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Organic Trade Association Releases Questionable Study; NMPF Fights Back

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF fought back after the Organic Trade Association released a study done by Emory University on June 26 that supposedly found that 60 percent of 35 conventional milk samples that were tested had antibiotic residues – a study that came with head-scratching conclusions when compared to the wealth of research already available on the issue.

The antibiotics detected by the study, which was funded by The Organic Center, included sulfamethazine and sulfathiazole, which aren’t allowed for use in lactating dairy cattle. One sample also tested positive for amoxicillin levels higher than what is approved by the FDA. The conventional samples also tested positive for pesticides and growth hormones, while organic milk samples tested were found to have no pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones.

Many questions were raised about the study immediately after its release, after lab experts began to analyze the methodology of the study including its size, the standards used for the testing, and the four-year lag period between sample collection and the published analysis. The research also conflicted with rich data found by the National Milk Drug Residue Monitoring Program conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That report in 2018 found that out of the 60,000 milk samples tested for sulfonamide drugs, none of the samples tested positive. Over the past decade, sulfonamide antibiotics were present in only 99 samples of the 884,455 tested.

NMPF released a joint statement with the International Dairy Foods Association and the National Dairy Council restating the safety of milk and calling out the flaws in the study. The article, written for USA Today, was quickly amended to include a section on “reasons for skepticism” highlighting the potential flaws of this study. NMPF has requested a meeting with FDA to discuss next steps.

Bipartisan Amendment Approved with NMPF Support Addresses Dairy Labor Challenges

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The House Appropriations Committee in June adopted a bipartisan amendment to its Fiscal Year 2020 Homeland Security Appropriations bill that takes a step in the right direction to address dairy’s unique workforce needs. The amendment, offered by Representatives Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA), would permit dairy farmers and other farm employers to use the H-2A visa program to hire year-round workers, not just those who are doing temporary or seasonal work.

NMPF and its Immigration Task Force have worked carefully on this proposal, which Rep. Newhouse has offered in the past with support from Rep. Cuellar, so that dairy farmers can use the H-2A visa program to meet their labor needs for year-round workers.  Up to this point, the dairy industry has largely not been able to use the H-2A program because it is restricted to temporary and seasonal workers.

The full House is likely to consider the Homeland Security Appropriations measure later this summer, and the Senate will craft its own version of the bill.  NMPF looks forward to working to maintain the amendment in any final House-Senate negotiated measure to be sent to the president later this year.

NMPF also continues to work with members of Congress to build momentum for comprehensive ag labor legislation that meets dairy’s workforce needs by providing a pathway to legal status for current farm workers and creating a workable guest worker program on a permanent basis. The Cuellar-Newhouse amendment is an important foot in the door to meeting the needs of an industry that ‘harvests’ its product multiple times a day, every day.

NMPF Thanks USDA and Congress for Taking Steps to Resolve Feed Shortage

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation commended Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for taking action late in June to provide much-needed relief to farmers who have suffered from feed shortages this spring due to significant flooding and rain.

USDA’s Risk Management Agency announced that farmers who planted cover crops on prevented-plant acres will be able to hay, graze, and chop their fields as early as September 1 this year, as opposed to the usual November 1 date, to provide for enough forage for dairy and livestock operations later this year.  The Department is also allowing for silage to receive the same treatment this year as haying and grazing.

Feed availability is a critical issue for dairy farmers in many regions of the country, given volatile weather this spring that disrupted planting. NMPF has also endorsed the bipartisan Feed Emergency Enhancement During Disasters Act (H.R. 3183) introduced by Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Angie Craig (D-MN), which takes similar steps to alleviate the feed challenges facing dairy farmers and others in agriculture. NMPF looks forward to additional work with Congress and USDA to address this challenge.

Dairy Farmers Count on Congress to Pass USMCA

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The push to complete the U.S.–Mexico–Canada agreement (USMCA) received a boost in June when Mexico became the first country to ratify the trade agreement. Still, Washington has yet to take action, making collaboration key as NMPF works with other stakeholders to get the agreement over the finish line.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office is working with leading members of Congress to hash out a way forward, specifically focusing on concerns expressed by Democrats to guarantee sufficient Congressional support. Complementing that work, about 50 dairy farmers and dairy-cooperative staff took NMPF’s message in support of USMCA’s passage directly to Capitol Hill in June. Their on-the-ground advocacy was dovetailed with NMPF’s work to educate policymakers on the importance of this trade agreement to the dairy industry.

Also last month, NMPF joined forces with the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the International Dairy Foods Association to write to members of Congress from top dairy-producing states, asking them to “please pursue a USMCA vote without delay” on behalf of the dairy farms and businesses they represent.

“Solidifying and expanding trade opportunities abroad through USMCA will improve the prospects of dairy farms here at home,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “In the midst of uncertainty surrounding our trade relationships and yet another year of meager milk prices, the United States lost an average of seven dairy farms a day in 2018. The passage of USMCA will instill a renewed sense of optimism in our dairy farmers.”

USMCA will help bolster the U.S. dairy industry by locking in existing access to our key export market in Mexico while increasing trade opportunities in Canada and establishing new trade rules to discipline Canada’s trade-distorting dairy policies, discourage unscientific barriers to trade and preserve the rights of common cheese name users. U.S. government estimates calculate that USMCA will increase U.S. dairy exports to Mexico and Canada by $277 million once it is fully implemented.

USDA’S Feed-Cost Decision Improves DMC Payment Outlook

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

USDA’s announcement that it was modifying the feed-cost calculation for the DMC margins to reflect the cost of dairy-quality alfalfa hay has offered additional assistance for producers who sign up for the program.

Under USDA’s formula, the department will use the simple average of the U.S. average price received by farmers for all alfalfa hay and the average price received in the five largest milk-producing states for premium and supreme grade alfalfa hay. That’s a change from the previous Margin Protection Program, which used only the lower U.S. average price for all alfalfa hay. The change will increase the calculated DMC feed costs for the first five months of the year by an average of 21 cents per hundredweight of milk, which reduces the DMC margin by the corresponding amount. This will generate larger payments for program participants whose coverage level is high enough to trigger compensation.

The National Milk Producers Federation has long urged USDA to calculate the margins using the cost of higher quality alfalfa used in dairy feed rations and secured a provision in last year’s farm bill directing the department to collect and report the necessary data. In its announcement, USDA stated that the change would “provide a total feed cost that more closely aligns with hay rations used by many producers.”

The DMC margin for May is $9.00 per cwt, generating a payment for the month of 50 cents per cwt for producers who purchase coverage for 2019 at the DMC maximum level of $9.50 per cwt, for up to 5 million pounds of production history. May’s DMC margin was $0.18 per cwt higher than April’s, resulting from a $0.30 per cwt higher milk price and $0.12 per cwt higher feed cost.

USDA’s DMC Decision Tool, which assists producers in making their program enrollment decisions, has been updated to reflect the recent change to the feed cost calculation. As of June 28th, the tool, which can be accessed online, was projecting margins that would generate payments that average $0.49 per cwt., net of estimated federal sequestration, for all of 2019 to producers who sign up for $9.50 per cwt coverage on up to 5 million pounds of production history. Coverage at this level costs $0.15 per cwt for the year.

The NMPF’s DMC information page on its website offers a variety of educational resources to help farmers make better use of the program.

Farmers Begin DMC Signup with Extra Incentive From NMPF-Supported Feed-Cost Change

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Signup for the long-awaited Dairy Margin Coverage program began June 17, including a late change to DMC feed-cost calculations that will bring dairy farmers millions of dollars in additional aid and that NMPF had been quietly advocating with the White House and USDA for months. More than 5,000 dairy farmers signed up for the program in its first 10 days, according to USDA.

The 2018 Farm Bill created the DMC program, which replaces the Margin Protection Program for Dairy. The program protects dairy producers when the difference between the milk prices and feed costs (the margin) falls below a certain dollar level of coverage selected by the producer. The USDA’s decision to include the cost of high-quality alfalfa feed in the payment calculations, announced shortly before signup began, increases calculated feed costs and thus lowers margins, triggering higher payments to producers. The decision will be a boon for dairy farmers facing a fifth year of low prices.

“The DMC provides a stronger safety net for America’s dairy producers, one sorely needed as low prices, trade disturbances and chaotic weather patterns combine to create hardships,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the NMPF. “We have advocated for months that margin calculations must consider the higher feed costs dairy producers pay to properly nourish their livestock. USDA’s decision to include premium and supreme quality alfalfa feed is appropriate and is another win for dairy farmers that will provide additional, crucial aid.”

Producers may cover up to their first 5 million pounds of milk production history (equivalent to the production of a 215-cow dairy farm) at a margin of up to $9.50 per hundredweight. Payments under the program will be retroactive to January 1. Calculations already made for the first five months of the year show that producers signing up at the $9.50 level would receive payments for each month, with total payments far exceeding the already-set annual premium. All producers will be able to access this affordable coverage regardless of size, and larger producers will have access to significantly more affordable $5.00 catastrophic-type coverage.

As far back as the Farm Bill signing in December 2018, NMPF advocated for USDA to prioritize implementation of the dairy program given the prolonged distress producers have faced.  USDA heeded this call early on and members of Congress gave voice to it as well.  This spring, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA) as well as Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) spearheaded bipartisan letters urging USDA to promptly finalize the DMC program in a farmer-friendly manner.

“We very much appreciate USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue sticking with the department’s pledge to make dairy a priority in Farm Bill implementation,” Mulhern said. “And we again want to express our appreciation to Congressional agriculture leaders who worked together on a bi-partisan basis to deliver these program improvements,” he said.

Dairy farmers have begun to receive letters in the mail from USDA’s Farm Service Agency to make them aware of their enrollment and coverage options under the DMC. NMPF looks forward to working closely with USDA to ensure that any remaining producer questions or concerns are addressed as the implementation process unfolds.

Dairy Response to Organic-Industry-Funded Emory University Milk Study

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

A statement from the National Dairy Council, the International Dairy Foods Association, and the National Milk Producers Federation related to a study published today in Public Health Nutrition journal:

“Milk is one of the safest foods you can buy. Regarding this new study, it is very important to note that information about the methodology used is so scant that serious flaws are likely to exist. Many of the key results raise red flags and leave more questions than answers, including a sample size that is not statistically valid, a four-year lag between data collection and published analysis, and results that are so far out of line with federal government data that they seem implausible. Given these facts, combined with the historical testing data using FDA-approved methodology that clearly demonstrates the occurrence of residues for several of the antibiotics in question is extremely rare, the data underlying this recent study must be considered highly questionable and not a true reflection of the U.S. milk supply.”