National Milk Producers Federation

The process of making major, badly-needed changes in dairy policy took dramatic steps forward last month when both the House and Senate agriculture committees examined how best to improve the dairy safety yet.

Last Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill draft that contains sweeping improvements in dairy programs, including a new Dairy Production Margin Protection Program to help farmers mitigate the risks of volatility of both milk and feed prices. The farm bill was approved by a vote of 16 to 5, and now will proceed to the full Senate for consideration. The bill was not amended in any way that alters the basic framework and usefulness of either the margin protection or market stabilization elements.  read more»

Prior to completing work on the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill last month, committee staff provided a preview of certain draft titles. NMPF had the opportunity to see an outline of the key aspects of Title II, the conservation title. For the most part, the elements were similar to those included in the failed Super Committee package, which has earned praise from nearly all stakeholders representing agricultural and conservation organizations. Altogether, the legislation would remove $6 billion from the conservation title, while consolidating and simplifying a number of the programs. These provisions are featured in the bill that was ultimately approved by the committee last Thursday.  read more»

In April, Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) accepted 55 requests for export assistance from member cooperatives accounting for nine million pounds of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, and 7.5 million pounds of butter. This brought the totals for the first four months of 2012 to 46.9 million pounds of cheese, and 40.8 million pounds of butter. That is the equivalent of 1.322 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis, or the annual production of nearly 63,000 cows.  read more»

On April 13, the D.C. Court of Appeals issued its decision upholding the Milk Regulatory Equity Act, supported by NMPF and passed by Congress in 2005 to provide for more consistent regulation of milk handlers in the Southwestern United States. Among other things, the law put a size limit on the producer-handler exemption in the Arizona Federal Milk Marketing Order.  read more»

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved two final rules on April 18 that will help farmers, cooperative, handlers, grain elevators, and other agricultural businesses avoid unintended regulation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which has been a priority for NMPF during the past two years.  read more»

Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew its contentious proposed rule restricting the work that children could do on farms. In a statement issued by the DOL, it was made clear that the proposed rule would not be pursued for the duration of the Obama Administration.  read more»

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the detection of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow from Tulare, California, last week, the nation's fourth case of BSE. The cow was never presented for slaughter for human consumption; it was targeted for postmortem screening at a rendering facility near its home farm in California, according to the USDA.  read more»

Following the March 29th announcement that NMPF will assume management of the REAL^® Seal, the Cheese Importers Association of America (CIAA) issued a news release alleging that this change in management of the REAL^® Seal program will violate a law requiring the imposition of fees on imported dairy products.  read more»

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) recently trained 18 farmers and ranchers from throughout the United States in their first Conversation Leader training. These farmers and ranchers were nominated by USFRA affiliates as outstanding agriculture advocates that can serve as spokespeople for USFRA. The training took place on March 28th and 29th in Chicago, IL.  read more»

After serving NMPF for over a decade in a number of capacities, Roger Cryan, Vice President of Milk Marketing & Economics, has left the organization to rejoin the AMS Dairy Programs staff at USDA from which he came nearly 12 years ago.  read more»