Tag: dairy sustainability

CDI’s Vanderham, NMPF’s Bjerga discuss California flooding

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Board of Directors member Cory Vanderham of California Dairies, Inc., and NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga talk about the challenges of California dairy producers and the need for long-term policy solutions on RFD-TV. While record snowpack is replenishing water supplies battered by multi-year drought, it also is bringing chaos to producers who are facing extreme weather conditions that require immediate reaction. For more details on how Vanderham has handled this year’s deluge, check out NMPF’s recent Dairy Defined podcast.

NMPF Comments Urge USDA to Elevate Dairy in Conservation Programs

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF submitted comments Dec. 21 to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service urging it to prioritize critical opportunities for dairy as it implements new climate-smart conservation funding in the Inflation Reduction Act enacted in August.

In its letter, NMPF urged USDA to develop new initiatives focused on manure and feed management, both of which will help dairy farmers advance their sustainability leadership as the sector works to fulfill its voluntary, producer-led goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050.

NMPF supported the Inflation Reduction Act’s $20 billion in landmark new funding for farm bill conservation programs.

“Dairy farmers seize environmental sustainability opportunities whenever possible,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. The funding increases “better position dairy farmers to effectively implement the dairy sector’s Net Zero Initiative and fulfill its 2050 environmental stewardship goals.”

USDA conservation programs offer important voluntary, incentive-based assistance to dairy farmers as they carry out multiple stewardship practices, but more can be done to emphasize systems and technologies that can yield meaningful environmental benefits for dairy producers. In its letter, NMPF urged USDA to “give priority to innovative approaches to manure and feed management, both of which are significant areas of opportunity for dairy producers as the industry strives to become GHG-neutral or better by 2050.”

NMPF’s submission recommended a new multi-pronged manure management initiative within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which received the largest share of the new funding provided in the Inflation Reduction Act. This initiative, if implemented, would focus on reducing methane emissions associated with manure handling and storage by targeting investments in waste separation and handling as well as methane digesters, which can capture as much as 80 percent of the methane from a waste stream. The initiative would also include a cap and flare component, emphasizing an approach better suited to those dairy operations that do not have the capacity for larger technologies like methane digesters.

NMPF also urged an enhanced focus on feed management to help dairy farmers augment their work to reduce enteric methane emissions, which can comprise as much as one-third of a dairy farm’s greenhouse gas footprint. NMPF’s recommendation included a focused effort to better educate NRCS staff on innovative new feed management strategies to increase the number of technical service providers that can work directly with producers on feed management plans.

NMPF will work closely with USDA as the department moves forward with implementation of this important new funding and will also partner with Congress in the upcoming farm bill to further target conservation programs toward meeting dairy’s environmental stewardship needs.

NMPF Touts Dairy’s Sustainability Story to Head Off Trade Problems

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF executive vice president for policy development & strategy Jaime Castaneda highlighted U.S. dairy’s strong sustainability commitments in Brussels Dec. 5-7 while meeting with American and European agriculture stakeholders under the U.S.-EU Collaboration Platform on Agriculture, a position reinforced in U.S. meetings later in the month.

The collaboration, launched by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and European Union Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski in November 2021, created a new forum for representatives from both the United States and the European Union to better collaborate and address common issues affecting agriculture, in key part to head off future trade conflicts.

Castaneda participated in the conference’s first panel. Castaneda also met with the Directorate-General (DG) Office for Health and Food Safety while in Europe to discuss the EU’s changing dairy import certificate requirements and the importance of smoothly implementing any new requirements. Following the conference, Castaneda joined the DG Office of Agriculture’s Unit Head and Deputy Director for the Americas to discuss ongoing trade issues, including the EU’s continued abuse of geographical indications to monopolize common cheese names around the world.

On Dec. 15, Shawna Morris, NMPF’s senior vice president for trade policy, joined Castaneda and Nick Gardner, senior vice president for sustainability and multilateral affairs with the U.S. Dairy Export Council to present to approximately two dozen European embassy officials on the progress U.S. dairy sector has made on sustainability in the past 15 years. Morris underscored the importance of a trade-friendly, incentive-based approach to new policies the EU is exploring in this space. The presentation also highlighted the sector’s goals and strategies and reinforced U.S. dairy’s reputation as a global trailblazer on climate and sustainability in agriculture.

NMPF Lauds Bipartisan Ag Climate Measures in Appropriations Package

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF members gained support for their agriculture-leading sustainability efforts in the massive spending bill signed into law Dec. 29, as lawmakers included the Growing Climate Solutions Act and the SUSTAINS Act in its final fiscal year 2023 budget package.

The measures will help dairy farmers seek additional sustainability opportunities as they work to fulfill the dairy sector’s voluntary, producer-led goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050.

“Environmental markets and conservation programs have the potential to meaningfully assist dairy producers as they work to meet their 2050 environmental stewardship goals,” said NMPF president and CEO Jim Mulhern in a statement. “The Growing Climate Solutions Act and the SUSTAINS Act will strengthen these important tools.”

The Growing Climate Solutions Act, authored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, and Senator Mike Braun, R-IN, passed the Senate last June on a bipartisan vote of 92-8. The legislation enables USDA to register technical service providers that help farmers implement stewardship practices that can generate credits on environmental markets. Producers then will be better positioned to participate in these important markets. Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-VA, and Don Bacon, R-NE, introduced companion legislation in the House.

The SUSTAINS Act, led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman-elect Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, passed the House Agriculture Committee in May on a bipartisan voice vote. The measure would allow private sector funds to supplement existing funding for farm bill conservation programs, which are continuously oversubscribed. The bill is an innovative approach to boosting funding for USDA conservation programs, which provide important technical assistance to dairy farmers for a variety of stewardship practices.

In addition to the sponsors of both bills, committee leaders Rep. David Scott, D-GA, and Sen. John Boozman, R-AR, also played important roles in finalizing the bipartisan package.

“We commend the leaders of the Agriculture Committees – Senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman and Reps. David Scott and GT Thompson – for working together to fashion this bipartisan agreement on agricultural climate legislation,” Mulhern said. “We look forward to working with them and their colleagues to build on this progress in the new year.”

NMPF Lauds Bipartisan Ag Climate Measures in Appropriations Package

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today commended Congress for including the Growing Climate Solutions Act and the SUSTAINS Act in its final fiscal year 2023 budget package. These measures will help dairy farmers seek additional sustainability opportunities as they work to fulfill the dairy sector’s voluntary, producer-led goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050.

“Environmental markets and conservation programs have the potential to meaningfully assist dairy producers as they work to meet their 2050 environmental stewardship goals,” said NMPF president and CEO Jim Mulhern. “The Growing Climate Solutions Act and the SUSTAINS Act will strengthen these important tools.”

The Growing Climate Solutions Act, authored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, and Senator Mike Braun, R-IN, passed the Senate last June on a bipartisan vote of 92-8. The legislation would enable USDA to register technical service providers that help farmers implement stewardship practices that can generate credits on environmental markets. In turn, producers will be better positioned to participate in these important markets. Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-VA, and Don Bacon, R-NE, have introduced companion legislation in the House.

The SUSTAINS Act, authored by House Agriculture Committee Chairman-elect Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, passed the House Agriculture Committee in May on a bipartisan voice vote. The measure would allow private sector funds to supplement existing funding for farm bill conservation programs, which are continuously oversubscribed. The bill is an innovative approach to boosting funding for USDA conservation programs, which provide important technical assistance to dairy farmers for a variety of stewardship practices.

In addition to the sponsors of both bills, committee leaders Rep. David Scott, D-GA, and Sen. John Boozman, R-AR, also played important roles in finalizing the bipartisan package.

“We commend the leaders of the Agriculture Committees – Senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman and Reps. David Scott and GT Thompson – for working together to fashion this bipartisan agreement on agricultural climate legislation,” Mulhern said. “We look forward to working with them and their colleagues to build on this progress in the new year.”

Biosecurity Critical to Dairy Every Day

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

By Miquela Hanselman, Regulatory Affairs Manager, NMPF.

In the winter months, people often take extra precautions against illnesses like the flu or the common cold because they understand the benefits of staying healthy. Every farmer knows that simple on-farm actions help keep animals healthy. But routine best practices — as well as enhanced ones that are especially important in a world of animal disease outbreaks that destroy markets as well as herds—are critical to keep top-of-mind as farmers strive to have healthy animals, healthy employees, and a healthy dairy economy.

That’s why the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program created the first Everyday Biosecurity Manual. Biosecurity is the newest FARM Program area, beginning in 2021 through funding from USDA’s National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program. It focuses on increasing awareness of biosecurity throughout the dairy industry by providing practical and effective steps to further promote cattle health. This voluntary program complements the animal health and husbandry recommendations included in the FARM Animal Care, Drug Residue Prevention, and Environmental Stewardship programs.

Seven areas to protect health

The Everyday Biosecurity Manual outlines small, routine steps dairy farmers can take to protect herd and employee health through seven areas — animal health and disease monitoring, animal movements and contact, animal products, vehicles and equipment, personnel, cleaning and disinfection, and a line of separation. Putting everyday biosecurity measures in place can prevent the introduction, detect the presence, and contain the spread of diseases among both cattle and people. Everyday biosecurity practices protect against common diseases like contagious mastitis, respiratory infections, and scours. With effective everyday biosecurity steps, farmers can prevent or lessen the impact of these diseases on their cattle.

Biosecurity is a multistep process. Along with everyday measures, producers also need enhanced biosecurity to protect cattle from highly contagious foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). FARM Biosecurity also complements the Secure Milk Supply (SMS) Plan for Continuity of Business during an FMD outbreak, which includes enhanced biosecurity recommendations. The FARM Biosecurity program aligns everyday steps with these enhanced steps to ensure producers have the right tools to protect their cattle from common or high-consequence diseases.

The SMS Plan was developed in collaboration with industry representatives, state and federal animal health officials, and academic partners with USDA funding beginning in 2009. In an FMD outbreak, dairy farms located in a regulatory control area would need a movement permit issued by the state to ship cattle, semen, embryos, and possibly raw milk. The FARM Biosecurity Program is also developing an online option for producers, their veterinarian, and their FARM evaluator to create an enhanced biosecurity plan ahead of an outbreak. Once put in place, cattle will be better protected against FMD, and producers will be better positioned to meet the biosecurity movement permit requirement to move their cattle and products during an FAD outbreak.

Good biosecurity takes time and practice to be effective. Making these practices routine — or reinforcing the best management practices in the Everyday Biosecurity Manual — can help protect animals from all kinds of diseases. This ultimately moves the industry one step closer to protecting cattle and the U.S. milk supply. Visit nationaldairyfarm.com/farm-biosecurity/ for more information.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Dec. 12, 2022.

NMPF Urges Sped-Up FDA Approval of Climate Friendly Feed Additives

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

ARLINGTON, VA — NMPF called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use existing legal authority to modernize its regulations allowing for faster approval of animal-feed additives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, submitting comments to the agency today that highlighted the need for urgent action to enhance dairy’s role as a climate solution.

“Innovative and voluntary solutions are needed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including methane,” said Dr. Jamie Jonker, NMPF’s chief science officer, in the comments submitted today. “Enteric emissions directly from cows currently account for roughly one third of all GHG emissions from dairy farms and present an important area of opportunity for methane reductions. Feed composition changes can directly or indirectly reduce enteric emissions resulting from livestock.”

While animal-feed additives are a promising path toward a net-zero future for dairy as outlined in industry goals, the pace of their approval lags that of competitors such as the European Union due to current FDA processes. By streamlining bureaucracy and allowing feed-additives to be treated as foods rather than as drugs, the United States can maintain and advance its global leadership in sustainability, Jonker wrote.

Through the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative, a collaboration across dairy organizations, dairy-farm research is advancing new technology and new market development opportunities to make sustainability practices more accessible and affordable to farms of all sizes, including enteric methane reduction.

“One of the greatest opportunities that exists for U.S. dairy farmers is their ability to provide real solutions to many of today’s biggest environmental challenges like GHG emissions,” Jonker wrote. “Embracing new practices and technologies is key to making America’s dairy farmers an environmental solution while providing wholesome and nutritious dairy products to the U.S. and the world.”

For more on how dairy is advancing its stewardship and best practices, visit the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) Program’s Environmental Stewardship page.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Annual Meeting, Dairy’s Challenges

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga talks about some of the challenges dairy farmers face, and how they’re facing it together, in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. As NMPF members gather in Denver this week for the organization’s annual meeting, milk-pricing modernization, sustainability and stewardship, and international trade are all taking the spotlight.

NMPF Statement on USDA Support for Dairy in Climate-Smart Commodities Projects

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

From NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern:

“America’s dairy community applauds USDA’s support for the robust efforts dairy farmers are leading to develop and implement climate-smart solutions that will benefit the entire food chain, from producer to consumer. As an agricultural leader in sustainability, dairy farmers appreciate this funding that will help us meet our ambitious industry-wide goals for net-zero emissions and optimized water use.

“NMPF is especially proud of the leadership its member cooperatives are showing in these critical areas, with several initiatives receiving significant USDA support. California Dairies Inc., Dairy Farmers of America, Land O’Lakes, and the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association – who are leading or partnering on specific projects that may receive up to $245 million in funding — each should be commended for their efforts, along with other dairy groups who are seeking to build a better future through climate-smart agriculture projects.”

Burkholders Sustain a Dairy for Generations to Come

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

In farming, success often means creating an operation that can sustain the next generation. And that requires embracing change. That balance of continuity and innovation is what Clint Burkholder and his family have tried to achieve.

“Things change very rapidly on the farm,” said Burkholder, owner of Burk-Lea Farms near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. “We’re striving to do the best that we can. We care for our animals. We care for the land. We need to treat the animals, treat the environment and everything to the best of our ability, because if we don’t, it won’t be there for the next generation.”

The Burkholder family, a member of Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, milks 850 Holsteins, raises roughly 700 heifers and cultivate 1,400 acres of cropland. Animal care and environmental conservation is part of the business plan; they house their cows in free-stall barns with sand bedding and use cover crops and no-till on their cropland to benefit soil and water quality. The farm also has a manure separation system and a water recirculating system to recycle water.

For more of the family’s story and more profiles of innovative dairy farms, visit NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page.

Read the Profile Here

 

NMPF Commends Climate Provisions in Senate’s Inflation Reduction Act

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) commended the inclusion of $20 billion in new funding for USDA conservation programs in the Inflation Reduction Act which passed the Senate today.

The funding, spearheaded by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, will help dairy farmers advance their proactive sustainability leadership by enhancing farm bill conservation programs with an emphasis on key dairy areas of opportunity, including feed management. The new investments will provide important voluntary technical assistance to dairy farmers who undertake such stewardship practices, including targeted new funding that emphasizes critical farm practices that yield significant environmental benefits for dairy.

“Dairy farmers seize environmental sustainability opportunities whenever possible,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The funding increases in this package will better position dairy farmers to effectively implement the dairy sector’s Net Zero Initiative and fulfill its 2050 environmental stewardship goals. We are very grateful to Chairwoman Stabenow for her success and leadership in securing this meaningful new conservation investment, which will be a game-changer for dairy.”

Dairy farmers in 2020 committed in their Net Zero Initiative to become greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050, while also maximizing water quality and optimizing water use around the country.

Key wins for dairy among the climate-smart ag provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act include:

  • $8.45 billion in new funds for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides important technical assistance to dairy farmers, targeted toward stewardship practices that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
  • $25 million annually for Conservation Innovation Trials, with new funding targeted toward initiatives that use feed and diet management to reduce the enteric methane emissions that can comprise roughly one-third of a dairy farm’s greenhouse gas footprint. NMPF is excited for this opportunity to amplify its focus on reducing enteric emissions; and
  • $6.75 billion in new funds for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which funds locally developed, targeted partnership projects, emphasizing initiatives that incentivize or target reduced methane emissions.

NMPF and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives last year led a coalition of 12 agricultural and conservation organizations on a letter advocating for significant new funding for climate-smart agricultural practices while opposing tax policy proposals that could have undermined the transfer of family farms from one generation to the next. NMPF is pleased that those tax policy proposals are not included in this legislation and thanks the many members in both parties who advocated against them.

NMPF also looks forward to continuing to work with both Republicans and Democrats to enact climate and conservation policy into law. Last year, the Senate passed the Growing Climate Solutions Act, authored by Senator Mike Braun, R-IN, and Chairwoman Stabenow by a vote of 92-8. More recently, the House Agriculture Committee adopted the SUSTAINS Act authored by Ranking Member Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, by a voice vote. Last month, NMPF worked with Reps. Jim Baird, R-IN, and Jimmy Panetta, D-CA, to secure new funding for animal feed additive approvals in pending appropriations legislation.