Tag: Simon Vander Woude

Dairy Grows Through Family and Faith, CDI’s Vander Woude Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Despite policy challenges, family-run dairies continue to grow and succeed through dedication and faith, California dairy farmer Simon Vander Woude, the chairman of California Dairies Inc., first vice-chair of NMPF and a member of its executive committee, says in an NMPF podcast released today.

“We begin every day acknowledging that what we have is not our own, it’s a gift from the Lord, and we have to be good stewards of the gifts that He’s blessed us with,” Vander Woude said. “We’ve been very blessed here.”

That stewardship is expressed in many ways, from caring for the environment to seeking new opportunities to serve consumers in the United States and worldwide, he said. Vander Woude, who testified before a congressional subcommittee last year on the need to expand global market access, said that while domestic consumers continue to want dairy products, overseas sales are the key to harnessing dairy’s growing productivity and international demand.“If 20 to 30 percent of our milk products are going overseas today and our domestic market is pretty stable, it’s growing at a smaller pace than what we can grow our milk markets,” said Vander Woude, who also sits on the board of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “We need to continue to explore trade agreements with countries that will benefit the U.S. dairy industry.”

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 here. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

NMPF Vice Chair Urges Congressional Committee to Focus on Trade

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF First Vice Chair and California dairy producer Simon Vander Woude highlighted the need for the U.S. government to pursue new market access opportunities in a Nov. 17 U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on agricultural trade.

Vander Woude, who also serves as chairman of California Dairies, Inc., pointed to the preferential market access that the European Union, Australia, and New Zealand have aggressively negotiated in a list of key dairy markets and the subsequent loss of American dairy competitiveness as the playing field continues to tilt against the United States. The list of priority markets to target for expanded access included China, Southeast Asia, Japan, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom.

“We farmers need a proactive trade policy to keep pace and continue to increase sales to support the good farm and manufacturing jobs our industry creates,” Vander Woude said.

Vander Woude in his testimony also said Congress and the administration need to address supply chain delays that call into question the reputation of the United States as a reliable supplier, as well as for enforcement of existing trade agreements. He noted that both new trade deals, such as the USMCA agreement, and longstanding bilateral agreements warrant strong enforcement, in addition to ensuring WTO members live up to their obligations to preserving hard-won market access opportunities.

“As Simon outlined so well to the House Livestock and Foreign Agriculture subcommittee today, exports are essential to the health of dairy farmers and to our wider industry,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO. “New access into markets like Canada and Japan last year was a welcome first step, but still far less than what our farmers need to remain competitive globally. The United States needs to begin moving forward again with trade agreements and other policies that expand foreign market opportunities to help family dairy farms thrive and support the thousands of jobs that depend on dairy across this country.”