Tag: dairy farm bill

Risk Management Programs Critical to Dairy’s Future, Farmers Tell Congress

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today commended farmers from member cooperatives who are speaking up for dairy’s needs at farm bill listening sessions held by members of Congress.

“From sustainability and trade to providing an adequate safety net to producers of all sizes, dairy farmer voices are critical to crafting federal farm programs that serve the entire nation,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We commend the farmers who own our member cooperatives for sharing their insights. We also thank Congress for making sure that dairy is heard as the next Farm Bill begins taking shape.”

A session in Minnesota was held today, following an event in Washington state last week. Both are part of a series of sessions being held to prepare for the 2023 Farm Bill.

Farm bill safety net and risk management programs are critical to the economic viability of American dairy producers, farmers told members of the House Agriculture Committee during the sessions. Farmers representing NMPF member cooperatives Associated Milk Producers Inc., Dairy Farmers of America, Northwest Dairy Association and Land O’Lakes, Inc. shared their perspectives on the upcoming farm bill during the events hosted by Rep. Angie Craig, D-MN, and Rep. Kim Schrier, D-WA.

During today’s listening session held in Northfield, MN, Steve Schlangen, chairman of Associated Milk Producers Inc. and an NMPF executive committee member, emphasized the value of the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program. Created in the 2018 Farm Bill at NMPF’s urging, DMC is designed to ensure that dairy farmers can protect themselves against financial catastrophe and market fluctuations.

Schlangen urged the committee to strengthen the program by carrying the Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage update over into the next Farm Bill to compensate farmers for modest increases in production since the program formula was created in 2014. He was joined by Charles Krause, a Dairy Farmers of America farmer from Buffalo, MN, and KC Graner, a Land O’Lakes ag retail member-owner from Truman, MN, who among other topics supported the Dairy Donation Program to connect dairy products to food insecure families and additional funding and policies to encourage and scale climate-smart ag practices.

The House Agriculture Committee also held a listening session last Friday in Carnation, WA. Dairy farmers and Northwest Dairy Association member-owners Jeremy Visser of Stanwood, WA and Jim Werkhoven of Monroe, WA in their remarks urged committee members to ensure that risk management tools work effectively for farmers of all sizes, and to provide robust funding for trade promotion programs like the Market Access Program.

NMPF Co-op Member Champions DMC, Calls for FMMO Update at Dairy Hearing

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Seventh-generation Pennsylvania dairy farmer Lolly Lesher emphasized the importance of farm bill safety net programs and called for milk pricing improvements at a House Agriculture Committee hearing held on June 22 to review the dairy provisions of the farm bill.

The Farm Bill, a twice-a-decade reauthorization of USDA programs, includes provisions important to dairy farmers such as risk management, pricing policy and support, conservation, trade promotion, nutrition, and rural development programs.

“The Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program is a significant improvement over its predecessor and has been a strong safety net for dairy farmers during difficult times. It offers producers affordable coverage for margin levels that reflect the milk price and feed cost challenges they face,” Lesher said in her testimony.

Lesher, a member-owner of Dairy Farmers of America, testified on NMPF’s behalf. She thanked Ranking Member G.T. Thompson (R-PA) for his years of advocacy on behalf of dairy farmers in Pennsylvania and beyond, and for his key role in overhauling the dairy safety net during the last farm bill. She also expressed her gratitude to Chairman David Scott (D-GA) for his work and for convening the hearing.

Created to replace the previous Margin Protection Program at NMPF’s urging in the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage program offers effective margin protection for small and mid-sized farms and affordable catastrophic coverage for large farms. Lesher, whose family milks 240 cows in southeastern Pennsylvania, said in her written testimony that the program “has provided important security to [her] family’s farm” and noted that her family has purchased the maximum available coverage every year.

She also urged the committee to make additional updates to reflect current production. Congress enacted Supplemental Dairy Margin coverage payments to account for modest production increases since 2014, and Lesher urged the committee to build on this progress in the next farm bill.

Lesher highlighted the need for improvements to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system, citing the heavy revenue losses incurred by dairy farmers nationwide from a milk pricing change made in the previous farm bill as an example of the need for change.

“The change made to the Class I mover combined with the government’s heavy cheese purchases cost dairy farmers over $750 million in revenue in the last six months of 2020 alone,” she said. Lesher detailed the asymmetric risk that farmers bear under the current mover, with limited upside risk and a potentially limitless downside.

Meanwhile, NMPF is leading a nationwide effort to craft consensus on a wide range of FMMO improvements, including the Class I mover, that can be taken to USDA for consideration in a federal order hearing. “We recognize that for our efforts to succeed, we must all work together, giving a bit to get a bit. It’s just too important for our future,” Lesher added.

“We appreciate the opportunity to share what has worked well—and what needs to be modernized—to meet the needs of dairy farmers in the 2023 Farm Bill,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.  “As Lolly Lesher outlined during today’s hearing, dairy producers need continued access to an effective safety net, flexible risk management tools that protect all farmers, and an update to the FMMO system that addresses the unequal risk dairy farmers bear compared to processors during unusual market volatility. We look forward to our continued work with the House Agriculture Committee and USDA on these and other farm bill priorities in the coming months.”

Farm Bill Cultivation Time is Now, NMPF’s Bleiberg Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

With initial hearings under way, dairy’s priorities in the 2023 Farm Bill are taking shape, NMPF Senior Vice President for Government Relations Paul Bleiberg said in an NMPF podcast.

“A lot of that stakeholder outreach is going on right now, both publicly in hearings and behind the scenes as well, as we all start to figure out what improvements do we need to see in the next Farm Bill,” Bleiberg said. “It’s an important opportunity given that it only does come up every so often.”

Bleiberg also discussed upcoming congressional elections and how redistricting could affect dairy’s political clout in the next Congress. The full podcast is here. You can find and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.” A transcript is also available below. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

Dairy Progress Possible on Capitol Hill, NMPF’s Bleiberg Says

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

With rising energy costs and a war effort riveting attention in Washington, 2022 is turning out to be an unusually busy year on Capitol Hill – one that holds opportunity for dairy, said Paul Bleiberg, Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the National Milk Producers Federation, in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.

“Election years can sometimes be quiet in a lot of ways. But there’s still a lot of sausage making that goes on,” he said. “We are hopeful that we’ll see some progress on supply chain legislation, in particular the Ocean Shipping Reform Act that our trade team has worked really hard on, to move forward in a variety of different contexts. And then that farm bill process is just going to get more and more significant as the date gets closer.”

Bleiberg also in the podcast discusses the prospects for “climate-smart” agricultural legislation to pass Congress this year and looks at gains for dairy in recent spending legislation.

The full podcast and transcript are below. You can find and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,   Google Podcasts and Amazon Music under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.” Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.