidate, as a rule, they consolidate into other family farms. And the fewer, larger farms that remain are still decidedly family operations.
Just as dairy itself isn’t dead, the family dairy farm isn’t either. But like everything else, it’s changed. A family dairy farm may be a bigger employer than before, and it may be a more sophisticated business. That’s been the direction of U.S. agriculture for generations, and that’s true whether a farm has 80 cows, or thousands. Just look at the average size of a U.S. dairy farm. It’s grown from about 50 cows in 1990 to about 300 cows today. Despite the realities of an ever-changing industry, the family farm remains the bedrock of U.S. dairy farming. And that shows no sign of ending, anytime soon.
NMPF’s Bjerga on Dairy’s Commitment to Conservation
NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses on RFD-TV how a meeting with key lawmakers in Pennsylvania highlighted dairy’s conservation stewardship as Farm Bill discussions begin. Clint Burkholder, owner of Burk-Lea Farms in Chambersburg, PA, and a member of the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, last Friday hosted several members of Congress, including Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-PA and top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, as well as other area dairy farmers for a farm tour and roundtable discussion on the importance of agricultural conservation.
NMPF Co-op Farmer Hosts Conservation Roundtable for Key Members of Congress
Pennsylvania dairy farmer Clint Burkholder, owner of Burk-Lea Farms in Chambersburg, PA, and a member of the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, today hosted several members of Congress along with other area dairy farmers for a farm tour and roundtable discussion on the importance of agricultural conservation.
Clint and his wife, Kara, are the third generation to farm on Burk-Lea Farms, milking 850 Holsteins and raising roughly 700 heifers. The Burkholders strongly prioritize both animal care and environmental conservation, housing their cows in freestall barns with sand bedding and using cover crops and no-till on their cropland to benefit soil and water quality. The farm also has a manure separation system and a water recirculating system to recycle water.
Maryland & Virginia, a leader in dairy sustainability, is an NMPF member cooperative.
“We are grateful to the Burkholders for their leadership in this crucial discussion about the importance of voluntary, producer-led conservation and sustainability,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO. “Clint and Kara have a fantastic story to tell, and we’re glad members of Congress will have the opportunity to see their farm and hear their perspective.”
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) led a delegation to the farm, visiting Burk-Lea Farms as part of a series of roundtables to receive stakeholder input and discuss policy opportunities on environmental and energy policy.
“We thank Ranking Members Thompson and Graves and their colleagues for their engagement on conservation issues and look forward to working with them on innovative solutions to help dairy farmers build on their ongoing environmental stewardship work,” Mulhern said. “With a new farm bill due next year, today’s roundtable conversation is timely and important.”
NMPF Supports Congressional Action on Infant Formula, Urges U.S. Production Boost
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today said it supports bipartisan House legislation that would encourage additional infant formula supply imports as a temporary way to ease short-term supply shortfalls in the U.S. market. NMPF emphasized, however, that boosting longer-term domestic production to ensure safe, secure infant formula supplies in the future is needed.
The “Formula Act,” H.R. 8351, would waive U.S. tariffs on infant formula imports through the end of 2022 to ensure that the domestic market has the supplies of formula it needs as it recovers from an acute processing capacity crisis that’s created nationwide infant-formula shortages.
“The United States has experienced a dire and highly unusual shortage of infant formula for much of this year, a temporary crisis that’s dragged on way too long but appears to be improving” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. “As of this month, all U.S. formula production facilities are back online and working hard to restock the supply chain gaps that American families have struggled with over the past several months. That’s good news.
“U.S. government efforts to expand supply, including a temporary, short-term expansion of infant formula imports, are important steps to help ease the crisis. We support congressional action on the Formula Act. The legislation’s targeted focus and ample timeframe will address these short-term challenges while ensuring that the United States doesn’t create a permanent dependence on formula produced in foreign facilities. As the pandemic showed, long-term reliance on sourcing critical life-saving products from overseas puts American families at the mercy of foreign suppliers and foreign safety standards.”
“In addition to advancing the Formula Act, Congress and the Biden Administration should work together with the U.S. dairy and formula industries to explore what additional domestic policy reforms are needed to further expand U.S. infant formula production capacity so that this country can create the most reliable supply base for this important product.”
NMPF Announces Scholarship Recipients, Recognizes ADSA Winners
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today announced the recipients of its 2022 National Dairy Leadership Scholarship awards, recognizing outstanding graduate students pursuing research of interest to the U.S. dairy industry. The awards, funded by dairy farmers and their cooperatives, support the next generation of dairy researchers, extension staff, academics and industry professionals.
“On behalf of its Board of Directors, NMPF is proud to recognize, support and celebrate this year’s scholarship recipients,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Our scholarship program helps graduate students pursue research that brings scientific solutions to many of dairy’s challenges. We applaud this year’s awardees and look forward to their future contributions.”
Catherine McVey received this year’s top scholarship, NMPF’s Hintz Memorial Scholarship award. A North Carolina native, McVey received dual undergraduate degrees in Animal Science and Statistics at North Carolina State University. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Animal Biology at the University of California-Davis, where she is supported by the Dean’s Distinguished Research Fellowship. McVey’s research focuses on extracting complex behavioral patterns from precision livestock farming through unsupervised machine learning.
NMPF’s Board of Directors also awarded a scholarship to Kirby Krogstad. Krogstad grew up on dairy farms in South Dakota and Minnesota. He completed his undergraduate degree at South Dakota State University, followed by a master’s degree in dairy cattle nutrition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Animal Science at Michigan State University and studies nutritional strategies and feed additives to modulate inflammation and health of dairy cows.
NMPF also sponsors student awards through the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA). This year’s Richard M. Hoyt Award winner, Bethany Dado-Senn, was recognized at ADSA’s annual meeting June 21. Dado-Senn grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin. Her doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison investigates consequences and solutions to environmental heat stress in dairy cattle.
Michigan State University graduate students Ursula Abou-Rjeileh and Thainá Minela received first-place recognition as part of the NMPF sponsored ADSA Graduate Student Paper Presentation Contest in Dairy Production in the Ph.D. and M.S. divisions, respectively.
Learn more about the NMPF scholarship program here. The 2023 application period will open in January 2023. For information about ADSA awards, visit its awards page here.
Dairy Defined Podcast: Ports Momentum Must Continue, NMPF’s Rice Says
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act is now law, but much more is needed to ensure reliable exports of U.S. dairy products to the overseas markets that represent the industry’s future, said Tony Rice, trade policy manager for NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.
“Our international customers demand U.S. dairy products,” said Rice. “Our competitors, mostly the EU and New Zealand, they’ve shown that they’re not going to be able to keep pace in the coming years. So it makes all the more important that these supply chain issues get ironed out, and hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Rice explains the complexities of the challenges facing U.S. port traffic, why additional public policy changes are essential, and how NMPF is leading agriculture’s efforts for change. The full podcast is here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. A transcript is also available below. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file below. Please attribute information to NMPF.
NMPF Co-Op Farmers Speak Out on Sustainability, Trade and Farm Bill in Listening Session
Dairy producers from NMPF member cooperatives urged Congress to create greater opportunities for enhanced environmental stewardship, promote exports and craft farm bill programs that aid dairy farmers of all sizes in all regions in a listening session held today at California State University, Fresno by Rep. Jim Costa, D-CA.
Melvin Medeiros, a Dairy Farmers of America producer from Laton, CA, and Joey Fernandes, a Land O’Lakes producer from Tulare, CA, spoke in the listening session as part of a series the House Agriculture Committee is holding nationwide as it examines issues to be addressed in the upcoming Farm Bill. Both farmers are members of NMPF’s Board of Directors; Medeiros sits on the organization’s executive committee as well.
“From water issues, to trade, to sustainability, to providing an adequate safety net to producers of all sizes, the farmers who own NMPF’s member cooperatives are critical to conversations that affect all of agriculture in the next Farm Bill and beyond,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We commend Melvin and Joey for sharing their insights and thank Rep. Costa for making sure that dairy’s voice is heard as the next Farm Bill begins taking shape.”
Today’s session follows a similar session hosted last month in Arizona by Rep. Tom O’Halleran, D-AZ. At that event, United Dairymen of Arizona member Jim Boyle emphasized the need for more equitable treatment of dairy farmers of all sizes, including in pandemic relief programs to reimburse dairy farmers for unique COVID-19 losses. The next House Agriculture listening session is July 22 in Carnation, Washington.
NMPF, Allies Tell White House to Prioritize Food Access at Hunger Conference
NMPF led eleven national agricultural, anti-hunger, nutrition and medical groups in a virtual listening session June 30 urging the White House to place a high priority on access to affordable, diverse and nutritious foods when it holds its Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health this September.
The NMPF-organized session, which included the International Dairy Foods Association, the National Dairy Council and other allies, offered the White House both expertise and lived experience from a wide range of organizations on how important increased access to food and a diverse range of food choices are to fight nutrition insecurity and improve nutrition-related health.
“When the White House announced its Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, we at NMPF were excited by the potential for this conference to help propel meaningful advancement toward achieving the conference’s stated goals of ending hunger, increasing healthy eating and physical activity, and decreasing the prevalence of diet-related diseases in America,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern in remarks at the session.
Also sharing stories and potential solutions at the listening session were American Academy of Pediatrics, American Society for Nutrition, Feeding America, Food Research and Action Center, and International Fresh Produce Association, the School Nutrition Association and United Egg Producers.
The effort was part of a broader drive to provide input to the White House as it crafts its strategy to end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030, which the White House has said it plans to release at the September conference.
June CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales Totaled 6.5 Million Pounds
CWT member cooperatives secured 51 contracts in June, adding 5.6 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 254,000 pounds of butter and 600,000 pounds of cream cheese to CWT-assisted sales in 2022. In milk equivalent, this is equal to 62 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. These products will go customers in Asia, Central America and Middle East-North Africa, and will be shipped from June 2022 through January 2023.
CWT-assisted 2022 dairy product sales contracts year-to-date total 53.4 million pounds of American-type cheese, 348,000 pounds of butter, 5.6 million pounds of cream cheese and 28.5 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 754 million 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.
Abdullah Ibrahimzada Joins FARM Program Staff
Abdullah Ibrahimzada has joined the staff as the FARM Program’s information system analyst. In this role, he will manage the ongoing relationship with the program’s technology provider.
Ibrahimzada comes to NMPF after five years of program management experience with USAID, World Bank, and The Borgen Project. He is a Fulbright and Campus France scholar and holds a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas and another master’s degree in Marketing and Management from Lille Catholic University, France. Ibrahimzada speaks five languages and loves soccer.
2022 Scholarship Winners Announced
At their meeting June 7, the NMPF Scholarship Committee selected two graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the 2022 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program. These students are conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers. Scholarships were awarded to:
- Catherine McVey, a PhD candidate in Animal Biology at the University of California – Davis, whose research focuses on a model-free approach to extracting complex behavioral patterns from precision livestock farming data streams through unsupervised machine learning. Catie is this year’s recipient of the Hintz Memorial Scholarship given to the top scholarship candidate.
- Kirby Krogstad, a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Michigan State University, whose research focuses on nutritional strategies and feed additives to modulate inflammation and health of dairy cows.
NMPF will host a webinar this summer to introduce this year’s scholarship recipients and offer the opportunity to hear more about their research. Details will be shared in the coming weeks.
