National Milk Producers Federation

Jerry Kozak
President/CEO

One thing that’s always been said about dairy farmers:  get more than two of them in a room, and you’ll quickly have at least that many strong opinions about just about every issue under the sun. 

We put that adage to the test earlier this year through NMPF’s Dairy Producer Conclave meetings, which were designed to bring hundreds of dairy farmers together to discuss the key issues of interest to them.  And I’m pleased to report that while there were certainly some strong and differing opinions about where the industry is – and where it needs to go – we were also able to build a strong consensus behind what to do about many of the major policy challenges that producers all across the country are facing today.

With an eye on the Farm Bill development efforts already underway at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Congress, NMPF convened three regional meetings last winter in California, Illinois and Virginia.  The idea was to invite dairy farmers – and only dairy farmers – to spend a day and a half reviewing and discussing the big-ticket policy items that are affecting their businesses.  What’s more, we wanted not just discussion, but where possible, the development of some principles that would help guide NMPF’s policy efforts in the coming months and years.

A similar process was used back in 2000, and it proved to be instrumental in defining a path that our industry could follow together as we worked with Congress to write the 2002 Farm Bill.  Just as importantly, the first Dairy Producer Conclave process six years ago helped the producer community speak with one voice, and avoid the fractious battles that characterized the dairy title of the 1996 Farm Bill. 

This year’s discussion focused on eight general areas: Economic Policy & Government Programs, Trade Policy, Producer Initiatives, Milk Security, Food Safety & Animal Care, Environment, Product Standards & Labeling, Communications & Issues Management, and Business Issues.  In all, we had 180 dairy farmers from 30 states representing 41 different state, national and cooperative organizations attend one or more of the three meetings.  Everyone who attended was given lots of opportunity to review the issues and discuss ways we can work on them together.

I don’t have space in this column to detail every policy issue and how we addressed it.  You can find a link to the booklet at www.nmpf.org.  But I do think it’s worth reviewing a few of the highlights from what emerged.

First, producers definitely want the federal government to maintain some sort of economic safety net that helps minimize volatility while still allowing supply and demand to balance the market.  For decades, the dairy price support program has performed that role, but alternatives may deserve consideration as well.  Producers also basically support the Federal Milk Marketing Order system, although there are some flaws that need addressing.

One of the big areas of discussion was immigration reform, which while not part of the Farm Bill, is certainly a major legislative issue in Washington this year.  The Conclave participants definitely felt that an overly-punitive approach is not the way to go, instead preferring a guest worker program that ensures the continued availability of immigrant labor for all agricultural enterprises.

In the area of trade policy, producers recognized that balanced trade agreements can be a help to the U.S. dairy sector, but imbalanced trade pacts, either in the WTO or bilateral negotiations, can be a huge problem.

One big area of discussion and consensus was that Cooperatives Working Together has been a useful tool for farmers to improve their bottom lines, and CWT needs not just support, but expansion.  That’s one reason we are increasing CWT’s budget, starting in July, in order to do more with the program in the future.

Producers also generally supported the collection of additional monies to help with other major issues, ranging from research, government relations, and litigation, on issues that affect producers universally, such as environmental challenges.

The input we received from those in attendance will now be shared with policy makers in Congress and in certain federal agencies such as the USDA and the FDA.  We are also sharing the Conclave results with state dairy organizations and the producer groups that were represented as part of last winter’s process.

While there were some issues where dairy farmers agreed to disagree, and where consensus was elusive, the bigger story is that there are many areas of common concern where we must work together.  Developing our own road map for the future puts us all in the driver’s seat, which is a much more useful vantage point than just being along for the ride.