Dairy Defined

More than four decades of dairy-industry experience with bovine coronavirus shouldn’t translate to complacency on farms about the human version, says Mike Lormore, the Director of U.S. Dairy Cattle Technical Services for Zoetis, the world’s largest manufacturer of animal-health vaccines, in an NMPF podcast released today.

Jaime Castaneda, senior vice president for policy, strategy and international trade at the National Milk Producers Federation, says the coronavirus crisis carries an urgency for the federal government comparable to world-shaping events such as World War II and the Great Depression. And as policy leaders work to rise to the occasion, the dairy community needs to as well, he said.

National Milk Producers Federation Chief Economist Peter Vitaliano says government support for dairy producers to reduce production in coming months can speed dairy’s recovery from coronavirus-driven price declines. Production balancing is part of the NMPF and International Dairy Foods Association plan for dairy assistance presented to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week.

Clay Detlefsen, senior vice president of regulatory and environmental affairs for the National Milk Producers Federation and the private-sector chair of the Food and Agricultural Sector Coordinating Council – says that while shortages of grocery staples have eased in the U.S., shortages of personal protective equipment may linger into June – and that even after the coronavirus threat has ebbed, th...

NMPF Chief Economist Peter Vitaliano says current coronavirus-created gloom over dairy prices as expressed in futures markets may turn out be overstated in the end, but that the pain felt by producers over the next few months will be real, as lower prices make their way into milk checks paid to farmers for their milk.

Chris Galen, senior vice president for membership services and strategic initiatives at the National Milk Producers Federation, says dairy farmers need effective policy advocacy in Washington as the economic effects of coronavirus are dealt with for months, in both anticipated and unanticipated ways.

NMPF Chief Economist Peter Vitaliano discusses the challenges dairy farmers will face as supply chains adjust to coronavirus-related disruptions in an interview for a television news package on dairy that RFD-TV is producing to air next week. RFD provided NMPF with the full interview, in which Vitaliano explains how sold-out dairy cases and lower milk prices can exist at the same time and how vari...

A massive coronavirus aid package poised to pass Congress that includes crucial assistance to dairy producers is a critical, but likely not the last, step in assisting sectors hard-hit by economic disruptions, said Paul Bleiberg, NMPF’s vice president for government relations, in an NMPF podcast.

Emily Yeiser Stepp, a National Milk Producers Federation vice president and head of the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program, is seeing rapid evolution in the initiative as the dairy industry continues to ensure quality animal care, a commitment to sustainability and best practices in the workplace even as coronavirus disrupts supply chains .

Clay Detlefsen, senior vice president of regulatory and environmental affairs for the National Milk Producers Federation, says that based on information he’s received while serving in another role -- as the private-sector chair of the Food and Agricultural Sector Coordinating Council – shortages of consumer staples in grocery stores strained by responses to coronavirus-related restrictions should...

NMPF’s Vice President for Sustainability and Scientific Affairs, Dr. Jamie Jonker, discusses why U.S. milk supplies are safe and details the precautions dairy farmers are taking to protect their workers and facilities in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lynn Boadwine, an owner of Boadwine Farms near Baltic, South Dakota, was part of a group of dairy farmers from 26 states who visited Capitol Hill last week as part of an NMPF fly-in calling for agricultural labor reform. NMPF has long advocated for farm-labor legislation in Washington, and even though last year the House of Representatives advanced its first package since 1986, much work remains t...

Tangible gains from the USMCA trade agreement, as well as progress in “Phase One” trade deals with China and Japan, underscore dairy’s persistent efforts to open new opportunities in foreign markets, Jamie, Castaneda, NMPF’s senior vice president for policy strategy and international trade, says in this week’s Dairy Defined Podcast.

Dairy farming continues to advance in sustainability and animal welfare as technology and scientific understanding evolves, ensuring better care for the planet and for animals, said Jamie Jonker, NMPF vice president for sustainability and scientific affairs.

Despite trade headwinds, U.S. dairy producers are seeing real export gains that are crucial for supporting milk prices now and in years to come, said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, in this week’s Dairy Defined Podcast. Vilsack, a former Iowa governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, discussed how U.S. dairy is establishing itself as a permanent presence in globa...

Election years always pose challenges for getting things done on Capitol Hill, but dairy is well-positioned to make gains in 2020, according to Paul Bleiberg, the National Milk Producers Federation’s vice president of government relations.  Senate approval of the USMCA trade agreement and a Senate plan on agricultural labor are only two topics in which positive steps could occur, said Bleiberg, NM...

U.S. milk prices ended 2019 at their highest in five years. And while 2020 may see those gains cool off a bit, they should stay high enough for many producers to start recovering from the doldrums they faced in the second half of the 2010s.   “The bleeding of the past several years will probably stop, to some extent,” said Vitaliano, NMPF’s chief economist and creator of the Dairy Market Report, a...

To understand how dairy can be a part of climate solutions, it’s important to be clear about the role it plays in greenhouse gas emissions in the first place, said Dr. Frank Mitloehner, a professor in animal science at the University of California-Davis.   “Comparing cows versus cars is a major flaw” in how climate impacts are measured, he said, because agriculture is part of a carbon life cycle,...

Dairy’s future will depend on its next generation of farmers, many of whom are already hard at work on farms across the country. Young farmers are an important part of the agricultural landscape, and their continued involvement and leadership is needed to preserve a bright future for our dairy cooperatives. Ensuring these farmers can sustain their livelihoods is critical to the future of the dairy...

Despite a recent stretch of low prices, a better safety net for dairy producers and an improving market is making now a better time for dairy farmers, said Steve Schlangen, owner of a 60-cow farm outside Albany, MN and the chairman of Associated Milk Producers Inc. A dairy farmer since 1986, Schlangen said that if he had to start all over again, he’d go into dairy farming “in a heartbeat.” Of the...

U.S. dairy farmers have been through challenging times, but there is light ahead if the sector proactively engages with the challenges of trade, the environment, climate and consumer tastes, said Randy Mooney, a Missouri dairy farmer and chairman of the National Milk Producers Federation. Mooney spoke this morning at the organization’s annual meeting, this in New Orleans. “We are a family that nee...

With farmers receiving a $300 million financial boost via the 2019 Dairy Margin Coverage Program, signup is now underway for the 2020 program. But every year is different, and Chris Galen, NMPF’s Senior Vice President for Member Services and Strategic Initiatives, said farmers should be paying attention to prices, production histories and financial priorities as they consider their 2020 signup opt...

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) program spent last week at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, talking to farmers about the initiative’s updated standards for animal care. Emily Yeiser-Stepp, FARM director, said closer relationships between farmers and veterinarians, enhanced care standards for calves and non-ambulatory animals, and workforce training that...

President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister’s Shinzo Abe’s agreement this week to a limited trade deal between the two countries is an important development in expanding one of dairy’s most important trade relationships. Still, the announcement is only an initial step – more will need to be done to ensure that a U.S.-Japan trade pact’s full benefits for U.S. producers are realized. We at th...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday is holding a public meeting on “Horizontal Approaches to Food Standards of Identity Modernization” -- horizontal being the idea that by making changes to food standards of identity that cut across categories, goals like “innovation” and “flexibility” may be encouraged. Sounds great, right? Maybe – but Clay Detlefsen, senior vice president for regulat...