News for Dairy Co-Ops

Following advocacy from NMPF and other farm stakeholders, Congress passed legislation Dec. 20 extending the 2018 farm bill through 2025 and providing relief to farmers who suffered losses from natural disasters in 2023 or 2024.

The extension continues the Dairy Margin Coverage safety net for the entirety of 2025. Consistent with the extension enacted in 2023, the 2019 partial production history update is part of the underlying DMC program and will remain so over the long term. In addition, those producers that initially signed up in 2019 using the five-year “lock in” option will continue to receive a 25 percent premium discount in 2025. Further, the onset of permanent law, which would trigger outdated government support known as the “dairy cliff,” is also averted through the end of next year.

The disaster assistance portion of the package provides the U.S. Department of Agriculture with $30.78 billion to offer relief to producers who endured losses, including for milk, in 2023 and 2024 on account of a wide variety of natural disasters, including droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, and freezes. Within this larger total, the bill sets aside $2 billion for assistance to livestock producers for losses related to drought, wildfires, and floods.

NMPF is grateful to Rep. David Valadao, R-CA, for leading efforts to enact the overall package and for securing the inclusion of floods on account of damages California dairy farmers endured last year due to livestock relocation, shelter-in-place, and feed crop losses. The bill also allows USDA to provide some support in the form of block grants to states, a priority for southeastern producers recently impacted by devastating hurricanes.

With this package signed into law, NMPF looks forward to working with the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to complete a new farm bill in 2025 that makes needed policy improvements and provides dairy farmers and their cooperatives long-term certainty for the years ahead.

The monthly margin under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program lost $0.88/cwt from a month before, yet, at $14.29/cwt, still came in as the third highest since margin protection became the basic safety net program for dairy in 2015.

The November U.S. average all-milk price dropped by $1/cwt from October to $24.20/cwt, while the DMC feed cost formula declined by $0.12/cwt. A lower soybean meal price more than offset a higher corn price; the premium alfalfa hay price was little changed.

The end of December dairy and grain futures indicated that the DMC margin would average around $12.50/cwt for all of calendar year 2025, which would be $0.60/cwt higher than the 2024 annual average and well above the trigger under which payments begin.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Scientific Report released Dec. 10 reaffirmed the importance of dairy products to nutrition, a positive sign for milk producers in what may be in the final guidelines due to be released this year.

The advisory committee continued its three-servings-a-day dairy recommendation included in the current guidelines and maintained dairy as a separate food group. It also noted the importance of lactose-free dairy as an equitable nutrition solution and acknowledged the wild nutritional inconsistencies of plant-based beverages, a recognition of reality that reflects both science and consumer sentiment.

“NMPF thanks the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for recognizing dairy’s important role in a healthy diet and its continued recommendation of three servings of dairy for Americans two years and older,” NMPF President & CEO said in a statement the day of the release.

“Throughout this process, the committee looked carefully at the nutrition dairy products provide,” Doud said in the statement. “The committee’s scientific review showed that reducing or eliminating dairy from the diet leads to undernourishment in key nutrients for millions of Americans.

“The review also made clear that expanding the food group to include additional plant-based alternative beverages outside of fortified soy is not supported by scientific evidence. Specifically, the committee noted “the direct substitution of plant-based milk alternatives for cow’s milk within the patterns may introduce unintended consequences for meeting other nutrient recommendations and may vary by product selected,” he said.

Despite the good news for dairy, the guidelines still did not accept recent science showing the nutritional benefits of full-fat milk and undervalued the nutritional benefit of low-fat flavored milk to populations that otherwise not might drink milk.

“We are disappointed that the committee only recommends consumption of unflavored milk, especially as they acknowledged that flavored milk contains beneficial nutrients and did not explicitly conclude any connection between flavored milk consumption and obesity risk,” Doud said.

“It is reassuring that the committee came to multiple conclusions supporting dairy that are backed by decades of scientific evidence. We encourage the agencies to look further into recent science supporting the benefits of whole milk in the diet,” he said.

NMPF will continue to advocate for all forms of milk as the federal government crafts a final version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

CWT member cooperatives secured 179 contracts in December, adding 57.2 million pounds of product to CWT-assisted sales in 2024. In milk equivalent, this equals 515.2 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. These products will go to customers in Asia, Oceania, Middle East-North Africa, Central America, the Caribbean and South America and will be shipped from December 2024 through June 2025.

Total CWT-assisted sales in 2024 in milk equivalent totaled 1.674 billion pounds on a milk fat basis. On a product volume basis, this is equal to nearly 183.6 million pounds. Product destinations include Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East-North Africa, Oceania and South America.

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 shipments. CWT will pay export assistance to bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.

CWT suspended intake of new bids starting in January 2025 pending a program renewal vote in March.

NMPF and the FARM Program have strengthened their support for the dairy industry during the ongoing H5N1 outbreak with the release of two new resources for dairy farmers and regulatory officials.

Early Detection of H5N1 Virus in Bulk Tank Milk, is available in both English and Spanish. It highlights the benefits of routine testing of bulk tank milk as a proactive measure to safeguard cattle health. Producers in affected areas can better prepare for potential outbreaks, mitigate risks and protect the safety of dairy cattle handlers by implementing regular testing.

NMPF and the FARM Program also developed a 16-page guide, Bulk Tank Milk Sample Logistics for H5N1 Testing, to assist state regulatory officials. The guide offers practical considerations and logistical recommendations for using Grade “A” bulk tank milk samples to test for H5N1. This guide aims to streamline testing processes and enhance collaboration across the industry by addressing the concerns of state regulatory agencies.

Both resources were developed in response to priorities identified by NMPF’s H5N1 Technical Committee, funded in part by a USDA cooperative agreement. This committee, which includes dairy producers, veterinarians, and state and federal partners, provides guidance and tools to navigate the challenges posed by the H5N1 outbreak.

These new materials are available on NMPF’s updated H5N1 webpage, along with additional tools and updates.

NMPF Executive Vice President Jaime Castaneda spent Dec. 3-6 in Mexico City, meeting with the U.S.-Mexico Working Group and strengthening ties with local Mexican dairy producers and industry organizations.

The Working Group is an outgrowth of prior U.S.-Mexico Binational Meetings. It convenes at the working level to share more in-depth knowledge and ideas on how to increase dairy consumption and expand trade between the two countries.

Castaneda met with dairy companies, farmer organizations and government officials to encourage Mexico to engage with the new U.S. administration to find solutions to issues of common concern, such as immigration and trade, rather than escalate tensions. He emphasized that the best means for Mexico to address the legitimate concerns raised by the incoming Trump administration is to work collaboratively.

NMPF, in partnership with the U.S. Dairy Export Council and other agricultural organizations, is working to facilitate the conversations and ensure agriculture trade does not become collateral damage in broader disputes among the U.S. government and its partners.

The FARM Program is seeking nominations for open seats on its Animal Care, Environmental Stewardship and Workforce Development Task Forces. Nominations will open mid-January and close March 31, with new members announced during NMPF’s Board of Directors meeting June 9.

FARM Task Force members serve as program ambassadors and experts in their designated field. Each task force reviews, recommends and provides insight on program implementation for its respective program pillar. Recommendations are presented to the appropriate NMPF board committee for final review and approval.

Candidates can be nominated by a cooperative or processor, fellow dairy farmer, veterinarian, themselves or others. Nominations must be submitted via the online form. The FARM Farmer Advisory Council will review all nominations and recommend a proposed slate of new FARM Task Force members to the NMPF Executive Committee for final approval.

Visit the FARM Program website for the full list of eligibility and criteria.

NMPF Trade Policy Director Tony Rice spoke to the challenges affecting the U.S. dairy industry due to shipping container break-ins at a Dec. 18 U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on supply chain security.

Organized crime groups in 2024 increasingly broke into intermodal containers on railroads in search of high-value items, causing collateral damage to dairy and other agricultural exporters.

Rice during a panel discussion detailed the financial losses that dairy exporters and producers incur when they must return and dispose of product that has been broken into, without the ability to file insurance claims. These break-ins also create significant food safety issues and could damage a producer’s reputation as a reliable supplier.

Congressmen Brad Schneider, D-IL, and David Valadao, R-CA, also spoke at the conference to highlight their co-sponsored bill, the Safeguarding Our Supply Chains Act. Endorsed by NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the bill would authorize $20 million to create a crime coordination center within Homeland Security Investigations, as well as a task force comprised of relevant agencies.