Tag: dairy farms

Rollins Touts Milk Action Plan at Annual Meeting

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

ARLINGTON, TX – Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins touted the Trump administration’s milk action plan to support American dairy farmers today at NMPF’s annual meeting.   

“I want to be very clear. We will never stop fighting for those of you in the dairy industry and across rural America we have reached that golden age for our producers,” said Rollins, a Texas native who keynoted the Joint Annual Meeting hosted by NMPF, the United Dairy Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. “Dairy farmers have delivered for America for 250 years, and now it’s time for us to deliver for you.” 

Rollins spoke to roughly 750 farmers, cooperative leaders and industry professionals gathered to discuss industry topics ranging from an economic outlook to dairy labor challenges. NMPF, the largest U.S. dairy farmer group, is holding a series of discussions on policy issues throughout the meeting, ranging from the need to pass the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act to creating lasting labor solutions for U.S. dairy farmers.  

In her remarks, Rollins outlined USDA’s dairy priorities, outlining the administration’s four-point approach to support the industry, including:  

  • Incentivizing dairy consumption through changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, expected in December or early January;  
  • Working to drive down input costs;
  • Facilitating investments in American milk processing; and
  • Expanding markets to help milk producers prosper.     

Rollins also noted the importance of farm-labor issues, pledging to seek federal changes to rules and regulations in coordination with the departments of Labor and Homeland Security while noting that broader changes will require congressional action. “We are acutely aware of the unique labor needs of the dairy industry,” she said.  

Rollins became the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture earlier this year after serving as the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the America First Policy Institute. During President Trump’s first administration, she was the Director of the Domestic Policy Council and Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives in the White House. She also previously served as Director of the Office of American Innovation. In these roles, she developed and managed the domestic policy agenda of the Trump administration.   

Rollins’s remarks kicked off a busy day at the conference, with remarks from immediate past NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney, newly elected NMPF Chairman Brian Rexing, and NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud as well as a luncheon featuring awards from the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program and NMPF communications.  

A reception sampling top-performing cheeses from NMPF’s annual cheese contest is this evening.  

Rexing Elected New NMPF Chairman

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

ARLINGTON, TX – Brian Rexing, an Indiana dairy farmer and a member of the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative, was chosen as NMPF’s 15th chairman at the organization’s Joint Annual Meeting today.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your chairman,” said Rexing in his first remarks after being named to the position by NMPF’s Board of Governors.

“I may be stepping into this role, but it isn’t about me,” he said. “It’s about who we represent, and the future we’re building together.”

Rexing and his wife, Ranell, operate New Generation Dairy, near Owensville, IN milking 1,200 cows and farming 3,500 acres of corn, beans, wheat, and alfalfa. Brian is a fourth-generation farmer. Brian and Ranell have four children. He is the Vice President of Evansville Young Dairymen and received the Indiana Dairy Producer of the Year award 2010. In 2021, Brian purchased a meat processing plant with a retail store. Brian is a member of DFA’s Executive Committee.

Rexing succeeds Randy Mooney, who has served as NMPF’s chairman for the past 17 years. Mooney, who also serves as chairman for Dairy Farmers of America, will remain on NMPF’s Executive Committee, which also was elected today.

“It is one of the great honors of my life to work alongside so many dedicated farmer-leaders who care deeply about the future of dairy,” said Mooney. “I’m proud to pass the baton to Brian Rexing — a leader who carries forward the spirit of dedication, vision, and integrity that defines NMPF and our entire industry.”

NMPF’s Officers and Executive Committee will consist of:

  • Chairman Brian Rexing – Dairy Farmers of America
  • 1st Vice Chairman Cricket Jacquier – Agri-Mark
  • 2nd Vice Chairman Simon Vander Woude – California Dairies Inc.
  • Secretary Craig Caballero – United Dairymen of Arizona
  • Treasurer Pete Kappelman – Land O’Lakes
  • Sheryl Meshke – AMPI
  • Rob Vandenheuvel – California Dairies Inc.
  • Melvin Medeiros – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Randy Mooney – Dairy Farmers of America
  • Joel Eigenbrood – Foremost Farms
  • Brian Hemann – Lone Star
  • Jon Cowell – Maola Local Dairies
  • Doug Chapin – Michigan Milk Producers Association
  • Frank Doll – Prairie Farms
  • Jacob Larson – Southeast Milk Inc.

Today concluded the first full day of the Joint Annual Meeting held by NMPF and dairy checkoff organizations the National Dairy Board and the United Dairy Industry Association. The first day is devoted heavily to NMPF governance and director discussions on dairy policy and the future of the industry.

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, a broader group than the board, include:

  • Amy Humphreys – Northwest Dairy Association
  • Kurt Williams – Lanco Pennland
  • Stephen Mancebo – Land O’Lakes
  • Brian Hemann – Lone Star Milk Producers
  • Will Dyt – California Dairies Inc.

The members awarded Honorary Directors for Life recognition to former NMPF Board members Jim Werkhoven of the Northwest Dairy Association and Joey Fernandes of Land O’Lakes.

The meeting of roughly 750 farmers and industry professionals continues through Wednesday, featuring breakout sessions on industry topics ranging from an economic outlook to the dairy labor challenges.

The annual meeting is also held in conjunction with NMPF’s Young Cooperators Leadership and Development program for younger dairy leaders, as well as NMPF’s annual cheese contest, which will announce winners tomorrow.

 

NMPF Board of Directors Approves Comprehensive Farm Bill Recommendations

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF’s Board of Directors approved June 7 a suite of farm bill policy priorities covering the commodities, conservation, trade, and nutrition titles, working to enhance federal support for producers and expand access to nutritious dairy products for consumers at home and abroad.

With the current farm bill set to expire Sept. 30, Congress is working to enact a new bipartisan five-year farm bill.  NMPF’s recommendations will aid in enacting an on-time farm bill that provides dairy producers the certainty they need as they manage their risks and resources while seeking market opportunities at home and abroad.

“The farm bill is crucial both to dairy farmers seeking to effectively manage their risk and to the consumers who benefit from the nutritious products dairy farmers work every to provide,” said Randy Mooney, chairman of NMPF’s board and a dairy farmer outside Rogersville, MO. “We stand ready to work with lawmakers as they craft this complex, extremely important legislation that touches everyone.”

In the Commodities title:

NMPF seeks to build on its successes in the last farm bill to strengthen the dairy safety net and provide producers with access to a range of risk management tools.  NMPF’s board voted to support continuing the Dairy Margin Coverage safety net while updating the program’s production history calculation.  The board also voted to prioritize improving the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy and Dairy-Revenue Protection programs should new funding become available.

The board also voted to seek farm bill language to direct USDA to conduct mandatory plant cost studies every two years to provide better data to inform future make allowance reviews. This would complement the near-term make allowance update NMPF is pursuing through its Federal Milk Marketing Order initiative via the USDA hearing process announced last week. Similarly, the board also voted to pursue restoring the previous “higher of” Class I mover in the most expeditious manner possible, either administratively via the FMMO process or legislatively through the farm bill, in which the mover was last changed in 2018.

In the Conservation title:

NMPF is advocating for policies that better position the dairy industry to meet its voluntary, producer-led goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050. NMPF’s board voted to support maintaining robust funding for voluntary conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program that supports dairy farmers in their ongoing land and water resource management efforts, with additional emphasis on feed and manure management both of which are major areas of opportunity in sustainability. The board also voted to seek relief from program payment limitations that prevent the family farmers that produce most of the nation’s milk supply from fully using these programs.

In the Trade title:

NMPF will support policies recognizing the growing importance of trade for U.S. dairy, with exports accounting for one-sixth milk of all U.S. milk production, a share expected to grow. NMPF’s board voted to support enhancing funding for trade promotion programs like the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development program, which promote American-made dairy and agriculture products that compete with heavily subsidized foreign products and return well over $20 in export revenue for every dollar invested.

The NMPF board also voted to seek language to protect common food names, as embodied in the bipartisan, bicameral SAVE Act that would establish an official list of common food and beverage names and direct USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative to prioritize this issue in international trade negotiations.

In the Nutrition title:

NMPF will support policies that reflect dairy’s role as an excellent source of 13 essential nutrients, some of which are under-consumed, according to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is vital to linking the food we produce as farmers to families across the country facing difficult circumstances.  NMPF’s board voted to support the enhancement of federal nutrition programs to provide nutritious dairy products to beneficiaries.  NMPF also supports the bipartisan Dairy Nutrition Incentives Program introduced in the Senate to encourage SNAP participants to choose healthful dairy products at the grocery store.

 

CDI’s Vanderham, NMPF’s Bjerga discuss California flooding

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Board of Directors member Cory Vanderham of California Dairies, Inc., and NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga talk about the challenges of California dairy producers and the need for long-term policy solutions on RFD-TV. While record snowpack is replenishing water supplies battered by multi-year drought, it also is bringing chaos to producers who are facing extreme weather conditions that require immediate reaction. For more details on how Vanderham has handled this year’s deluge, check out NMPF’s recent Dairy Defined podcast.

Beef or dairy, consumers care about calf care

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

By Beverly Hampton Pfifer, Director, FARM Animal Care.Beverly Hampton Phifer Headshot

Increasingly, dairy herds are being built with beef in mind. While that changes supply chains, it doesn’t change the need for quality calf care.

To that end, there’s a paradigm shift taking place on U.S. dairy farms. The National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) reports that since 2016, U.S. dairy semen sales dropped by 5.3 million units to settle at 17.1 million units. On the flip side, beef semen sales climbed from 2016’s 2.5 million units to reach 8.7 million units in 2021. That’s a 6.2 million-unit shift in a six-year window.

Due to the beef sector’s use of natural insemination and the fact that national dairy herd numbers have remained relatively steady over the past decade, it’s largely assumed that up to 5 million dairy-influenced animals are now entering the beef supply chain annually, though publicly available data related to beef processing by breed is limited.

That’s just the start of the shift in the dairy-beef narrative. A growing number of farm and ranch operations are being used solely for rearing of these crossbred animals, in addition to off-site calf rearing for dairy replacement heifers, creating an entirely new sector of animal production.

Over the years, we have learned that where there is supply chain traceability, dairy and beef customers expect risk mitigation through quality assurance programs. And while the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program framework is structured for farms with lactating dairy animals, the program recognizes the role of this new calf-rearing sector within the greater dairy and beef supply — and the need for the same quality assurance. Ensuring exceptional management and care of calves — regardless of their genetics — is critical to the future of the U.S. dairy industry.

Establishing a framework that’s useful to farmers and ranchers while providing assurances to both dairy and beef supply chains isn’t easy. The Calf Care & Quality Assurance Program (CCQA) is a joint effort led by the FARM Program and National Beef Quality Assurance Program with support from the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association and Veal Quality Assurance. With input from a technical task force of calf producers, veterinarians, and academics, CCQA maintains a unified set of standards, provides training resources for employees, and through an audit tool coming later this year, also provides quality assurance to the dairy and beef supply chain.

CCQA largely formalizes the existing standard of care for calves already occurring on farms and ranches across the United States. This ranges from calf health priorities to animal handling and stockmanship best practices to management and care practices. For dairy farms already participating in the FARM program, the CCQA caretaker course provides continuing education for calf care and earns the farms a CCQA/FARM equivalency certification. Employee training and continuing education are key components of quality animal care. Some best practices from each of the main CCQA categories are:

  • Calf Health: Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship

Veterinarians are key assets on successful calf-rearing operations. In addition to helping establish and maintain a health management plan and advising medical cases, veterinarians can serve as a training resource and assist in determining gaps in management or protocol drift.

  • Animal handling, stockmanship, and training

Handling and facility design should prioritize low stress handling techniques. This is not only important for reducing calf stress, but it can also improve safety for staff. A zero-tolerance policy for unacceptable handling must be in place, and best practice for all management practices should be reinforced through training of those with animal care responsibilities.

  • Management and care

It is recommended that calves be provided with a high-quality colostrum measuring 10% of the calf’s body weight within six hours of birth. Additionally, calves fed 20% of their birth weight, or at least eight quarts of milk daily, are shown to have high levels of gain and increased immune system function. Young calves should be provided access to fresh drinking water and palatable grain.

Calf housing should be designed to protect animals from weather conditions. This includes a sufficient quantity of dry bedding, ventilation, and lighting with consideration given to allowing calves to have the opportunity for visual contact with other calves.

For the complete list of CCQA standards and priorities, check out the CCQA Reference Manual. Dairy farms and calf raising facilities curious about program participation, CCQA caretaker training, protocol templates, or other resources should visit the FARM Program Resource Library or the CCQA website.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on March 6, 2023.

NMPF Lauds Bipartisan Ag Climate Measures in Appropriations Package

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today commended Congress for including the Growing Climate Solutions Act and the SUSTAINS Act in its final fiscal year 2023 budget package. These measures will help dairy farmers seek additional sustainability opportunities as they work to fulfill the dairy sector’s voluntary, producer-led goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050.

“Environmental markets and conservation programs have the potential to meaningfully assist dairy producers as they work to meet their 2050 environmental stewardship goals,” said NMPF president and CEO Jim Mulhern. “The Growing Climate Solutions Act and the SUSTAINS Act will strengthen these important tools.”

The Growing Climate Solutions Act, authored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, and Senator Mike Braun, R-IN, passed the Senate last June on a bipartisan vote of 92-8. The legislation would enable USDA to register technical service providers that help farmers implement stewardship practices that can generate credits on environmental markets. In turn, producers will be better positioned to participate in these important markets. Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-VA, and Don Bacon, R-NE, have introduced companion legislation in the House.

The SUSTAINS Act, authored by House Agriculture Committee Chairman-elect Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, passed the House Agriculture Committee in May on a bipartisan voice vote. The measure would allow private sector funds to supplement existing funding for farm bill conservation programs, which are continuously oversubscribed. The bill is an innovative approach to boosting funding for USDA conservation programs, which provide important technical assistance to dairy farmers for a variety of stewardship practices.

In addition to the sponsors of both bills, committee leaders Rep. David Scott, D-GA, and Sen. John Boozman, R-AR, also played important roles in finalizing the bipartisan package.

“We commend the leaders of the Agriculture Committees – Senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman and Reps. David Scott and GT Thompson – for working together to fashion this bipartisan agreement on agricultural climate legislation,” Mulhern said. “We look forward to working with them and their colleagues to build on this progress in the new year.”

Live, from the Dairy Bar, it’s NMPF!

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga gives an impromptu tour of the Dairy Bar and the Joint Annual Meeting in Denver. From delicious products to critical information, the Dairy Bar has it all — and the meeting itself resulted in gains for dairy producers, as detailed in this interview with RFD-TV.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Annual Meeting, Dairy’s Challenges

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga talks about some of the challenges dairy farmers face, and how they’re facing it together, in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. As NMPF members gather in Denver this week for the organization’s annual meeting, milk-pricing modernization, sustainability and stewardship, and international trade are all taking the spotlight.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Dairy’s Commitment to Conservation

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

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.

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.

NMPF’s Jonker Discusses Net Zero Goals

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

This week is Earth Week, and the U.S. dairy industry is celebrating by highlighting the sustainability efforts of dairy farmers. Jamie Jonker, National Milk Producers Federation Chief Science Officer and Vice President of Sustainability and Scientific Affairs, says the biggest goal for dairy farmers was developed a few years ago to be greenhouse gas neutral, or better, by 2050. Jonker spoke with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Ukraine’s Agricultural Challenges

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses efforts to assist farmers in Ukraine and some of the challenges faced by the sector in an interview with WEKZ, Janesville, Wisconsin. Livestock producers face special challenges with feed and fuel, while farmers also are struggling with access to transportation.