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.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) today formalized an agreement to foster cooperation and collaboration between the three groups to advocate for science-based regulations across food and agricultural trade policy.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the three groups sets forth a broad set of principles to guide collaboration on key issues that affect their members. The agreement spans two years and includes a strong focus on food policy priorities as well as Codex, sustainability, and food systems issues.
“U.S. dairy producers share common interests with their counterparts in Argentina, including global leadership on sustainability and regulatory standards,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “SRA and its member recognize that we must ground new and evolving rules in the latest and best science, rather than allowing other agendas to distort food and ag policy.”
“We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Argentine agricultural producers on issues of common concern,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “Together we will work to ensure international regulatory policy is based in science, while we also endeavor to reduce unnecessarily burdensome barriers to trade between our two nations.”
“From the Sociedad Rural Argentina, we continue to work hard in pursuit of free trade, based on clear and fair rules, to achieve structural reforms to international trade in agricultural products, and in particular dairy products where there is great protectionism,” said Nicolás Pino, president of the SRA. “In this sense, we celebrate this agreement with North American milk producers and exporters that seeks to strengthen joint actions on the international agenda.”
The MOU between NMPF, USDEC and SRA complements agreements signed this year with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Pan American Dairy Federation (FEPALE), providing USDEC and NMPF an additional avenue to communicate and engage with stakeholders in Latin America.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) today called for the full Senate to swiftly confirm Doug McKalip to serve as Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) after the Senate Finance Committee today voted in favor of the nomination. The committee held a hearing on McKalip in July.
“It is deeply unfortunate that the position of chief agricultural negotiator has gone unfilled for so long,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Today’s Senate Finance Committee vote in support of Mr. McKalip’s nomination is a critical step toward getting U.S. agriculture’s chief advocate installed at USTR. Given the strength of his credentials and the urgency in advancing the U.S. agricultural trade agenda, we ask the Senate to act without delay to approve McKalip. As the U.S. prepares to advance numerous trade policy vehicles that hold the potential to positively impact our exports, it’s essential that agriculture’s seat at the table be filled.”
“We thank the Senate Finance Committee for its action today in support of Mr. McKalip’s nomination and the committee’s recognition of just how important this position is for American agriculture,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “McKalip understands the needs of the U.S. dairy industry, agricultural workers and the rural economy, having skillfully served in numerous government roles touching on agricultural issues throughout his career. Now, we ask the full Senate to take up the matter and approve McKalip’s nomination in the coming few weeks. Time is of the essence, as USTR considers a broad range of new trade endeavors.”
McKalip brings to the position decades of experience representing the interests of U.S. agriculture, having served in an impressive array of leadership positions at USDA and the White House.
Highlights
NMPF’s work to expand export market opportunities for U.S. dairy products has helped support a record $4.8 billion in dairy exports in the first half of 2022, a year-over-year increase of 27 percent. NMPF collaborates with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) to advance NMPF member interests.
President and CEO Jim Mulhern joined President Biden at the White House in June to welcome the signing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) into law. The legislation, aimed at easing the port congestion plaguing dairy and other exporters, caps NMPF and USDEC’s year-long efforts to help shape and advance the bill in Congress.
In addition to new protections for dairy exporters, including limits on fees incurred outside of exporters’ control, the new law directs the Federal Maritime Commission to draft additional regulations to ensure ocean carriers are not unduly refusing to transport U.S. exports. NMPF has also pressed the administration for measures to expand shipping equipment availability and iron out logistics challenges, including securing key port pop-up sites to facilitate the processing of shipping containers.
NMPF and USDEC also continue to be vocal advocates for free trade agreements that lower barriers for dairy exports, with the Biden Administration heeding NMPF’s calls to ensure existing deals are strongly enforced. Part of this year’s effort included successfully securing U.S. government support for a second dispute settlement panel over Canada’s refusal to expand dairy market access in accordance with its U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement commitments.
Additional efforts have focused on Mexico and Central and South America as protectionist sentiments continue to surge from Mexico to Chile. NMPF has focused on ensuring existing market access opportunities are preserved in the face of regulatory changes and anti-trade policies.
In Mexico, after deep engagement from NMPF and USDEC, new Mexican milk powder regulations were implemented on July 8 in a manner that allowed trade to keep flowing. The trade policy team also helped ensure that Panama’s appeals to shirk its dairy market access FTA obligations were rejected by the U.S. government and to push back against anti-import sentiment in Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and other key regional markets. As additional countries retreat inward and embrace protectionist stances toward trade, NMPF strives to ensure counterproductive policies that would limit the ability of consumers to access U.S. dairy products are met with strong opposition.
An invitation to the White House to represent dairy farmers and their cooperatives at the signing of important legislation that helps the dairy community is an honor. The chance to attend, along with U.S. Dairy Export Council CEO Krysta Harden and other ag leaders, the signing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act last month was an opportunity to highlight dairy’s hard work to alleviate the shipping crisis that has impeded exports for the past year.
But to be honest, a greater honor comes from working with the NMPF and USDEC team that over the past year has led efforts in dairy and across agriculture to enact the legislation. And that effort’s success is only one more accomplishment in one of the biggest long-term successes of dairy and dairy policy over the past generation – the emergence of the United States as a critical player in international markets. This huge export growth boosts milk prices, alleviates pressure on an industry whose productivity outpaces domestic population growth, and feeds the world with the nutritious products Americans have long enjoyed.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act sets in motion a series of new rules and regulations governing ocean freight shippers that the Federal Maritime Commission must implement over the next year. These rules should help dairy-product exporters get more of their goods onto ships that recently have been heading to Asia empty, trying to meet import demands rather than fill their hulls with the goods that create U.S. jobs.
Agriculture, a rare American industry that ships out more than it brings in, has suffered from practices that have created unnecessary, costly delays to serving overseas consumers. While this legislation alone won’t smooth out all the issues with supply chains that are struggling with even deeper structural issues, it will help dairy build upon the global competitiveness that made 2021 a record year for U.S. dairy exports.
That’s gratifying. It’s also in keeping with the longer-term story of how patient, relentless efforts in dairy-trade policy have helped build an emerging export powerhouse.
Day-to-day, few areas of the many in which NMPF serves the interests of its members can be as bedeviling as trade. U.S. dairy farmers gain a key win against Canada – and Canada responds by dragging its feet even further. A judge stands up for the integrity of common cheese names – and the European Union persists in its shenanigans. These are the sorts of setbacks and stonewalls that can obscure progress.
But the progress is real. In 1995, 4.4 percent of U.S. milk solids were exported to foreign destinations. Last year, it was 17.3 percent – nearly one out of every six gallons of milk. U.S. dairy trade set records in volume and value in 2021, international market share is increasing, and American milk producers stand to benefit more than farmers anywhere else from the world’s growing appetite for dairy as competitors craft policies that hinder their own dairy industries – a path we simply won’t let happen here.
That growth has been crucial as gains in U.S. dairy production have outstripped domestic population growth. It’s safe to say that, without the emergence of international markets, milk prices would be dramatically lower, and much of the current size and regional diversity of U.S. dairy farms would be lost due to intolerable economic conditions.
U.S. dairy exports have risen broadly in part because we sweat the details – the attentiveness NMPF and USDEC showed in pushing for the Ocean Shipping Reform Act is characteristic of its approach for years. Decades of diligent work on trade has built a brighter present for dairy, even though that work requires patience and persistence that at times would seem to go beyond reason.
The progress we’ve seen on trade has happened because of the painstaking work of beneficial free-trade agreements; of tariff reductions that improved access; of robust legal efforts that have successfully defended U.S. dairy in international law; and because of the re-orientation of the industry toward greater exports that were made possible because trade policy created a more hospitable environment in which to invest.
Foresight by earlier NMPF and dairy check-off program leaders – and a lot of hard work — built the U.S. Dairy Export Council, acting worldwide to promote U.S. products. The same can be said for the industry’s sustainability initiatives, which help U.S. dairy farmers be the most sustainable, and thus most competitive, milk producers in the world.
And just as past efforts have paid huge dividends, present and future ones will as well, from seeking continued opportunities through initiatives like the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to telling the world the compelling story of U.S. dairy through hosting the International Dairy Federation’s annual summit in Chicago in 2023. It’s the first visit of that global conference to the United States in three decades, and it’s being brought here through the efforts of Dairy Management Inc., USDEC and NMPF, after the previous host – China – backed out.
Dairy’s representation at the White House at the signing of policy that will advance this industry shows how much we matter in policy arenas. But it’s also only one part of a much larger, much more important effort. Through resilience, progress and determination to build a better future for U.S. dairy, we’ve come a long way. And whatever the specific successes – or momentary frustrations – may be, dairy’s advance will continue.
Sheryl Meshke, co-president and CEO of Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI), told a Senate subcommittee today that the U.S. government must pursue additional market access opportunities and address export supply-chain delays in order for the U.S. dairy industry to keep up with its global competitors.
Meshke serves on the board of directors for both the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC).
“In pursuing exports, the U.S. dairy industry faces experienced and well-established competitors who have been exceptionally active with free trade agreements,” said Meshke, whose New Ulm, MN-based cooperative is a member of both NMPF and USDEC. “The United States needs to get back in the game and craft an approach to pursuing comprehensive trade agreements.”
Meshke also emphasized the importance of enforcing existing trade agreements, particularly U.S. dairy export access to the Canadian market under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Meshke addressed the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade, which convened the hearing on agricultural trade issues.
American dairy risks losing its competitiveness, as the global playing field slowly tilts against the United States due to competitors’ trade agreements with key dairy importing markets, Meshke noted in her testimony. She also said U.S. trade negotiators need to target priority markets for expanded access, including Southeast Asia, Japan, China, the Middle East and the United Kingdom.
Meshke also emphasized the importance of combating non-tariff trade barriers, particularly the European Union’s aggressive efforts to confiscate food and beverage names in global markets by abusing geographical indications systems. She urged a strong defense of common food names: “We can’t wait any longer for the U.S. government to proactively defend the use of common food and beverage names against aggressive global efforts by the EU to restrict the use of generic terms we rely on.”
Congress and the Biden Administration must take further steps to address export supply chain delays, Meshke added. She specifically called for the passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), versions of which have passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, and for a suite of solutions to be pursued to mitigate this complex problem.
“As Sheryl outlined so well, we are now seeing dairy consumption grow at exceptional rates in many markets around the world,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The U.S. dairy industry is well-positioned to meet the expanding global demand for sustainably produced dairy products. But to seize those opportunities, we must take a leadership role along with like-minded countries – advancing policies and crafting trade agreements that can deliver real benefits for dairy farmers.”
“Now more than ever, global markets are critically important to the health of the U.S. dairy industry,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “We need to make full use of every available trade tool – including the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative, and Trade and Investment Framework Agreements – to improve market access in key export markets. At the same time, we can’t leave comprehensive trade agreements on the cutting room floor. Exports underpin U.S. dairy’s success in the present and, backed by trade agreements, exports will support the industry’s growth in the future.”
Jaime Castaneda, NMPF’s Executive Vice President for Policy Development & Strategy, discusses Canada’s lack of willingness to honor its dairy commitments under USMCA on RFD-TV. A dispute resolution panel under the trade agreement has found Canada’s system of allocating access to its dairy market to the U.S. in violation of the deal. NMPF is urging an aggressive U.S. response.
An Illinois dairy processor highlighted the importance of exports to dairy manufacturing jobs in a virtual townhall organized by Farmers for Free Trade (FFT) today. Chris Hoeger, vice president of procurement for Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., participated in a panel with Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD), farmers and economists to discuss the critical role U.S. agricultural exports have in supporting the rural economy.
A participant in the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council’s (USDEC) Dairy Trade Envoys program, Hoeger joined with the panel in calling on the U.S. government to pursue comprehensive trade deals. He noted that, in the absence of negotiations on tariff reductions, American dairy exporters face an increasingly unbalanced playing field as the European Union and New Zealand forge ahead with new agreements.
“We appreciate the Administration’s important work in enforcing existing trade deals, including USMCA, but without new access opportunities, U.S. dairy exports will continue to face a disadvantage, and American jobs will suffer as a result,” Hoeger shared in his remarks. “Workers in the dairy industry want the Biden trade policy strategy to include following through with agreements already under negotiation, such as with the United Kingdom, a big dairy importing market, as well as going after new deals.”
NMPF and USDEC are members of FFT. Both play an active role in helping the organization carry out its mission of informing the public about the benefits of free trade and supporting the pursuit of beneficial trade agreements that expand export opportunities for American farmers and workers throughout the export supply chain.
“We appreciate the opportunity this Farmers for Free Trade townhall has provided to highlight how exports benefit not only American dairy farms, but also the thousands of workers in the dairy industry at the manufacturing level and throughout the supporting supply chain,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We believe expanding market access to key dairy markets where the United States currently competes at a disadvantage would create continued much-needed opportunities for America’s dairy cooperatives like Prairie Farms. NMPF thanks Chris Hoeger and Representative Johnson for highlighting that need during today’s event.”
“As Chris Hoeger outlined so well at today’s event, dairy exports have a deep and positive impact on food manufacturing jobs in Illinois and throughout the country,” said Krysta Harden, USDEC president and CEO. “As reiterated throughout today’s event, American agricultural exports have wide-ranging benefits for workers at the farm, at the processing plant, in the supply chain and beyond. We appreciate Farmers for Free Trade’s and Congressman Johnson’s persistent advocacy for greater market access opportunities that will continue to support and grow our rural economies and the millions of American jobs that depend on them.”
The Dairy Trade Envoys are a select group of dairy producers and processing staff focused on educating elected officials and media about dairy trade policy priorities.
While movement by the administration to resume comprehensive trade negotiations remains lacking, NMPF continues pursuing multiple pathways and outlining steps to government officials that can be taken to expand market access for U.S. dairy exports.
NMPF president and CEO Jim Mulhern participated in a Feb. 10 agricultural CEO discussion with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai focused on the sector’s trade priorities and market barriers around the world, including the growing disadvantage U.S. agricultural exporters face in key markets as trade competitors negotiate free trade agreements and the United States doesn’t.
NMPF is continuing to press for the U.S. government to pursue comprehensive trade agreements, particularly with key dairy markets such as those in Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom, given that the administration is more focused currently on pursuing non-FTA trade initiatives. As a result, NMPF’s trade policy team is urging the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to use additional, alternative avenues to expand trade – addressing tariff and nontariff barriers – that can fill in gaps in trade opportunities until FTAs can be inked.
NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) submitted confidential recommendations to USTR earlier on Feb. 8, addressing areas of prime opportunity across a variety of high-priority markets. NMPF urged the administration to use trade tools such as Trade and Investment Framework Agreements and the fledgling Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to address the regulatory and policy challenges identified. NMPF is also encouraging a greater focus on lowering Most Favored Nation tariffs in key markets to put U.S. dairy exporters on a more level playing field.
On behalf of U.S. dairy producers and manufacturers, the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council lauded the industry’s decades of work that’s led to a record year for U.S. dairy exports after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced record sales of $7.75 billion in 2021, accounting for over 17% of U.S. milk production.
“The record demand for U.S. milk overseas in 2021 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of U.S. dairy farmers and the entire industry to making sure our high-quality, nutritious products feed the world as well as Americans,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. “As we’ve said many times, exports represent the next frontier for U.S. dairy – it’s gratifying to see decades of effort bear fruit and only makes us more excited about the future successes ahead.”
“Outstanding results like last year’s record-setting $7.75 billion in U.S. dairy exports don’t happen overnight. They’re the result of a lot of hard work by our industry to build demand for U.S. dairy products around the world and harness the opportunities that past trade deals – from U.S. free trade agreements to the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round – have made available,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “We look forward to continuing to build on this success further and to ensure we have the right trade and export supply chain policy tools to support that growth.”
Exports may have reached even higher levels had U.S. exporters not been battered by supply chain challenges that drove up costs and complexity of delivering dairy products to foreign customers. The U.S. dairy industry will need proactive trade policies that remove barriers to trade and ensure that U.S. dairy farmers and manufacturers are equipped to compete on a level playing field, the organizations added.
Shawna Morris, Senior Vice President for Trade with the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, discusses U.S. dairy’s win over Canada in the first trade dispute ever brought before the USMCA’s dispute settlement panel on RFD-TV. The panel ruled against Canada in a case brought by the United States over its unfair allocation of quotas that limited U.S. dairy access to Canada agreed to as part of USMCA.
Robert Chesler, CEO of the United Dairymen of Arizona, emphasized the importance of securing new market access opportunities through bilateral or multilateral Free Trade Agreements during a virtual town hall organized today by Farmers for Free Trade (FFT). For American dairy farmers to remain competitive in the international market, the United States must unlock new export markets, Chesler said.
As FFT members, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) have a leading role in carrying out its mission of informing the public about the benefits of free trade and supporting the pursuit of beneficial trade agreements that expand export opportunities for American farms.
During today’s virtual event, Chesler spoke of the challenges that American dairy exporters face as the United States’ trade competitors continue to secure greater dairy market access in key export markets. He noted that countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and the EU are aggressively pursuing new trade deals, which then harms the competitiveness of U.S. dairy products at a time when international demand is growing. In his remarks, Chesler said that policy actions focused on increased competition and removing burdensome market barriers are key to sustaining our existing export markets and opening additional opportunities for U.S. dairy producers.
“We urge the Administration to seek Trade Promotion Authority renewal to go after new trade agreements,” Chesler noted in his comments. “This is critical to realizing fully the potential of dairy markets in places like Vietnam, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and other major dairy purchasers. In the meantime, the U.S. should be using all types of trade tools to expand access and reduce barriers to U.S. exports with major agricultural importing markets.”
An NMPF and USDEC member based in Tempe, the United Dairymen of Arizona is a full-service milk marketing cooperative founded in 1960. Its farmer-owned manufacturing facility produces milk powder, cream, butter, and a variety of other dairy ingredients, many of which are exported around the world.
“We thank Robert for representing the industry and outlining provisions that could improve our export market,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO. “American dairy farmers support thousands of jobs in rural communities. Unfortunately, the lack of a trade agenda that focuses on opening markets limits our ability to grow. We need the administration to aggressively pursue greater market access opportunities to ensure American dairy exporters can effectively compete with other dairy exporting nations that continue to ink new agreements.”
“We applaud Robert’s remarks today about the competitive disadvantage that U.S. dairy producers are facing and encourage this administration to address the issue by engaging in negotiations with our trading partners,” said Krysta Harden, USDEC president and CEO. “What we are seeing today are unfavorable tariff rates when compared to our competitors and regulatory barriers that are hampering our exporters’ ability to access their full market potential. USDEC strongly supports UDA’s call to action for the administration to use its trading tools to pursue new opportunities.”
