California Ag Network

Tag: National Milk Producers Federation

  • Dairy Industry Urges Renewal of Trade Promotion Authority

    To foster further expansion of U.S. dairy exports, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) called upon the Biden Administration to seek renewal of Presidential Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) following its expiration today.

    TPA lays out congressional expectations for trade agreements negotiated by the Administration and establishes a clear pathway for straightforward congressional input. To remain globally competitive, future trade agreements are vital for U.S. dairy farmers, workers, and manufacturers.

    The call for renewal comes on the one-year anniversary of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), enacted with the help of TPA. For dairy, USMCA provisions established improvements to market access in Canada and set clear standards for trade with Mexico.

    USMCA also established procedures to enforce the agreement. In May, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai initiated a dispute settlement proceeding over Canada’s administration of dairy tariff rate quotas (TRQs) in order to preserve the market access expansion negotiated in the agreement. The U.S. dairy industry continues to monitor implementation of other key USMCA areas as well such as Canada’s Class 7 disciplines on dairy exports and Mexico’s trade-distorting regulatory proposals.

    “As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of USMCA today, it’s heartening that the Biden Administration has already sent a signal to our trading partners that its terms must be upheld by launching a dispute settlement case to defend U.S. dairy market access rights in Canada,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF.

    “If properly implemented, USMCA is a positive step in the right direction. But it is not enough alone for U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives to keep pace in global markets. By standing still, we slip further backward as competitors in Europe and New Zealand advance their own trade agreements with key markets. A forward-leaning trade agenda focused on expanding export opportunities for Made-in-America products is critical to dairy farmers. TPA is a vital tool in that process.”

    USDEC President and CEO Krysta Harden also stressed the importance of TPA for exports.

    “Foreign markets are crucial to the health and prosperity of America’s dairy farmers and processors,” said Harden. “One in six gallons of U.S. milk is destined for export, meaning that our ability to retain foreign customers in an increasingly competitive global dairy market is absolutely essential to farmers and dairy manufacturing facilities employing workers here at home.

    “To accomplish that, we need to catch up with trading partners who have been speeding ahead with trade deals that give them a leg up over us in foreign markets. USMCA is an example of how TPA can help the U.S. expand trade opportunities, but that is only one advancement among many that are needed,” Harden continued. “Renewing our commitment to the global community and restoring American leadership starts with renewing TPA, so that U.S. dairy can realize new opportunities in places such as southeast Asia, Africa, South America and the UK.”

    In comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission last year, NMPF and USDEC note that free trade agreements yield significant benefits for dairy farmers and manufacturers alike. Free Trade Agreements have increased U.S. dairy exports by $2.14 billion and the equivalent of 1.4 billion gallons of milk translating to $17 billion in additional dairy farmer revenue.

    The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

    The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products.

  • USDA to Implement New Dairy Donation Program

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announced yesterday that it will soon implement the $400 million Dairy Donation Program established by Congress in December 2020. The department provided details on program participation to dairy processors and cooperatives in order to ensure donations of nutritious dairy products continue to make their way to Americans struggling with hunger while USDA finalizes the program.

    The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today issued the following statements applauding USDA’s work:

    “IDFA applauds USDA for advancing the Dairy Donation Program (DDP), which will facilitate the donation of fresh, nutritious dairy products to nonprofit organizations helping Americans currently struggling with hunger and nutrition issues. The U.S. dairy industry stepped up throughout the pandemic to partner with and aid non-profits, charities, and other organizations working to combat our nation’s hunger issues that were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. This new program will help ensure persons in need continue to receive assistance and the unique combination of essential nutrients that only dairy products can provide. IDFA appreciates the department’s work to ensure dairy donations continue during this crucial time of need in our country. We will continue to work with the department to ensure the program works efficiently for dairy processors and cooperatives and the nonprofit organizations serving our nation’s food insecure families,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO, IDFA.

    “NMPF worked closely with Congress to enact the Dairy Donation Program (DDP) in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This important program will help dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own to continue to do what they do best – feed people. Dairy stakeholders are eager to expand their partnership efforts with food banks and other distributors to provide a variety of nutritious dairy products to food insecure households who have faced uniquely difficult challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as hunger has risen significantly during the last year. We commend USDA for prioritizing implementation of the DDP and look forward to continue working with the Department, the food bank community and all involved to make the program a success,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO, NMPF.

  • On World Milk Day, U.S. Dairy Celebrates American Consumers

    National Milk Producers Federation — While no one can say with certainty that the slow re-openings across the U.S. mark the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 crisis, it’s clear these attempts to return to a more normal existence mark the end of the beginning. The world is an experiment, both of science and of societies. Outcomes will remain uncertain for months.

    But data can help draw a few conclusions. One from the consumer sector is that, in times of uncertainty, people turn to the bedrock items that they know will nourish themselves and their families. And dairy is an important choice.

    Retail-sales as reported by consumer market researcher IRI over the past three months show that consumers have reacted to the coronavirus crisis first by stocking up on dairy, then by continuing to buy milk and other products at disproportionately high levels.

    From March 8 to March 22, as stay-at-home orders and business closures proliferated nationwide, dairy products flew from store shelves. Milk sales were 43 percent higher than during the same period a year earlier. Yogurt rose 31 percent. Ice cream sales gained 40 percent and cheese 76 percent. Butter sales more than doubled during the same period. 

    Gains have continued into the “new normal,” and in fact take up more of a consumer’s retail dollar than they did during the panic peak. Retail dairy sales from late March through May 17 remain 25 percent higher than a year ago, while overall grocery sales during that same period are only up 14 percent — meaning that at a time when people are relying more on grocers to fill their needs, they’re relying on dairy significantly more than they are on other products. 

    That vote of consumer trust shows every sign of continuing for the foreseeable future – and that shouldn’t be a surprise, really. When milk is already in 94 percent of U.S. households, it follows that it would be especially important as families choose how to weather a storm. This real-world, real-time affirmation of dairy’s value can’t help but inspire the entire dairy community to keep working and maintain resilience through whatever comes next. Dairy owes a deep debt of gratitude to consumers whose support has helped carry farmers through this crisis. 

    Of course, consumer faith has been only one part of dairy’s story in the past few months. Pre-coronavirus, about half of all dairy sales came from outside the home. Even as retail consumers increased dairy buying, sales to restaurants, schools and cafeterias plunged. That turbulence prompted sharp declines in the USDA’s forecast for milk prices for 2020. That’s been a big reason why federal assistance for dairy farms has been so important.

    But even that story is brightening. A recent price rally is changing the outlook from mortifying to merely difficult – still cold comfort for many producers, but more manageable in a way many wouldn’t have dared to wish for even one month ago. Restaurant sales are slowly returning, and federal aid has provided a meaningful boost to bottom lines, even as signs of stress will still need to be monitored and additional aid will be necessary. 

    The past few months have been difficult for dairy, as it has for everyone. The next few will be as well. But dairy is resilient. Its value to consumers is beyond dispute, and early signs of recovery give reasons for hope. Today is World Milk Day. there remains much to overcome, there is also much to celebrate. Raise a glass. 

  • Economic Injury Disaster Loan Applications Now Open for Ag

    The U.S. Small Business Administration began accepting new Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance applications today at 9:00 AM PST on a limited basis only, to provide relief to dairy farms and other U.S. agricultural businesses. The application is available here. 

     The Small Business Administration is encouraging all eligible agricultural businesses with 500 or fewer employees wishing to apply to begin preparing their business financial information needed for their application. During this application window, only agricultural business applications will be accepted due to limitations in funding availability and the unprecedented submission of applications already received. 

    For more information or to apply, visit this link.

    The National Milk Producers Federation has numerous EIDL resources available on its coronavirus website page, www.nmpf.org/coronavirus. Among them:

  • Dairy Farmers Descend on Senate to Demand Agriculture Labor Reform

    Dairy farmers from National Milk Producers Federation member cooperatives and state dairy associations are visiting U.S. Senate offices today and tomorrow as part of a fly-in calling for an agricultural labor bill that could be reconciled with a plan the House approved last year, providing the stable, secure labor force U.S. dairy producers need.

     

    U.S. dairy producers face labor shortages that are more intense than those felt in agriculture as a whole because they cannot use the H-2A farmworker program, which only provides for seasonal labor rather than the year-round workers dairy needs. With domestic workers in short supply and foreign labor difficult to employ under current policies, dairy farmers are urging lawmakers to find real solutions.

     

    “The situation is dire,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, the biggest U.S. dairy-farmer organization. “Dairy farmers face labor shortages while they are forced to navigate the deeply uncertain and volatile realities undergirding agriculture labor in the U.S. Meanwhile, uncertainty on the farm harms individuals and rural communities that rely on those farms to generate jobs.”

     

    The House of Representatives in December passed bipartisan legislation allowing for year-round visas in dairy as part of the first ag-labor bill to pass that chamber since 1986. NMPF supported the bill, noting that, although imperfect, its passage was a necessary step in moving toward a legislative solution addressing the ag labor crisis, with further work to be done in the Senate to improve upon the House measure.

     

    The fly-in is taking place after the conclusion of NMPF’s March Board of Directors meeting held in Arlington, Virginia. During the board meeting, NMPF officially expanded its membership with the addition of Cayuga Marketing, LLC based in Auburn, NY, adding an important upstate New York voice to NMPF’s work on behalf of all dairy producers. NMPF also endorsed dairy-sector sustainability efforts during its meeting, lauding industrywide plans to reduce carbon emissions to net zero.