NMPF recently commented on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Service (VS) proposals for “Appraisals Using Beef and Dairy Calculators” and “Options for Federal Indemnity Payments Veterinary Services Bovine Tuberculosis and Brucellosis Programs.”

Based on the USDA “Appraisals Using Beef and Dairy Calculators” proposal, the milk cow appraisal calculator appears to generate a reasonable engineered price. It depreciates a recently freshened first-calf cow until it is a cull cow, with logical adjustments for higher productivity and, through productivity, for breed. In comments to USDA, NMPF states that the milk cow appraisal calculator appears to overstate this depreciation in the first year or two, and encourage USDA to investigate this possibility. The dairy replacement appraisal calculators are a bit more ad hoc, because they rely on less consistent information, but also seem to be reasonable. Nevertheless, NMPF encouraged USDA to examine all these models’ ability to predict actual market prices (especially if that was not part of the original validation process) and to periodically review the models’ accuracy, especially for appraising whole herds.

One important purpose of the indemnity payments is fair compensation of producers for the cost they bear for the public’s benefit and fairness demands effective valuation. Providing fair market value for livestock is also important for eliminating an owner’s incentive to hide an infection or to resist taking appropriate steps for wider animal health. In that light, NMPF commented on four options presented in the USDA “Options for Federal Indemnity Payments Veterinary Services Bovine Tuberculosis and Brucellosis Programs” proposal.

NMPF suggested that enhancement of the management tools available for producers who have a tuberculosis or brucellosis infected animal is required to advance this disease eradication program. Traditionally, USDA and states have relied on whole herd depopulation as the preferred response to maintain state status. The recent TB experience in California, where a single TB-infected animal is identified out of thousands of animals, demonstrates the need for a viable test-and-cull strategy. At the same time, whole herd depopulation must remain in the suite of management strategies. A linchpin to these efforts is an effective animal ID system.

Full comments are available on the NMPF website.

 

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Even though the congressional supercommittee process failed to reach an agreement on how to make $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees did agree last month to a 2012 Farm Bill framework that includes the NMPF-backed Dairy Security Act.

The top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate panels had been negotiating throughout the autumn on the outlines of a new farm bill, in an effort to reduce overall agriculture spending by $23 billion. That effort paralleled the larger supercommittee process that targeted farm programs as part of its package of trillion-dollar cuts. Because the Dairy Security Act provides a budget savings compared to current policies – and because it offers farmers a better safety net – the Ag committee negotiators included the DSA as part of the overall package.

Specifically, both the Dairy Margin Protection Program and the Dairy Market Stabilization Program were featured in the Farm Bill draft, while the Dairy Product Price Support Program, the Milk Income Loss Contract Program and the Dairy Export Incentive Program were eliminated.

Although the demise of the supercommittee process has now pushed consideration of the next Farm Bill into 2012, NMPF is confident that the Dairy Security Act remains the foundation of dairy policy reform as the next Farm Bill is refined. NMPF will continue working with its members to urge House and Senate members to build on the agreement achieved last month, so that dairy policy reform can be finalized next year.

Dairy cooperatives and individual farmers representing 70.1% of the nation’s milk have committed two cents per hundred pounds of milk to Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) for 2012 and 2013. As a result of reaching the minimum participation level that the CWT Committee established, the Export Assistance program will carry on with assisting member cooperatives in selling U.S. cheese to key markets around the world. The two-cent investment will begin with milk marketed in January 2012, and continue on member milk marketings through December 2013.

Meanwhile, CWT members continued to aggressively sell American cheeses to key markets in November. A total of 9.5 million pounds of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, scheduled for shipment through April 2012, will receive assistance from CWT. This brings the total export sales assisted so far in 2011 to 88.3 million pounds going to 25 countries on four continents.

CWT requires extensive documentation from cooperative members showing that the product was delivered in order for assistance payments to be made.

 

NMPF announced last month that it is releasing an updated version of the Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention Manual for 2012. One of the areas of focus for the National Dairy FARM Program^TM, the residue prevention document can be found online at www.nationaldairyfarm.com.

The Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention Manual is a concise review of appropriate antibiotic use in dairy animals. The manual is a quick resource to review those antibiotics approved for dairy animals, and also can be used as an educational tool for farm managers as they develop their on-farm best management practices necessary to avoid milk and meat residues. Additions to the 2012 version include a section on meat drug residue testing, an expanded list of products and risk factors for residues, as well as an updated drug and test kit list. The 2012 manual includes a certificate of participation that can be signed by a producer and their veterinarian to demonstrate their commitment to proper use of antibiotics on the dairy.

“The use of antibiotics in livestock is undergoing increased scrutiny, and this manual will help ensure that veterinary treatments are used appropriately,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF.

The Residue Prevention manual was sponsored by Charm Sciences, IDEXX, and Pfizer Animal Health. No check-off finds were used in the development and distribution of this manual.

For more information on the residue prevention manual or the National Dairy FARM Program, contact Betsy Flores at (703) 243-6111.

In August 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s, Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS) released a draft of the “European Health Certification Program” to dairy industry trade associations (NMPF, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the International Dairy Foods Association, and the American Dairy Products Institute) for review and comment. After gathering member feedback, NMPF submitted comments and questions last month to AMS, expressing general support for the program, and requesting additional clarification on specific points.

On November 21, 2011, USDA-AMS met with industry stakeholders, including NMPF, to discuss the logistical details of the project and to review the stakeholders’ remaining questions. As a result of that meeting, USDA-AMS finalized the requirements of the “European Health Certification Program”.

The effective date for beginning the transition to the new program requirements is January 1, 2012. After March 31, 2012, all shipments of dairy products requiring an EU health certificate must comply with the updated certification program and must be accompanied by an updated Certificate of Conformance.

The major differences between U.S. and EU milk requirements are: 1) the EU somatic cell count (SCC) and bacterial standard plate count (SPC) requirements apply at the farm level, and 2) the EU maximum SCC in raw cow’s milk is 400,000 cells/mL. Additional highlights of the program include:

• Milk suppliers, dairy processors, and applicants for EU Health Certificates are responsible for maintaining records to trace their product back one step in the supply chain (toward the raw milk production) for all dairy products/ingredients intended for export to the EU.
• Processors of dairy products/ingredients that require an EU Health Certificate will be responsible for maintaining Certificates of Conformance (COCs) demonstrating the dairy products/ingredients meet EU SCC and SPC requirements.
• Testing of the farm-level milk supply will be necessary to document compliance with the requirements for export of dairy products to the EU (both Grade A and Grade B milk for SCC, and Grade B milk for SPC). Grade A plants that supply ingredients or raw milk are generally exempt from requirements to keep additional records on SPC to confirm compliance with EU regulations.
• Milk suppliers will be responsible for providing COCs to processors, as well as maintaining records of individual farms, to confirm that raw milk meeting SCC and SPC requirements of the EU is received at facilities manufacturing dairy products for shipment to the EU.
• With respect to timing and implementation, all farms will be given three months to establish initial rolling three-month means – that is, SCC data collected in January, February, and March will be used to determine the rolling three-month mean for April. Non-Grade A farms will be given two months (January and February) to establish initial rolling two-month means for SPC. This data will serve as the initial basis for updated COCs under the new program requirements. According to the new program instructions, if a rolling mean exceeds EU requirements, the milk supplier must then notify AMS.
• The program instructions include a level of flexibility for farms that exceed EU SCC or SPC requirements, but work toward compliance. (For detail on these provisions, see Section F “Milk Supplier’s Responsibility” (pages 6-7), sections b and c.)

Information on the certification program may be found online. Please contact Beth Briczinski if you have questions or trouble accessing the link.