NMPF President & CEO Jim Mulhern met on June 27 with USDA Undersecretary Greg Ibach and other USDA staff to discuss
modernization of the National Tuberculosis Eradication Program. The TB eradication program, started in 1917, was last updated 2005, making its rules less applicable to current TB risks or the transformation of the U.S. dairy industry over the last 15 years.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Mulhern and Ibach touched upon several areas that will influence and necessitate modernization of the TB eradication program, including the white tail deer reservoir in Michigan, worker to animal TB transmission, and TB diagnostics. Traditionally, the TB eradication program has focused on whole-herd buyouts when TB has been discovered, however due to producer interest, more complex animal movements, and increasing average herd size, an effective Test and Remove Protocol which is easy to implement is needed as part of the modernization of the TB eradication.

Mulhern reiterated to USDA the dairy industry’s commitment to continue to be partner in the TB eradication program. The NMPF Animal Health and Wellbeing Committee has established a TB Task Force to identify dairy industry priorities and to work with USDA on modernizing the TB eradication program.

Contact: Jamie Jonker

In May, Jamie Jonker (NMPF) and Nick Gardner (USDEC) joined the U.S. delegation to the 87th World Assembly of the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) held in Paris. The OIE is recognized by the World Trade Organization for setting science-based standards to help manage animal diseases and improve animal health and welfare. These standards can be adopted by countries into national regulations.

NMPF is closely monitoring several issues of interest raised at the meeting. Among them are the formation of a new antimicrobial resistance (AMR) working group that will begin working over the next year and updates on global outbreaks of animal diseases that could impact U.S. dairy exports, including foot and mouth disease, African swine fever and lumpy skin disease. Animal welfare was also discussed, although sections specific to dairy production were completed with NMPF input several years ago.

NMPF worked closely with other U.S. animal organizations and international partners including the International Dairy Federation (IDF) during the meeting to ensure visibility of the potential impacts of OIE policies on AMR and the state of these  disease outbreaks on trade in dairy products. The 87th World Assembly of the World Organization of Animal Health Final Report is available online. This work was made possible through support of the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

Contact: Jamie Jonker

NMPF is encouraging its members to familiarize themselves with the Per- and Polyfluoralkyl (PFAS) issue, the subject of a website launched by the Food and Drug Administration at the beginning of the month. With two U.S. dairies among publicly reported examples of PFAS-contaminated areas, the dairy community will need to be better-educated on PFAS, as well as their real and perceived risks, as the substances gain government and media attention in the coming months.

PFAS contamination has become a rising concern among municipalities, military installations and businesses that may have high levels of the substances in their drinking water and soil. The FDA site explains what the substances are and the issues surrounding it. PFAS encompasses nearly 5,000 synthetic chemicals that stay in the environment for potentially thousands of years – they’re sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals.” Typically used in non-stick products because of their impermeability to grease, water and oil, PFAS chemicals are also found in stain and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting,
cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams.

PFAS can be found in food primarily through environmental contamination, including the use of contaminated water and soil to grow food for human or animal consumption. While health impacts have not been substantiated, the FDA is working to better understand the potential dietary exposures by sampling for contamination and reviewing the current authorized uses of PFAS in food contact applications.

Amounts of PFAS exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency health advisory limit have been found on two U.S.
dairies. One of the farms, located in New Mexico, was contaminated because of the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS on the Air Force base nearby. Water samples from the surrounding area were found to be 35 times greater than the advised limit. The second farm, located in Maine, was spreading sewage sludge which contained PFAS on to their fields. Neither farm is currently able to ship their milk, and further testing on dairy farms suggests the presence of exceedingly high PFAS levels may be isolated instances.

The Senate was the first to pass PFAS legislation as part of the National Defense Authorization Act which includes provisions regarding PFAS contamination. These include 1) authorizing the U.S. Geological Survey to develop advanced testing methods to detect and catalog PFAS in the environment, 2) allowing the Department of Defense to acquire PFAS-contaminated land surrounding airbases and to provide compensation to the land owners, 3) authorizing the Department of Defense to engage in remediation to clean-up ground water and 4) to provide water to the agricultural operations impacted.

The House legislation passed as well and includes giving the Department of Defense the ability to provide water to impacted agricultural operations, adds funding for the Centers for Disease Control’s nationwide PFAS health survey and similarly to the Senate bill, adds funding for the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct sampling for PFAS contamination. NMPF will be working hard to make sure all provisions from the Senate legislation are included in the final Bill.

In addition, NMPF has been working closely with the FDA, EPA, state officials, and IDFA to stay on top of the issue, emphasizing that it is a drinking water issue and to advocate on behalf of dairy farmers.

Contact: Clay Detlefsen

In response to the Citizen Petition on fake milk products filed by NMPF, the FDA has opened a docket for comments to be
submitted. NMPF urges stakeholders to submit comments here to ensure that the agency continues to hear why this is such an important issue. This docket closes August 20th and the FDA is suspected to make a ruling regarding plant-based foods labeling by early next year.

Details of the Petition:
The petition argues that the use of standardized dairy terms such as “milk,” “yogurt,” “cheese,” “ice cream” and “butter” on
non-dairy plant-based substitutes “falsely implies that the non-dairy substitutes are equivalent to and interchangeable with
standardized dairy foods.” It also lays out a road map for what these plant-based products could be labeled as if they wanted to continue to use dairy terms on their packages, and details why this isn’t a first amendment issue.

Contact: Clay Detlefsen

The dairy-labeling docket closed at the end of January with a total of just over 14,000 comments being filed. The docket, which was opened to “better understand how consumers use these plant-based products and how they understand terms such as, for example, ‘milk’ or ‘yogurt’ when included in the names of plant-based products, and if they understand the difference between plant-based products and dairy products including the basic nature, characteristics, ingredients and nutritional content.

The docket contained a wide array of comments ranging from people in support of properly labeling plant-based foods to people who were outraged the docket was even opened.

Many of the comments against the proper use of dairy terms were rants from plant-based consumers that appear to have misinterpreted what the docket was asking, with many making statements along the lines that “they are not so stupid they can’t understand that soy or almond doesn’t come from an animal. Duh,” which is not related to the issues of nutritional confusion the FDA is examining.

On the other side of comments, a pediatrician from upstate New York with no ties to the dairy industry wrote-in because of her concern with parents not understanding the nutritional difference between cow’s milk and plant-based products. Her comment stated: “It is nutritionally different and deceptively marketed to parents trying to be healthy. I was horrified to find one set of parents feeding hemp milk to a small baby. I had another baby with a serious lifelong medical problem being given a wobbly start on a vegan diet.” You can find her full comment here.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) felt similarly and stated: “Pediatricians report using the term ‘milk’ in the labeling of dairy-free alternatives has caused parental confusion, leading to the purchase of products that they assume contain traditional dairy ingredients and, thereby, unintentionally causing harmful nutritional deficiencies in their children.” You can find the full comments from the AAP here.

NMPF would like to thank everyone that submitted a comment. In response to this docket, we have requested a meeting with FDA to emphasize the findings in this docket and the importance of this matter for consumers’ health.

Contact: Clay Detlefsen

FDA opened a docket in May to allow for comments regarding its draft guidance for industry entitled “The Use of an Alternate Name for Potassium Chloride in Food Labeling.” The guidance was put together in response to the use of potassium chloride in foods in place of traditional salt to decrease the amount of sodium in the food supply.

NMPF will be filing joint comments with the International Dairy Foods Association. These comments will include two key points:

1. Cheese should not be included in the voluntary sodium reduction goals. Sodium is an important part of the cheesemaking process that affects the water content and water activity and influences functional characteristics like body and texture.
2. The FDA should expand any enforcement discretion to facilitate the use of potassium chloride in standardized foods whose definitions call for “salt” but ensure that the amount of substitution is solely in the discretion of the manufacturer.

Currently, the docket closes in September, and the FDA will issue its final guidelines after reviewing the comments. NMPF will keep watch on this topic and work with FDA as necessary.

Contact: Miquela Hanselman or Clay Detlefsen

NMPF celebrated a successful milestone in a more than two-year effort on June 5 when the Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule that codified its earlier interpretation that air emissions from manure are not reportable under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act.

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986 was created to help communities plan for chemical emergencies and requires industry to report on the storage, use and release of hazardous substances to federal, state, and local governments. The extent to which agricultural operations needed to be included has been controversial, with the EPA moving toward fewer burdensome requirements for farmers.

NMPF had been engaged with the effort to codify the manure exemption since April 2017, filing comments as recently as last December supporting EPA’s efforts last fall to modify its regulations to eliminate the reporting of ammonia or hydrogen sulfide air emissions from manure.

EPA’s final actions with EPCRA is consistent with Congress’ recent action to exempt manure emissions reporting requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). NMPF supported that approach and noted that EPCRA’s legislative history showed that Congress did not intend for continuous air emissions reports to be filed under EPCRA if they were not required under CERCLA.

Amended Text of Rule:
The amended text states “air emissions from animal waste (including decomposing animal waste) at a farm” are exempt.
Animal waste was formally defined to mean feces, urine or other excrement, digestive emission, urea, or similar substances emitted by animals (including any form of livestock, poultry, or fish). This term includes animal waste that is mixed or commingled with bedding, compost, feed, soil, or any other material typically found with such waste.

Contact: Clay Detlefsen

NMPF’s newest regulatory expert, Miquela Hanselman, testified at joint U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services meetings soliciting public comment on the upcoming update of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans on July 10th and 11th.

The meetings began with each of the DGAC’s six subcommittees and one working group presenting draft protocols or proposed
scientific approaches which will be used to examine the scientific evidence. These protocols include analytic frameworks, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and search strategies, all of which are available online. The committee has requested comment on the protocols by July 24th; however, the comment period will be open for the entirety of the dietary guidelines process.

The second part of the meeting focused on comments from members of the public. While some public comments were anti-dairy and not supported by scientific literature, the dairy industry was united in promoting the importance of dairy in healthy diets. NMPF and the National Dairy Council commented on key areas regarding dairy’s important place in the dietary guidelines.

Our key priorities for dairy include:

• Maintaining dairy as a separate nutritional group
• Maintaining the recommendation of three dairy servings per day
• Preventing non-dairy beverages from being allowed into the dairy group
• Emphasizing the protein quality of dairy products

You can find the full statement here. NMPF will submit written comments and continue to monitor the dietary guidelines as more information is released.

Contact: Clay Detlefsen

ARLINGTON, Va. – As the Senate Finance Committee convened a hearing today on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern offered the following statement:

“As Secretary Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, testified at today’s hearing, USMCA delivers key wins for America’s dairy farmers and the exports that drive stronger sales. With USMCA, dairy farmers will see more export opportunities and greater trade certainty. Without USMCA, we lose out on $314 million in additional dairy exports. We also lose the benefit of the new rules this deal puts in place, such as key reforms to Canada’s dairy system and stronger safeguards for our cheese exports to Mexico.

“We commend the Senate for spotlighting USMCA’s importance and strongly support the testimony offered by USDEC on how the agreement benefits dairy. To usher in USMCA’s improvements for dairy farmers and build momentum for additional trade agreements with key markets like Japan, we urge swift action to resolve any outstanding issues and secure approval of USMCA.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), 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.

NMPF’s Vice President of Economic Policy and Market Research, Peter Vitaliano, discusses the impact of the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program and the role of nonfat solids in the nation’s milk supply on the “Adams on Agriculture” podcast.

ARLINGTON, Va. – In response to the USDA’s outline of its planned trade-mitigation assistance to farmers, NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern offered the following statement:

“We appreciate the efforts of USDA and the White House to assist farmers who have suffered significant losses due to retaliatory tariffs. Dairy producers have so far lost more than $2.3 billion in revenues since tariff escalation began in earnest one year ago. USDA’s new approach raises the level of aid to dairy farmers from last year’s program, a step in the right direction. We also urge the Department to revise the outdated production history information used to calculate payments, which lessens the effectiveness of the program.

“Today’s announcement underscores that dairy farmers need to rely on trade, not aid, to prosper in a global marketplace. We will continue to work with USDA to help dairy farmers expand exports and increase consumption of dairy products through nutrition programs. Resolving the current trade impasse with China and aggressively expanding ties with other trading partners also is essential to make these aid packages unnecessary. We are also working with the administration and Congress to pass USMCA, which would immediately create new opportunities for U.S. dairy.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), 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.