NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney discusses how dairy proved its worth to U.S. consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic at the organization’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV. Also, NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses some of the meeting’s key agenda items, including the industry’s sustainability commitments and the need to explore milk-pricing reform.
National Milk Producers Federation Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses NMPF’s joint annual meeting with allied dairy organizations this week in Las Vegas. More than 600 dairy farmers and industry professionals are converging for discussions on policy and marketplace accomplishments in 2021, as well as future challenges. Bjerga says a united dairy sector can face whatever comes its way.
The U.S. needs to follow international norms on the proper labeling of butter and dairy terms, NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga said in an interview with RFD Radio. A recent decision by the Codex Alimentarius reaffirms labeling integrity internationally, with the FDA planning guidance on similar matter next year. Bjerga also discusses NMPF’s Dairy Defined series of informational essays and podcasts.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts is leaving Congress after 40 years in January. The only person to lead both the House and Senate agriculture committees takes with him a wealth of wisdom in agriculture policy – but also holds optimism for agriculture’s ability to get things done in an environment of difficult challenges.
“I would just say that I am very confident that the people who will be taking my place, they have a lot of experience,” Roberts said in a Dairy Defined interview released today. “They’re good folks. I think the same attempt, at least, with regards to making it bipartisan, will continue.”
Roberts, who first came to Washington as a congressional staffer a half-century ago, also reflects on the two farm bills he led — 1996’s Freedom to Farm law and the 2018 bill — as well as one area where he wished he could have done more: his leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee during the Iraq War. He also said he doesn’t consider his career to be over – without revealing plans, he said that when it comes to farm policy, “I intend to have my finger in the pie somewhere.”
To listen to the full discussion, click here. You can also find this and other NMPF podcasts on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and Google Play. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.
This week’s Dairy Defined is a little different: It’s a multi-lingual tour of alternative beverages, coming to you from the European Union, where an oat drink is called … an oat drink.
While many EU dairy policies leave much to be desired, its approach to dairy labeling shows how it’s possible to name beverages accurately, no matter what fake-milk marketers and FDA inaction may enable in the United States. From “hirse” and “chanvre” to “amande” and “soja,” EU grocery shoppers have a wealth of plant-based beverages to choose from – and somehow those beverages manage to exist, like they do in almost the entire world, without being called milk.
Don’t believe it? Click here for proof.
“Innovation” is a buzzword thrown about to the point of cliché. What it is varies with the circumstance.
For tech professionals, innovation could be an updated app or a streamlined solution. For teachers, it might be the newest way to engage students remotely. For those in health care, it may be a vaccine or more-effective treatment.
On dairy farms, innovation can look like … entomological wastewater filtration and effluent subsurface drip irrigation. Neither are buzzwords. Both are examples of how dairy is innovating its way toward a more sustainable future.
Royal Dairy in Royal City, Washington, wanted to enhance its waste-management system and reduce GHG emissions. Seeking solutions, Austin Allred, owner of Royal Dairy and a member of Northwest Dairy Association, piloted and adopted the BIDA® System developed by BioFiltro. The international wastewater filtration company uses worms within a passive aerobic system to clean wastewater from the dairy for irrigation. By investing in this technology, Royal Dairy has reduced its Total Suspended Solids (TSS) by 99% and reduced total Nitrogen (TKN) by 83%. As an added benefit, it also creates a rich fertilizer from the worm castings.
Another sustainability solution is found at De Jager Dairy North and California Dairies Inc., member McRee Dairy, both near Chowchilla, California, where drip irrigation is leading toward a future of better harvests and reduced emissions.
The two dairies partnered with Israeli company Netafim and Sustainable Conservation to develop and test a sub-surface irrigation system that delivers liquid dairy cow manure as a fertilizer close to the crop’s root system. This results in needing up to 35 percent less water while maintaining or even increasing crop yields in addition to reducing irrigation-related greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent – saving costs and building resilience against droughts projected to worsen with climate change.
Projects like these, which put in the work today to develop solutions for a better tomorrow, are only two of the many on-farm innovations taking place on dairies. For those who spend their time planting as well as milking, carbon sequestration made possible by cover cropping and conservation tillage further maximize efforts like Allred’s. From improved anaerobic digesters and technology that separates nutrients, to feed additives that reduce methane emissions, dairy farming is continuing to advance – and lead – in adoption of sustainable technologies and practices in agriculture.
And they’re efforts the industry supports, with programs like the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Environmental Stewardship initiative that measures a farm’s carbon and energy footprints. The initiative equips farmers with data that helps them understand their sustainability impact and chart a course for continued progress that’s essential to ensure industry progress toward the collective 2050 environmental goals of becoming carbon neutral or better; optimizing water use; and improving water quality.
On-farm innovation on dairies may not always be as obvious as an app or a vaccine. But they’re no less real or important. Dairy farms are sites of constant innovation, with farmers embracing new methods and new measures. And their proven track record of innovation is set to grow even further.
The National Milk Producers Federation congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and members of the upcoming 117th Congress for their election victories, pledging to work for bipartisan solutions to the many challenges faced in agriculture and in the nation.
“Congratulations to President-elect Biden and the incoming members of the 117th Congress, who will have a lot of work to do in this country, from legislating to building common ground,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “Dairy is ready to do its part and work with the administration and Congress to face difficult problems successfully, in the bipartisan spirit we have always practiced and believed in.”
NMPF has long been committed to working with both major political parties for sound, consensus-based public policy. More on NMPF’s approach to policy, why dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own possess a distinct voice within agriculture, and the crucial role they can play in the months ahead, can be found in this week’s Dairy Defined column.
Alan Bjerga, NMPF’s Senior Vice President of Communications, discusses why a letter to the FDA’s ombudsman office needs to prompt action against dairy imitators, on the “Adams on Agriculture” podcast.
With FDA giving little indication of promised action on proper labeling of imitation dairy products, the National Milk Producers Federation today asked the agency’s ombudsman to ensure that rules are properly enforced.
“Allowing unlawfully labeled ‘plant-based’ imitation dairy foods to proliferate poses an immediate and growing risk to public health; it is a clear dereliction of the FDA’s duty to enforce federal law and agency regulations,” wrote NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern in the letter, sent to Dr. Laurie Lenkel, ombudsman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “The FDA’s Office of the Ombudsman must intervene to break the bureaucratic logjam that is adversely affecting consumers. Doing so would fit squarely within the Office’s own mission to ensure even-handed application of FDA policy and procedures.”
The FDA ombudsman, based in the agency commissioner’s office, “serves as a neutral and independent resource for members of FDA-regulated industries when they experience problems with the regulatory process,” according to the agency. NMPF is urging the ombudsman’s office to take appropriate action to remedy the FDA’s lax approach to enforcing its own rules on the use of dairy terms on products containing no dairy ingredients, which have proven impacts on public health – a new phase of advocacy brought about by the agency’s regrettable inaction. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations have offered evidence of nutritional deficiencies caused by confusion over the contents of plant-based versus dairy beverages.
NMPF last year released its own road map offering solutions to how public health, product integrity and free speech could be protected through updated regulations. NMPF also supports the DAIRY PRIDE Act, a potential legislative prod for FDA action, and has asked FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn to follow up on the pledge he made nearly one year ago to make fake-dairy labeling a high-priority issue at FDA.
NMPF’s Regulatory team offers an issues update for the 2020 NMPF Virtual Town Hall.
Dear Dr. Hahn –
Sorry to bother you at such a busy time, but we need to talk. We’re guessing that 2020 wasn’t what you expected, dealing with COVID vaccines and a host of other pressing concerns. It’s been crazy for us too. But faith and friends can help you through, no matter how big or small the troubles may be. We hope you’ve felt supported through these challenging times.
We’ve noticed that recently, FDA has been getting more active on topics beyond COVID-19, in some cases even revisiting issues that have lain dormant from previous decades in the spirit of completing unfinished business. That made us think it was time to remind you about something you promised you’d deal with back in November, before everything turned upside down. At your FDA confirmation hearing, Senator Tammy Baldwin asked you whether and when FDA under your leadership would soon start enforcing labeling standards that reserve dairy terms for real dairy products, not the plant-based imposters that are posing an increasing problem for public health. You said you supported “clear, transparent, and understandable labeling for the American people” and that you would “very much” look into it.
How is that going? Any way we could help? We understand that FDA has kicked fake dairy deception down the road for decades, but the problem is only growing, public-health experts are growing concerned, and it isn’t a heavy lift for the FDA to do what’s not only true to its mission but also what’s legally required. In fact, we have provided an entire road map proposal that offers a clear guide to resolution – one that is well-grounded in First Amendment law, would ensure that consumers know what products are and aren’t nutritionally, and even could allow plant-based “milks” to continue dairy terms in some instances, with proper qualifiers that have long been established in FDA regulations to clearly distinguish them from dairy.
We had been very hopeful, based on your pledge, that this would be the year this problem could finally be solved. Since it’s late in 2020 – and who knows what the next few months might be like? — we thought we should check in.
We’re cheering for you to take action. FDA commissioner is never an easy job, and 2020’s been a challenge for the ages. But since fake milk has long been crucially important to dairy farmers – in places like Wisconsin, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania, in Minnesota, and all across the United States – we thought this might be a good time to remind you of this promise.
We’re happy to chat further because this simple matter can be resolved soon, to the benefit of everyone. Well, maybe not marketers of dishonest products, but they’ve had their day. Say hi to everyone at FDA for us, there’s never enough bandwidth on Zoom to talk to everyone we’d like to. Good luck with the rest of the year!
With Regards,
The National Milk Producers Federation
