Tag: dairy annual meeting

NMPF Annual Meeting Spotlights Dairy Vigilance on H5N1, FMMO Progress

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

U.S. dairy farmers are remaining resilient in the face of H5N1 influenza outbreaks while advancing in policy areas including nutrition and milk pricing, said NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney at the organization’s annual meeting held in Phoenix Oct. 21-23.

Dairy persists in its best practices in biosecurity and work with government officials, veterinarians and scientists to understand, contain and prevent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in dairy cattle, Mooney said in remarks at the meeting held jointly by NMPF, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association.

“Everything we do, the future is going to take a level of cooperation and coordination from all of us. And we’ve had that, but it’s going to take more than we’ve ever had,” said Mooney, a Dairy Farmers of America member-owner who farms near Rogersville, MO. “I continue to be inspired by all of you and the work that you’re doing. Amid great change and preparation for the future, we are still part of the greatest industry that there is.

Dairy producers in the past year have grappled with HPAI and delays on a farm bill that expired in September even as milk prices have risen and consumer demand has remained strong. Meanwhile, farm-level margins have remained at a record high for months, well above levels that trigger payments under the federal Dairy Margin Coverage program, the main producer safety net, even as dairy is poised for growth with upcoming dairy manufacturing plant expansions.

Underpinning the entire industry is USDA’s plan for Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization, which is likely to resemble a proposal released in July that incorporated key NMPF principles and would be voted on by dairy farmers early next year.

Also at the meeting, NMPF’s Board of Directors approved the organization’s policy positions and elected new members. New board members approved by NMPF delegates include:

  • Darrin Monteiro, California Dairies Inc.
  • Dan Kullot, Dairy Farmers of America
  • Kimberly Parks, Dairy Farmers of America
  • Deric Lindstrom, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery
  • Joel Eigenbrood, Foremost Farms
  • Jon Cowell, Maola (formerly Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association)

Cowell and Eigenbrood also were elected to NMPF’s Executive Committee. The board also elected Craig Caballero of United Dairymen of Arizona to serve as its secretary. In addition, Jacob Larson of Southeast Milk, Inc. was elected chairman of the Small Cooperative Caucus and, in turn, to NMPF’s Executive Committee.

The members awarded Honorary Directors for Life recognition to John Wilson and Kent Herman, both of Dairy Farmers of America; and Jay Bryant of Maola, NMPF’s outgoing secretary.

The meeting drew roughly 750 attendees and featured breakout sessions on industry topics ranging from an economic outlook to the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program’s Environmental Stewardship updates, to be released Oct. 31.

Featured panelists at the meeting’s general session included Doud, who appeared with fellow dairy CEOs Barb O’Brien of Dairy Management Inc. and Krysta Harden of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, along with a session on innovative dairy revenue streams that included Brent Lilienthal, president and CEO of LF Bioenergy; Katie Cook, vice president of livestock sustainability and U.S. farm animal marketing for Elanco; and Chris Cook, head of sustainable business solutions for Syngenta.

The annual meeting is also held in conjunction with NMPF’s Young Cooperators annual meeting for younger dairy leaders, as well as NMPF’s annual cheese contest.

NMPF Annual Meeting Spotlights Dairy Vigilance on H5N1, Advances on Milk Pricing

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

U.S. dairy farmers are remaining resilient in the face of H5N1 influenza outbreaks while advancing in policy areas including nutrition and milk pricing, said NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney at the organization’s annual meeting held in Phoenix Oct. 21-23.

Dairy persists in its best practices in biosecurity and work with government officials, veterinarians and scientists to understand, contain and prevent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in dairy cattle, Mooney said in remarks at the meeting held jointly by NMPF, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association.

“Everything we do, the future is going to take a level of cooperation and coordination from all of us. And we’ve had that, but it’s going to take more than we’ve ever had,” said Mooney, a Dairy Farmers of America member-owner who farms near Rogersville, MO. “I continue to be inspired by all of you and the work that you’re doing. Amid great change and preparation for the future, we are still part of the greatest industry that there is.

Dairy producers in the past year have grappled with HPAI and delays on a farm bill that expired in September even as milk prices have risen and consumer demand has remained strong. Meanwhile, farm-level margins have remained at a record high for months, well above levels that trigger payments under the federal Dairy Margin Coverage program, the main producer safety net, even as dairy is poised for growth with upcoming dairy manufacturing plant expansions.

Underpinning the entire industry is USDA’s plan for Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization, which is likely to resemble a proposal released in July that incorporated key NMPF principles and would be voted on by dairy farmers early next year.

Also at the meeting, NMPF’s Board of Directors approved the organization’s policy positions and elected new members. New board members approved by NMPF delegates include:

  • Darrin Monteiro, California Dairies Inc.
  • Dan Kullot, Dairy Farmers of America
  • Kimberly Parks, Dairy Farmers of America
  • Deric Lindstrom, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery
  • Joel Eigenbrood, Foremost Farms
  • Jon Cowell, Maola (formerly Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association)

Cowell and Eigenbrood also were elected to NMPF’s Executive Committee. The board also elected Craig Caballero of United Dairymen of Arizona to serve as its secretary. In addition, Jacob Larson of Southeast Milk, Inc. was elected chairman of the Small Cooperative Caucus and, in turn, to NMPF’s Executive Committee.

The members awarded Honorary Directors for Life recognition to John Wilson and Kent Herman, both of Dairy Farmers of America; and Jay Bryant of Maola, NMPF’s outgoing secretary.

The meeting drew roughly 750 attendees and featured breakout sessions on industry topics ranging from an economic outlook to the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program’s Environmental Stewardship updates, to be released Oct. 31.

FARM Executive Director Emily Yeiser Stepp said in a breakout session on biosecurity that many practices already established have been serving dairy farms under H5N1.

“Dairy farmers and their cooperatives have developed and embraced a robust biosecurity program through the National Dairy FARM Program,” NMPF’s Emily Yeiser Stepp said. “This program has been adapted and adopted by dairy farms across the U.S. to prevent the spread of H5N1.”

Featured panelists at the meeting’s general session included Doud, who appeared with fellow dairy CEOs Barb O’Brien of Dairy Management Inc. and Krysta Harden of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, along with a session on innovative dairy revenue streams that included Brent Lilienthal, president and CEO of LF Bioenergy; Katie Cook, vice president of livestock sustainability and U.S. farm animal marketing for Elanco; and Chris Cook, head of sustainable business solutions for Syngenta.

The annual meeting is also held in conjunction with NMPF’s Young Cooperators annual meeting for younger dairy leaders, as well as NMPF’s annual cheese contest. This year’s Chairman’s Award winner was a Garden Vegetable with Sweet Basil Rub cheese from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery in Menomonie, WI, while the Chairman’s Reserve went to Upstate Niagara Cooperative Inc. of Batavia, NY for its salted butter, in the first year butter was added to the competition.

Dairy Convenes with a Full Policy Agenda

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s member cooperatives are preparing for our organization’s premier annual event: the Joint Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the United Dairy Industry Association and the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board. This year’s event is in Phoenix from Oct. 21-23, near one of the country’s most dynamic milk-producing regions. It’s an incredible opportunity to celebrate accomplishments, renew goals and craft strategy for future challenges. As is always the case, NMPF’s farmer and co-op leadership can feel satisfaction with jobs well-done that will position dairy farmers and the entire industry for a positive future.

High on that agenda is Federal Milk Marketing Order Modernization, for which we submitted our final comments earlier this month. USDA’s proposed changes to the FMMO system reflect the principles we laid out in our testimony and earlier comments, principles we arrived at after years of painstaking, methodical work engaging the top minds in in the industry. While we would never pass up an opportunity to suggest improvements (and we didn’t), fundamentally we have no quarrel with USDA and its plan. Barring unexpected, objectionable revisions, we look forward to it being put forward for producer votes expected early next year.

An unheralded part of USDA’s plan is that not only does it propose an update of the current system, it lays out a road map for how to make changes more methodically and easily in the future. There’s a balance between making change too easy, which could destabilize a system, and making it so difficult that it’s intimidating and costly to even attempt. Considering that the last major changes to the FMMO system came in 2000, it’s clear that, to date, the latter scenario has prevailed. That shouldn’t be the case; along with this modernization, future necessary modernization should be simpler. Achieving that is another win for farmers that will create a fairer, more responsive FMMO.

We’ll also be talking a lot about exciting changes to the Cooperatives Working Together program, which for more than two decades has helped U.S. dairy producers and cooperatives further America’s growing share of growing global dairy exports. We emphatically believe this program, updated and fully funded, will blaze a new chapter for U.S. global leadership in dairy exports.

FMMO and CWT alone would be enough to get everyone in Phoenix excited – but there’s much more. We’ll be discussing our industry’s prudent response to the still ongoing H5N1 virus outbreak in dairy cattle, which, after intense concern in the spring, is still with us. We continue to be both a resource and an advocate for dairy farmers on this critical issue. We also are marking this year’s implementation of new FARM program standards, serving up agricultural-sector-leading improvements.

On the policy front, we’ll be talking about our advocacy for the next farm bill and beyond, with important legislative vehicles such as the Innovative Feed Act offering potential pathways for greater dairy prosperity. We also can’t forget about the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives last year — we won’t rest until it’s approved – or the Dairy PRIDE Act, which, slowly but surely, continues to grow in congressional support.

And no meeting would be complete with our cheese contest, which in recent years has added yogurt, and this year butter, as a category. If the nation’s finest cheese, butter and yogurt, can’t get you to register, then nothing will.

There are also challenges ahead. Regardless of which political alignment comes out on top this election season, tax changes enacted in 2017 come up for renewal in 2025. We need to come out firing on behalf of dairy farmers when that debate occurs. We continue to be concerned about anti-animal-agriculture efforts afoot related to the upcoming Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and we need to make sure we don’t concede an inch in ensuring that dairy’s unparalleled nutrition remains widely recommended and available for all Americans.

It’s a full agenda, but one that inspires to work hard every day to serve our members, who in turn serve consumers in the U.S. and around the world. We’ll have a lot more to say later this month, and even more to do after that. We always welcome the tasks.

Gregg Doud

President & CEO, NMPF

 

Joint Annual Meeting to Detail Policy, Industry Highlights

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The joint annual meeting of NMPF and its checkoff group partners Nov. 12-15 in Orlando is set to update more than 750 participants on the breadth and depth of activities that National Milk and Dairy Management Inc. are conducting on behalf of their members, ranging from marketing and promotion to policy and analysis.

Guest speakers at the four-day conference include Terry Jones, the founder of Travelocity.com and chairman of Kayak.com, who will speak on leveraging disruption and innovation as technology and consumer tastes continually evolve. Other guest speakers include Eric Clavetter from the Mayo Clinic, who will speak about advancing dairy’s health benefits; and Kerry Delaney with General Mills, who will assess how dairy plays an essential role in providing health and wellness solutions through new product marketing channels. The schedule at a glance is available here. Late registrations are still being accepted, with an additional $150 per person late fee.

This year, all attendees will participate in a series of four rotating breakout sessions designed to provide a deeper dive into key areas of work for NMPF and DMI.  These include:

Collaborating for Dairy’s Future: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability – A review of U.S. dairy’s commitment to environmental stewardship, a core component of socially responsible dairy production.

Innovating for Dairy’s Future: Leveraging Science for Sustained Growth – A discussion with industry experts how U.S. dairy is using science, technology, innovation, and strategic partnerships to identify new consumer opportunities and drive current and future dairy sales.

Fueling Dairy Love: A Day in the Life of Key Consumers – An educational exchange on industry-wide efforts that bring dairy nutrition, dairy purpose and dairy-liciousness front and center to capture the attention of Gen Z and Early Parents.

Remodeling Federal Dairy Policy: Updating Federal Orders and the Farm Bill – An assessment of how and why NMPF has developed two blueprints this year to improve the future direction of dairy policy, focusing on the 2023 Farm Bill and the Federal Milk Marketing Order system.

The meeting also will offer receptions on both Monday and Tuesday nights.  NMPF’s Young Cooperators will have its own meeting track that features professional development and leadership training along with networking opportunities.

NMPF Celebrates Dairy’s Gains in Return to In-Person Annual Meeting

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney and President and CEO Jim Mulhern touted dairy’s gains in 2021 at NMPF’s joint annual meeting Nov. 15-17, as record exports and per-capita U.S. consumption at a more than 60-year high point to a bright future for the industry.

“The past 20-plus months have shown us that life can change quickly, and in ways beyond our control,” said Mooney, a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Missouri, in remarks before dairy farmer-leaders from NMPF’s 24 member cooperatives. “It’s also shown that when that happens, people turn to what they know and trust. They turn to dairy.”

NMPF joined with the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the United Dairy Industry Association in the theme of “Make Every Drop Count,” with more than 600 registrants returning to an in-person gathering this year.

NMPF President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Mulhern highlighted NMPF’s work for its members in his remarks, including leading policy efforts that brought more than $6 billion in federal aid to dairy farmers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as regulatory initiatives and advances in trade.

“We are ‘The Voice of Dairy Farmers in Our Nation’s Capital,’ and we take that mission very seriously. And through our experience over the past year and a half, I know we are well-positioned to meet the many challenges that lie ahead,” Mulhern said. “When we are strategic, patient, and act with intelligence, and realistic expectations, we can meet our challenges.”

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh also spoke to the meeting via video, highlighting dairy’s leadership in climate-smart agriculture initiatives and environmental stewardship.

“It is inspiring to see the dairy industry as leaders in advancing solutions to the challenges we face in agriculture through inclusive, accessible innovation technology and approaches,” she said. “You are leading the way as United States dairy embraces a 2050 Net Zero Initiative to help dairy farms of all geographies and sizes continue to implement new technologies and adopt economically viable practices in feed production, animal care, energy efficiency and manure management.”

Also providing remarks via video were Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee; Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-PA, ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee; and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID.

NMPF also held governance meetings and revived its annual, nationally recognized cheese contest – successfully conducted virtually last year – as an in-person celebration. Results here.

Mooney was reelected Chair of the organization, and Dave Scheevel of Foremost Farms was reelected Treasurer.  New Board officers including Simon Vander Woude of California Dairies, Inc., First Vice Chair; Cricket Jacquier of Agri-Mark, Second Vice Chair; and Jay Bryant of Maryland-Virginia Milk Producers, Secretary.

Those five officers are joined by ten others elected this week to NMPF’s Executive Committee:

Steve Schlangen, Associated Milk Producers, Inc.; Rob Vandenheuvel, California Dairies, Inc.; Melvin Medeiros, Dairy Farmers of America; Dennis Rodenbaugh, Dairy Farmers of America; Pete Kappelman, Land O’Lakes; Doug Chapin, Michigan Milk Producers Assn.; Allan Huttema, Northwest Dairy Association; Tony Graves, Prairie Farms Dairy; Craig Caballero, United Dairymen of Arizona; and Jimmy Kerr, Cooperative Milk Producers.

New directors elected to the Board of Directors by NMPF delegates  include:

  • Neil Zwart – California Dairies, Inc.
  • Travis Fogler – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Ed Gallagher – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Karen Jordan – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Melvin Medeiros – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Perry Tjaarda – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Greg Schlafer – Foremost Farms
  • Duane Hershey – Land O’Lakes
  • Doug Chapin – Michigan Milk Producers Assoc.
  • Tony Freeman – Northwest Dairy Association
  • Joe Jenck – Tillamook County Creamery Assoc.
  • Craig Caballero – United Dairymen of Arizona

NMPF also recognized two retiring board members, Greg Wickham of Dairy Farmers of America and Ken Nobis of Michigan Milk Producers Association, as Honorary Directors for Life.

NMPF also held its annual Young Cooperators gathering in conjunction with the annual meeting.

Annual Meeting Registration Open; Hotel Deadline Oct. 13

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The dairy community will join in-person at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas from Nov. 14-17 for the 2021 NMPF annual meeting, held in conjunction with the national dairy checkoff organizations overseen by Dairy Management Inc.  

 

With a theme of “Make Every Drop Count,” this year’s event will examine how dairy’s policy and promotion organizations work together globally to build markets for dairy products. The program will cover key topics of interest to farmers, including economics, sustainability, nutrition policy, trade, animal care, and changes in the global dairy marketplace.  

 

This link directs registrants to the official conference website to learn more about what’s to come; the meeting registration deadline (without late fee) is Oct. 21. To reserve rooms at the Mirage, follow this link to the hotel’s reservation page. Please mention “2021 Joint Annual Dairy Meeting” to receive the group rate. The hotel registration deadline is Oct. 13. 

 

In response to elevated COVID-19 caseloads, the city of Las Vegas is currently requiring indoor mask use in public meeting facilities, regardless of vaccination status. MGM Resorts, the corporate parent of the Mirage Hotel, is also requiring indoor masking. NDB/NMPF/UDIA will follow these policies.