NMPF’s Theresa Sweeney-Murphy says confusion can vary by state or even among counties for when for COVID vaccines will be available for essential food and ag workers. “There are 50 states, and they each have different plans for distributing vaccines,” she said in an interview with the Brownfield Ag News She says a new toolbox aims to answer COVID questions and help dairy farmers navigate the continually changing eligibility requirements.
Tag: dairy farmer
NMPF Statement on Confirmation of Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture
From NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern:
“All of U.S. agriculture has an effective advocate in Tom Vilsack, and the nation will be well-served by his return to public service leading the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We in the dairy community who have had the opportunity to work with him have seen first-hand his deep passion for rural America and his commitment to advancing agriculture and the communities it serves, from farmers and food-sector workers to the consumers and businesses that depend on USDA to meet their needs every day, in every way. That’s especially important in light of today’s pressing challenges, which include a farm economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic; climate change, sustainability and the environment; nutrition and food insecurity; international trade policies that limit U.S. exports; labor shortages that are worsening with time; and the legacies of societal injustice that need to be addressed.
“Tom Vilsack’s experience and leadership will be crucial to meeting these challenges, and more. We congratulate him on his confirmation and pledge to do our best to contribute to his successful service.”
Biden Immigration Plan the Starting Point for Negotiations
The Biden Administration this week put forward an immigration reform package that would give a path to citizenship for immigrants already in the United States. That plan would give priority to ag workers, but would not expand the H2A visa plan for those ag workers. Paul Bleiberg of the National Milk Producers Federation joins Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer and John Herath of Farm Journal to sort through the details of the immigration proposal on this week’s DC Signal to Noise Podcast. The three see the Biden immigration package as an opening offer in what will be a series of negotiations over issues such as the ag exemption for overtime and an expanded H2A program.
Other issues covered in this episode:
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- USDA Ag Outlook projects record corn and soybean acres
- Climate at the center of USDA Ag Outlook
- When will CFAP money be released?
- Update on COVID aid package
NMPF Statement on Proposed Immigration Reform Legislation
In response to the immigration bill introduced today in Congress, NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern offered the following statement:
“As a leader in agricultural labor reform efforts, NMPF knows all too well that immigration policy is one of the most controversial and difficult issues to solve. We applaud President Biden, Representative Sanchez, and Senator Menendez for stepping up and leading with the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, making clear that immigration legislation is a significant, immediate priority. Still, reforms to our immigration system must include changes crucial for the dairy workforce. These include extending to current workers and their families the legal protections they have earned and enabling dairy farmers to use a guest worker program to supplement their domestic workforce when needed.
“NMPF looks forward to continuing to work with our policy champions in Congress in a bipartisan manner, as well as the administration, to get ag labor reform across the finish line and secure the stable, legal workforce dairy needs to continue producing affordable nutritious food to feed our country and our world.”
Dairy Key to USDA Ag Innovation Agenda Research Strategy
USDA released on Jan. 12 the U.S. Agriculture Innovation Strategy Directional Vision for Research summary and dashboard that will help to guide future research decisions within USDA. The strategy synthesizes information USDA collected as part of the public engagement in 2020 on research priorities under the Agriculture Innovation Agenda.
NMPF, Newtrient LLC, and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy submitted a series of comments to USDA on their request for comments on the Ag Innovation Agenda. These wide-ranging comments helped USDA put forth a clear and comprehensive research strategy specific for the U.S. dairy industry under four aspirational goals:
- Production Aspirational Goal: Increase agricultural production by optimizing yield and/or quality with higher input use efficiency;
- Production Capability Aspirational Goal: Increase agricultural production capabilities of soil, water, and air by developing and implementing sustainable farming tools and practices;
- Market Expansion and Diversity Aspirational Goal: Increase market diversity and product utility of the farming system to expand value, reach, and resiliency; and
- Data Aspirational Goal: Standardize, align, and integrate agricultural research and operational data to enable and energize a broad informatics ecosystem to drive tomorrow’s agricultural operations and state and federal programs.
NMPF Urges USTR to Enhance Efforts to Protect Use of Common Cheese Names
NMPF joined with USDEC to submit comments on Jan. 28 to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office urging a more robust approach to preserving U.S. cheesemakers’ ability to export their products that rely on common cheese names such as parmesan, feta, asiago and others. The submission also voiced strong support for more detailed comments filed by the Consortium for Common Food Names. Both were filed in response to USTR’s call for input to inform its annual Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property issues that documents key IP challenges facing U.S. companies and what USTR is doing to address them.
NMPF noted in the comments that EU use of FTAs to erect barriers to competition “creates a deeply uneven playing field that makes it much more difficult to successfully export the products that American workers have created using milk from U.S. farms.” To address this, NMPF urged the Administration to “secure firm and explicit commitments assuring the future use of specific generic food and beverage terms targeted by or at risk of EU monopolization efforts” and noted that last year more than 160 Senators and Republicans had urged the pursuit of that policy.
Dairy Market Report – January 2021
NMPF Statement on Electoral-Vote Certification and Condemnation of Insurrection at U.S. Capitol
From NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern:
The National Milk Producers Federation congratulates incoming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and we applaud the culmination of the democratic process achieved at the U.S. Capitol early this morning under previously unimaginable circumstances.
Yesterday’s reprehensible violence was an attack on our democracy, intended to undermine the results of a free and fair election and desecrate the sovereign will of the American people. Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our society; yesterday’s insurrection put thousands of lives in danger in a brazen mob attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power that has marked our country since its founding and has always set apart the United States as an example to the rest of the world.
We are grateful to the many professionals who kept our friends, colleagues and fellow citizens safe during this trying ordeal. We emphatically reject the rhetoric of elected officials whose words encouraged and perpetuated yesterday’s assault on our democracy. And we pledge to do our part to work with the Biden Administration and Congress to move our country forward this year, always supporting the democratic ideals that remain the foundation of these United States.
NMPF Thanks Congress for Dairy Provisions in COVID Assistance Package
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) thanked Congress today for the positive steps it is taking through COVID relief legislation to assist dairy farmers who have faced unprecedented market volatility while working every day to nourish struggling families.
“With difficult months of the pandemic still ahead, it was crucial for lawmakers to come to a bipartisan agreement that helps farmers do what they do best: feed families. To do this, they need financial stability and ways to connect to families in need. We thank Congress for its leadership, and we look forward to working with USDA in implementing this legislation. Importantly, this package includes nearly $1 billion in targeted support to help dairy producers continue to feed families throughout these difficult times,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO.
Highlights of the pandemic legislative package for dairy producers include:
- Dairy Donation Program – the measure provides $400 million for a new NMPF-backed Dairy Donation Program to help dairy stakeholders and non-profits work together to provide dairy products to food-insecure households and minimize food waste. This program is carefully balanced and is open to all dairy products. NMPF is grateful to Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) for their leadership in securing this and other dairy provisions in the package.
- Payment Limits Flexibility – the bill includes dedicated funding to allow USDA to provide additional compensation to producers who were unable to receive the full support they needed under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program on account of payment limitations. NMPF thanks Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) for advocating for this provision, as well as the many members who have sought flexibility on this front all year long including Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA).
- Supplemental DMC Payments – the measure establishes Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage payments for farms that have increased their DMC production history since 2014. These payments will be based on the difference between the farm’s 2019 actual production and its DMC production history. While the provision is targeted to smaller operations, it will enhance the farm bill baseline for all dairy farmers as it runs concurrently with DMC up to 2023.
- Paycheck Protection Improvements – the bill includes the bipartisan NMPF-backed Paycheck Protection for Producers Act which would make the Paycheck Protection Program work better for sole proprietor, independent contractor, and self-employed dairy farmers by allowing them to use their 2019 gross farm income to determine their PPP loan amounts. NMPF commends Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), Anthony Brindisi (D-NY), and John Joyce (R-PA) for their work on this measure.
Dairy producers will also be eligible for support in the $11 billion agricultural disaster assistance package Congress has included in the legislation, with additional details expected in coming days. Of note, at least $1.5 billion of this package is dedicated to additional product purchases.
NMPF has served its members as the leading advocate for U.S. dairy farmers throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It has also been an industry leader in providing useful informational resources for the dairy sector.
Podcast: Sen. Pat Roberts on His Past and Agriculture’s Future
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts is leaving Congress after 40 years in January. The only person to lead both the House and Senate agriculture committees takes with him a wealth of wisdom in agriculture policy – but also holds optimism for agriculture’s ability to get things done in an environment of difficult challenges.
“I would just say that I am very confident that the people who will be taking my place, they have a lot of experience,” Roberts said in a Dairy Defined interview released today. “They’re good folks. I think the same attempt, at least, with regards to making it bipartisan, will continue.”
Roberts, who first came to Washington as a congressional staffer a half-century ago, also reflects on the two farm bills he led — 1996’s Freedom to Farm law and the 2018 bill — as well as one area where he wished he could have done more: his leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee during the Iraq War. He also said he doesn’t consider his career to be over – without revealing plans, he said that when it comes to farm policy, “I intend to have my finger in the pie somewhere.”
To listen to the full discussion, click here. You can also find this and other NMPF podcasts on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.
On Final Day, NMPF Urges Dairy Farmers to Sign Up for DMC
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is urging dairy farmers to sign up for 2021 coverage under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program if they haven’t yet done so, as today is the final day producers may enroll in the main federal dairy-farmer risk-management program. NMPF is advising any producer who wants to enroll in DMC for 2021 to contact their local Farm Service Agency office by the close of business today to at least notify them of intent to enroll.
“Given the current economic outlook and the heightened uncertainties of 2021, DMC signup, especially at the maximum $9.50 coverage level, is the rational choice for dairy producers,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF President and CEO. “But to take advantage of this program, farmers need to sign up now.”
The DMC, the main federal risk-protection tool for dairy farmers, is currently projected to pay all producers enrolled at the maximum $9.50/cwt. coverage level through much of 2021. The program, which by year’s end may end up with payments for five months of 2020, offers protection against volatile market conditions that are expected to persist well into next year.
NMPF has produced an easy-to-digest brochure highlighting the benefits of DMC coverage and an explanation of how the program works. Dairy producers can also visit NMPF’s page on risk management to learn more about DMC and other tools to promote financial security for dairy operations.
Today is also the signup deadline for the second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program disaster payments.
Dairy Industry Applauds USTR Action to Address Canadian TRQ Violations
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) applaud today’s announcement that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will initiate official consultations with Canada to examine the administration of its dairy Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) obligations. The two organizations, with strong bipartisan backing from Congress, have long raised the alarm about the need to ensure the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is fully enforced, due to Canada’s history of undermining its trade commitments.
“USMCA is designed to improve trade with Canada, while modifying some of Canada’s trade-distorting dairy policies. We knew from day one that enforcement would be key to bringing the intended benefits home to America’s dairy industry. I applaud USTR for hearing our concerns and relying on our guidance to take this critical enforcement step to ensure that the agreement is executed in both letter and spirit,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. “This is the critical first step, but more work may be needed to ensure Canada complies with its Class 7 related USMCA commitments as well.”
Even prior to its entry into force, USDEC and NMPF monitored Canada’s actions regarding its USMCA commitments and urged Congress and the administration to make this a priority as soon as USMCA entered into force. Canada has distorted its TRQ administration to limit imports from the U.S. Earlier this year, USDEC and NMPF highlighted for USTR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the inconsistencies between Canada’s dairy TRQ allocations and Canada’s USMCA obligations. In a detailed filing submitted to the administration, NMPF and USDEC provided the agencies with a specific legal review of the Canadian TRQ system and an explanation of the negative impacts resulting from them.
“America’s dairy farmers appreciate USTR’s commitment to the fair and transparent enforcement of USMCA. Enforcement has been one of the top priorities of our industry since the final agreement was announced, and we’ve worked diligently to ensure that it remains one of USTR’s top priorities, as well. Only when Canada is held fully accountable to its trade commitments will America’s dairy farmers be able to realize the full benefit of the provisions that the U.S. government worked so hard to secure,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We look forward to working closely with the incoming administration as well since enforcement efforts are likely to require sustained focus going forward.”
The concerns raised by USDEC and NMPF have been echoed by a broad bipartisan coalition of members of Congress. In August, 104 Representatives sent a letter to USTR and USDA asking for Canada to be held accountable to its trade promises while a letter in the Senate was signed by 25 Senators. USDEC and NMPF commend the continued engagement of so many members of Congress on this important issue.
