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NMPF Secures OSRA Passage, Looks to Next Steps

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

President and CEO Jim Mulhern participated in a White House ceremony on June 16 to celebrate President Biden’s signing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA).

The new law comes after more than a year’s worth of intense effort and has been among NMPF’s highest priorities, bolstered through its partnership with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and a joint member export supply chain working group. The organizations helped to build an influential coalition of agricultural and transportation allies, crafting a bipartisan group of congressional supporters and educating the administration about dairy’s export supply chain crisis.

OSRA directs the Federal Maritime Commission to craft regulations that prohibit ocean carriers from “unreasonably” declining shipping opportunities for U.S. exports and requires certification of detention and demurrage fees that have been incurred outside of U.S. exporters’ control. The commission must also craft regulations that bar retaliation against U.S. shippers. To learn more about additional OSRA protections and the FMC’s pivotal role, see NMPF’s Member Alert here.

OSRA’s passage shifts NMPF’s and USDEC’s focus to the next, equally critical step of ensuring the legislation is swiftly implemented and that the maritime commission develops strong rules to crack down on carrier misbehavior. NMPF and USDEC will be heavily engaged in rulemaking processes and will continue to push for robust congressional oversight of the implementation phase.

NMPF and USDEC is also continuing work with allied groups to address delays, congestion, equipment and labor shortages, major gaps in data, high costs and other issues hampering U.S. exports. As part of those ongoing efforts, NMPF’s Executive Vice President for Policy Development and Strategy Jaime Castaneda participated in the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s 34th Annual Meeting in June, taking part in the members-only strategy session on agricultural export priorities to identify additional steps in resolving the ongoing crisis.

NMPF Co-op Member Champions DMC, Calls for FMMO Update at Dairy Hearing

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Seventh-generation Pennsylvania dairy farmer Lolly Lesher emphasized the importance of farm bill safety net programs and called for milk pricing improvements at a House Agriculture Committee hearing held on June 22 to review the dairy provisions of the farm bill.

The Farm Bill, a twice-a-decade reauthorization of USDA programs, includes provisions important to dairy farmers such as risk management, pricing policy and support, conservation, trade promotion, nutrition, and rural development programs.

“The Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program is a significant improvement over its predecessor and has been a strong safety net for dairy farmers during difficult times. It offers producers affordable coverage for margin levels that reflect the milk price and feed cost challenges they face,” Lesher said in her testimony.

Lesher, a member-owner of Dairy Farmers of America, testified on NMPF’s behalf. She thanked Ranking Member G.T. Thompson (R-PA) for his years of advocacy on behalf of dairy farmers in Pennsylvania and beyond, and for his key role in overhauling the dairy safety net during the last farm bill. She also expressed her gratitude to Chairman David Scott (D-GA) for his work and for convening the hearing.

Created to replace the previous Margin Protection Program at NMPF’s urging in the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage program offers effective margin protection for small and mid-sized farms and affordable catastrophic coverage for large farms. Lesher, whose family milks 240 cows in southeastern Pennsylvania, said in her written testimony that the program “has provided important security to [her] family’s farm” and noted that her family has purchased the maximum available coverage every year.

She also urged the committee to make additional updates to reflect current production. Congress enacted Supplemental Dairy Margin coverage payments to account for modest production increases since 2014, and Lesher urged the committee to build on this progress in the next farm bill.

Lesher highlighted the need for improvements to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system, citing the heavy revenue losses incurred by dairy farmers nationwide from a milk pricing change made in the previous farm bill as an example of the need for change.

“The change made to the Class I mover combined with the government’s heavy cheese purchases cost dairy farmers over $750 million in revenue in the last six months of 2020 alone,” she said. Lesher detailed the asymmetric risk that farmers bear under the current mover, with limited upside risk and a potentially limitless downside.

Meanwhile, NMPF is leading a nationwide effort to craft consensus on a wide range of FMMO improvements, including the Class I mover, that can be taken to USDA for consideration in a federal order hearing. “We recognize that for our efforts to succeed, we must all work together, giving a bit to get a bit. It’s just too important for our future,” Lesher added.

“We appreciate the opportunity to share what has worked well—and what needs to be modernized—to meet the needs of dairy farmers in the 2023 Farm Bill,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.  “As Lolly Lesher outlined during today’s hearing, dairy producers need continued access to an effective safety net, flexible risk management tools that protect all farmers, and an update to the FMMO system that addresses the unequal risk dairy farmers bear compared to processors during unusual market volatility. We look forward to our continued work with the House Agriculture Committee and USDA on these and other farm bill priorities in the coming months.”

Trade Success Shows How Patience, Persistence Pays

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

An invitation to the White House to represent dairy farmers and their cooperatives at the signing of important legislation that helps the dairy community is an honor. The chance to attend, along with U.S. Dairy Export Council CEO Krysta Harden and other ag leaders, the signing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act last month was an opportunity to highlight dairy’s hard work to alleviate the shipping crisis that has impeded exports for the past year.

But to be honest, a greater honor comes from working with the NMPF and USDEC team that over the past year has led efforts in dairy and across agriculture to enact the legislation. And that effort’s success is only one more accomplishment in one of the biggest long-term successes of dairy and dairy policy over the past generation – the emergence of the United States as a critical player in international markets. This huge export growth boosts milk prices, alleviates pressure on an industry whose productivity outpaces domestic population growth, and feeds the world with the nutritious products Americans have long enjoyed.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act sets in motion a series of new rules and regulations governing ocean freight shippers that the Federal Maritime Commission must implement over the next year. These rules should help dairy-product exporters get more of their goods onto ships that recently have been heading to Asia empty, trying to meet import demands rather than fill their hulls with the goods that create U.S. jobs.

Agriculture, a rare American industry that ships out more than it brings in, has suffered from practices that have created unnecessary, costly delays to serving overseas consumers. While this legislation alone won’t smooth out all the issues with supply chains that are struggling with even deeper structural issues, it will help dairy build upon the global competitiveness that made 2021 a record year for U.S. dairy exports.

That’s gratifying. It’s also in keeping with the longer-term story of how patient, relentless efforts in dairy-trade policy have helped build an emerging export powerhouse.

Day-to-day, few areas of the many in which NMPF serves the interests of its members can be as bedeviling as trade. U.S. dairy farmers gain a key win against Canada – and Canada responds by dragging its feet even further. A judge stands up for the integrity of common cheese names – and the European Union persists in its shenanigans. These are the sorts of setbacks and stonewalls that can obscure progress.

But the progress is real. In 1995, 4.4 percent of U.S. milk solids were exported to foreign destinations. Last year, it was 17.3 percent – nearly one out of every six gallons of milk. U.S. dairy trade set records in volume and value in 2021, international market share is increasing, and American milk producers stand to benefit more than farmers anywhere else from the world’s growing appetite for dairy as competitors craft policies that hinder their own dairy industries – a path we simply won’t let happen here.

That growth has been crucial as gains in U.S. dairy production have outstripped domestic population growth. It’s safe to say that, without the emergence of international markets, milk prices would be dramatically lower, and much of the current size and regional diversity of U.S. dairy farms would be lost due to intolerable economic conditions.

U.S. dairy exports have risen broadly in part because we sweat the details – the attentiveness NMPF and USDEC showed in pushing for the Ocean Shipping Reform Act is characteristic of its approach for years. Decades of diligent work on trade has built a brighter present for dairy, even though that work requires patience and persistence that at times would seem to go beyond reason.

The progress we’ve seen on trade has happened because of the painstaking work of beneficial free-trade agreements; of tariff reductions that improved access; of robust legal efforts that have successfully defended U.S. dairy in international law; and because of the re-orientation of the industry toward greater exports that were made possible because trade policy created a more hospitable environment in which to invest.

Foresight by earlier NMPF and dairy check-off program leaders – and a lot of hard work — built the U.S. Dairy Export Council, acting worldwide to promote U.S. products. The same can be said for the industry’s sustainability initiatives, which help U.S. dairy farmers be the most sustainable, and thus most competitive, milk producers in the world.

And just as past efforts have paid huge dividends, present and future ones will as well, from seeking continued opportunities through initiatives like the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to telling the world the compelling story of U.S. dairy through hosting the International Dairy Federation’s annual summit in Chicago in 2023. It’s the first visit of that global conference to the United States in three decades, and it’s being brought here through the efforts of Dairy Management Inc., USDEC and NMPF, after the previous host – China – backed out.

Dairy’s representation at the White House at the signing of policy that will advance this industry shows how much we matter in policy arenas. But it’s also only one part of a much larger, much more important effort. Through resilience, progress and determination to build a better future for U.S. dairy, we’ve come a long way. And whatever the specific successes – or momentary frustrations – may be, dairy’s advance will continue.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Declining Plant-Based Beverage Sales

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans guidance on the use of dairy terms in plant-based beverages, fake milks are seeing declining sales. NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications, Alan Bjerga breaks down the numbers, showing how most plant-based beverage categories are declining, and how even those that are rising are doing so at the expense of other plant-based products, showing a category that’s starting to reach its ceiling. Interview on RFD-TV.

 

NMPF, Allied Groups Tell White House: Prioritize Food Access at Hunger Conference

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) led eleven national agricultural, anti-hunger, nutrition and medical groups today in a virtual listening session 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 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. “We, and our collaborators on this listening session, share these goals and know from personal experience and decades of working on this issue that increasing access to food is critical to attaining them.”

The participating organizations said of the session and the White House conference:

“Eggs are one of the most affordable sources of high-quality protein available and can play an important role in fighting food insecurity and malnutrition in America and the world,” said Dr. Mickey Rubin of American Egg Board’s Egg Nutrition Center. “America’s egg farmers are committed to ensuring that nutritious, affordable eggs remain accessible to all Americans.”

“IDFA members are deeply committed to ending hunger by making it easier for everyone — urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities — to access and afford healthy, nutritious milk and dairy foods,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association. “SNAP and WIC are central to this conversation. We know from USDA’s Foods Typically Purchased Report that dairy products make up at least 20 percent of the grocery bill for SNAP participants. With creation of the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive Projects (HFMIP) passed in the 2018 Farm Bill, policymakers took SNAP incentives a step further and sought to address the dairy consumption gap highlighted in the 2020-2025 DGAs. Yet, HFMIP is not working at the scale necessary to address malnutrition and chronic health diseases. Therefore, we encourage leaders gathering at the White House conference to focus on building a healthy dairy foods incentive program at national scale in partnership with food retailers, local nutrition and health organizations, state SNAP agencies, and dairy foods makers.”

“All Americans deserve the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible, and foundational to that is having access to affordable, culturally diverse nutrient-rich foods” said Katie Brown, EdD, RDN, senior vice president of scientific and nutrition affairs at National Dairy Council. “Dairy foods like milk, cheese and yogurt can be part of the solution to ensuring nutrition security and improving public health.”

“School meal programs are America’s most effective tool to expand children’s access to healthy foods to support their growth, development and academic success,” said School Nutrition Association Public Policy and Legislation Committee Chair Jessica Gould, RD, SNS. “During the pandemic, we witnessed the adaptability of these programs as school nutrition professionals nationwide pivoted to provide grab-and-go meals for curbside pick-up and expand services for families in need. With research showing school meals are the healthiest meals children are eating, these programs should be a cornerstone in efforts to improve food access for America’s families.”

“Egg farmers have been donating their time and resources for years to combat hunger. We commend the White House for organizing the upcoming nutrition conference, and Congress for funding it. We must work together to end hunger in America,” said Chad Gregory, President and CEO of United Egg Producers.

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.

Today’s event is part of the broader effort 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.

Dairy Unites Around National Dairy Month

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

National Dairy Month each June means a chance to celebrate all that U.S. dairy does to nourish consumers around the world and highlight the industry’s success, advancements and efforts to build a better future. RFD-TV’s Janet Atkison hosts a round-table discussion with DMI’s Jessica Learman, NMPF’s Alan Bjerga and Galen Smith, owner of Coldspring Farms in Deming, WA.

Dairy Farmer Reinforces Value of Safety Net, Calls for FMMO Update During Farm Bill Hearing

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Seventh-generation Pennsylvania dairy farmer Lolly Lesher emphasized the importance of the farm bill safety net program and called for milk pricing improvements today during a House Agriculture Committee hearing. Lesher, a member-owner of Dairy Farmers of America, testified on behalf of the cooperative and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) during a congressional review of dairy provisions in the Farm Bill.

The Farm Bill, a twice-a-decade reauthorization of USDA programs, encompasses a variety of provisions important to dairy farmers including risk management, pricing policy and support, conservation, trade promotion, nutrition and rural development programs.

Lesher thanked Ranking Member G.T. Thompson (R-PA) for his years of advocacy on behalf of dairy farmers in Pennsylvania and beyond, and for his key role in overhauling the dairy safety net during the last farm bill. She also expressed her gratitude to Chairman David Scott (D-GA) for his work and for convening today’s hearing.

Revised at the urging of NMPF in the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage program offers effective margin protection for small and mid-sized farms and affordable catastrophic coverage for large farms. Lesher, whose family milks 240 cows in southeastern Pennsylvania, said in her written testimony that the program “has provided important security to [her] family’s farm.” She urged the committee to make additional updates to reflect current production, so the program remains a viable safety net.

Lesher also highlighted the need for improvements to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system, as evidenced by the heavy revenue losses incurred by dairy farmers nationwide from a milk pricing change made in the previous farm bill.  “The change made to the Class I mover combined with the government’s heavy cheese purchases cost dairy farmers over $750 million in revenue in the last six months of 2020 alone,” she said.

The dairy industry, under NMPF’s leadership, is seeking consensus on a range of FMMO improvements, including the Class I mover, that can be taken to USDA for consideration in a federal order hearing. “We recognize that for our efforts to succeed, we must all work together, giving a bit to get a bit. It’s just too important for our future,” Lesher added.

“We appreciate the opportunity to share what has worked well—and what needs to be modernized—to meet the needs of dairy farmers in the 2023 Farm Bill,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.  “As outlined by Lolly Lesher during today’s hearing, dairy producers need continued access to an effective safety net, flexible risk management tools that protect all farmers, and an update to the FMMO system that addresses the unequal risk dairy farmers bear compared to processors during unusual market volatility. We look forward to our continued work with the House Agriculture Committee and USDA on these and other farm bill priorities in the coming months.”

Farm Bill Cultivation Time is Now, NMPF’s Bleiberg Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

With initial hearings under way, dairy’s priorities in the 2023 Farm Bill are taking shape, NMPF Senior Vice President for Government Relations Paul Bleiberg said in an NMPF podcast.

“A lot of that stakeholder outreach is going on right now, both publicly in hearings and behind the scenes as well, as we all start to figure out what improvements do we need to see in the next Farm Bill,” Bleiberg said. “It’s an important opportunity given that it only does come up every so often.”

Bleiberg also discussed upcoming congressional elections and how redistricting could affect dairy’s political clout in the next Congress. The full podcast is here. You can find and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.” A transcript is also available below. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Ukraine Food Crisis, Dairy’s Humanitarian Support

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the unfolding food crisis in Ukraine, where world leaders are trying to figure out how to transport its crisis in the midst of war, in an RFD-TV interview from Krakow, Poland. Bjerga notes the efforts of the dairy community to help those in need and highlights NMPF’s role as an outlet for support.

Given Dairy’s Progress, NMPF Voices Concern with Proposed SEC Climate Rule

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule mandating extensive climate disclosures from publicly traded companies could undermine the dairy industry’s progress toward its sustainability goals and create far-reaching technical and financial challenges for American dairy farmers and their cooperatives, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) said in comments submitted today.

“Dairy farmers are on the frontlines confronting the many challenges associated with climate change and remain committed to making progress to reduce the industry’s environmental impact,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The SEC rule, as written, could hamper our ability to make progress through the industry’s robust, voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) assessment program, and jeopardize our goal of reaching GHG neutrality by 2050.”

U.S. dairy farmers have been leading environmental stewards for decades, tending their animals, land and water with great care. Thanks to improvements in productivity, new technologies and evolving best management practices, the environmental impact of producing a gallon of milk requires less water, less land and has a smaller carbon footprint than ever before. Still, the industry remains committed to its continued progress, devoting resources to programs, research and services that advance its 2050 goals to achieve industrywide neutral or better greenhouse gas emissions, optimize water usage and improve water quality.

To track progress and reach these important environmental goals, the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program in 2017 launched the Environmental Stewardship (ES) platform. The program provides a comprehensive estimate of GHG emissions and energy use on dairy farms with a suite of tools and resources for farmers to measure and improve their environmental footprint. FARM ES is the dairy community’s platform for a consistent, unified approach to GHG measurement that is free and accessible to all dairy farmers. Currently, over 80 percent of U.S. milk is handled by cooperatives and processors participating in FARM ES.

SEC’s proposed rule, “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate Related Disclosures for Investors”, would require public companies to disclose GHG emissions, including emissions from upstream and downstream activities in its value chain, known as Scope 3. NMPF cautioned SEC that the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions disclosure within the rule is premature, and risks undermining the extensive efforts the dairy industry has made toward developing trust and buy-in for its voluntary GHG assessment program.

NMPF also emphasized the significant financial burden the proposed rule would have on dairy farmers and their cooperatives related to the collection and aggregation of on-farm GHG data.

Dairy Commends Passage of Ocean Shipping Reform Act, Urges Swift Implementation

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) applaud the signing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, S. 3580, by President Joe Biden. Following passage of the legislation by the House of Representatives earlier this week by a vote of 369-42, President Biden signed the bill into law today. The enactment of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act sets in motion a series of new rules and regulations regarding ocean carrier practices that the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) must implement over the course of the next year.

The legislation was introduced in response to the vocal advocacy by NMPF, USDEC and other agricultural export and shipper organizations, as problems with effective ocean freight transportation worsened in 2021. Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced similar versions of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act in the House and Senate, which both passed speedily through their respective chambers.

“We are grateful to our congressional champions – Congressmen Garamendi and Johnson, and Senators Klobuchar and Thune – for their leadership in getting this legislation drafted, introduced and passed so quickly. The U.S. dairy industry has suffered many challenges in getting goods smoothly and reliably to export markets due in large part to problematic ocean carrier practices. These new rules will allow the FMC to better enforce reasonable behavior by the ocean carriers,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.

“Our members continue to face significant impacts due to international ocean shipping challenges. Just last year, that resulted in over $1.5 billion in increased export costs and lost opportunities. While we can’t restore those losses, we are very pleased that President Biden and our allies in Congress quickly recognized the urgency of these problems and put their support behind legislative solutions to crack down on unjustified shipping practices,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “We urge the FMC to implement these rules quickly and begin to conduct the new oversight, regulation and enforcement necessary to end the unfair and unreasonable ocean cargo practices that have impeded American dairy products from efficiently getting to their overseas customers.”

Both organizations called on the FMC to implement the rules as expeditiously as possible to support agricultural exporters in getting more products onto vessels in order to better address rising food security needs around the world.