Tag: young cooperators

Dairy’s Future Found in New Markets, New Leaders

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Dairy’s future will be increasingly global and diverse, as emerging markets increase demand and women take on greater leadership roles in the industry, this year’s chairwoman of the NMPF Young Cooperators program said in a dairy defined podcast.

“The U.S. really had a competitive edge, as far as the quality and safety of the products,” said Lorilee Schultz, who milks 60 registered Holsteins and manages more than 200 acres at Mil-R-Mor Farm in Orangeville, IL, said of her time briefly working with the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service. The member of Prairie Farms cooperative is very active in community leadership and has a special interest in teaching kids about agriculture, including interactions with more than 200,000 school children through the Adopt-A-Cow program, a free, years-long virtual experience where students care for a calf and interact with a dairy farmer.

That investment in dairy’s future will also be critical as new leaders emerge through programs such as NMPF’s YCs, which will be in Washington next week for their annual congressional fly-in, she said. Schultz, 38, said one of her messages to lawmakers will be that “If we want to retain the talented young people that we have in our rural communities, we really need to make sure that we’re investing in those communities, making sure we have things like good schools, access to healthcare, quality and affordable childcare.”

And for dairy’s next generation of leadership – especially for women, who are currently under- represented in top industry positions – it’s critical to get involved, Schultz said. “It’s really important to have our voices heard,” she said. “I just want to encourage everybody to know that they can be involved in leadership and make a difference.”

The full podcast is below. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

Young Farmers Convene for Annual Leadership and Development Program

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF hosted its annual Young Cooperators (YC) Leadership and Development Program Oct. 23-24, attracting 80 young farmers representing eleven member cooperatives to the two-day professional development event in Denver.

The National YC Program aims to provide dairy farmers under the age of 45 with the education, tools and resources they need to enhance their leadership skills to make them more effective managers and more influential leaders. Sessions during this year’s Leadership and Development Program, sponsored by Farm Credit and Phibro Animal Health, included:

  • A leadership lesson with DMI Chairperson Marilyn Hershey;
  • A panel of cooperative leaders discussing future challenges;
  • A transition planning workshop;
  • A primer on federal order pricing;
  • A dairy market outlook;
  • A risk management workshop and farmer panel; and
  • An update on NMPF’s federal order modernization efforts.

Between now and the program’s capstone Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum in June, the YC program will continue to offer monthly, 45-minute webinars on a variety of topics to be determined by the 2023 YC Advisory Council. While these webinars are determined by and geared toward YCs, any NMPF member may participate.

Reaching Out: Dairy’s Voice Heard as Farm Bill Groundwork Laid

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Highlights

  • Coordinated farmer appearances at numerous congressional policy panels
  • Placed farmer perspectives in mass-market media
  • Developed dairy’s next-generation leadership through timely webinars

Farm Bill hearings and listening sessions held by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees this spring and summer provided another opportunity for NMPF to proactively engage its members of all sizes, and across the country, to provide critical input to Congress as they prepare to craft a new farm bill next year.

NMPF recruited and worked closely with several farmer leaders, including Melvin Medeiros, a Dairy Farmers of America producer from California and NMPF Executive Committee member; Ashley Kennedy, a Michigan Milk Producers Association producer from Michigan; and Lolly Lesher, a DFA producer from Pennsylvania and NMPF Dairy Voice Network member on their testimony before Congress in favor of maintaining and strengthening the Dairy Margin Coverage program and providing additional resources to help farmers enhance their ongoing environmental stewardship efforts.

More informally, NMPF also worked with its member cooperatives to secure farmer participation at a variety of listening sessions held in the field. The events featured multiple members of NMPF’s farmer leadership, including Steve Schlangen, Chairman of Associated Milk Producers Inc. and an NMPF Executive Committee member from Minnesota; Joey Fernandes, a Land O’Lakes producer from California and NMPF board member; Jim Boyle, a United Dairymen of Arizona member from Arizona and Chairman of NMPF’s Immigration Task Force; and Medeiros. Other producer witnesses included Jeremy Visser, a Northwest Dairy Association/Darigold board member from Washington; Jim Werkhoven, an NDA/Darigold member from Washington and former NMPF board member; Charles Krause, a DFA member from Minnesota; and KC Graner, an LOL ag retail member-owner from Minnesota.

While NMPF-affiliated farmer participants hailed from different parts of the country, NMPF helped hone a cohesive message nationwide, focused on continuing and building on current dairy policy and making additional, needed investments in conservation, trade, and nutrition programs.

NMPF also communicated dairy’s policy message through targeted efforts to place farmers voices in mass-market media, allowing the industry’s best messengers to break through media noise. Brittany Nickerson-Thurlow, Medeiros, and Josh Gladden, all members of the NMPF Dairy Voice Network created last year, each bylined op-ed articles on dairy’s policy needs in daily newspapers in Florida, California and Arizona, resulting in follow-up interviews from the Wall Street Journal, BBC and other globally known outlets.

At the same time, NMPF communications staff helped develop and serve the next generation of dairy-farmer leadership through its Young Cooperators (YC) program. The YC Program is providing virtual and in-person educational and leadership development opportunities every month this year, covering a variety of topics of importance to young and beginning farmers including farm safety, employee onboarding, transition planning and consumer perspectives on dairy cattle welfare.

YCs also met this year in Washington, D.C. for the first time since 2019 for the program’s capstone Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum. 45 dairy farmers from 15 states and representing ten member cooperatives participated in the two-day event, which included discussions about political engagement and dairy policy issues, along with training on how to be an effective advocate and spokesperson for dairy. YCs then headed to Capitol Hill to speak with members of Congress and their staffs about NMPF priorities.

FARM, YCs Boost NMPF Visibility at World Dairy Expo

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s National Dairy FARM Program and Young Cooperators (YC) Program joined industry stakeholders in Madison, Wisconsin Sept. 28-Oct. 2 for the 2021 World Dairy Expo. The annual event, which attracts over 50,000 attendees annually, serves as a forum for dairy producers, companies and organizations to come together to compete, and to exchange ideas, knowledge, technology and commerce.

The FARM Program hosted a panel lunch on Thursday, Sept. 30 in which 50 industry stakeholders, farmers and NMPF staff discussed the newest FARM initiatives, FARM Biosecurity and the Calf Care & Quality Assurance (CCQA). Miquela Hanselman, manager of regulatory affairs for NMPF, introduced the new FARM Biosecurity program area address producer’s biggest concerns in the biosecurity space. Kris Scheider, Wisconsin farmer and vice-chair of the FARM Farmer Advisory Council, talked about farmer involvement in the program and what biosecurity looks like on his farm.

“At the on-farm level we have our vaccines, we have animal identification, and we have two skid steers – one for pushing feed and the other for manure handling,” Scheider said. “There are all these steps we are taking and now were ready for Enhanced Biosecurity.”

Justin Potts, senior manager of Dairy 2025 at Land O’ Lakes talked about the customer concerns in the biosecurity space and how the organizations are approaching calf care considerations.

Josh White, executive director of producer education at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, explained why the CCQA program was developed and what is included within the standards. Dr. Jennifer Van Os, PhD animal welfare assistant professor and extension specialist at University of Wisconsin – Madison, answered questions about pressure points in the calf space and veterinary involvement in the CCQA program.

“We wanted to inform the CCQA recommendations with the latest scientific research and find any pain points within the calf space,” Van Os said. “Those were identified as special needs of calf raisers and animal husbandry.” The recording of the event is available on the FARM Program’s Facebook page.

The National YC Program sponsored a Dairy Cow Productivity Seminar Sept. 29 featuring NMPF’s Peter Vitaliano, Ph.D., vice president of economic policy and market research. And later that day, the program hosted an offsite reception and dinner, offering 30 YCs the opportunity to network with each other and to meet and ask the seminar speaker questions in an informal setting.

Young Cooperators Convene for Virtual Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Young Cooperators (YC) Program hosted a half-day virtual Dairy Policy and Legislative Forum June 15. The capstone event, typically held in person in conjunction with NMPF’s June Board of Directors meeting, attracted nearly 100 attendees from 14 member cooperatives.

U.S. Representative David Valadao (R-CA) was the keynote speaker for the event, discussing leadership, policy and how his background in dairy inspired his interest in public service. NMPF staff experts contributed to the event and provided an overview of the role of dairy farmers in the policymaking process, updates on dairy policy issues and tips for how to be an effective dairy advocate. In a panel discussion, cooperative leaders and NMPF Board members Jackie Klippenstein of Dairy Farmers of America, Rob Vandenheuvel of California Dairies Inc. and Ken Nobis of Michigan Milk Producers Association shared their perspectives on the importance of dairy farmer leadership in policy discussions.

Now in its 71st year, the National YC Program was created to provide up-and-coming leaders in the dairy industry with a better understanding of issues facing farmers and milk marketing cooperatives. The program’s goal is to educate and build leadership abilities in the next generation of dairy farmers. The virtual event was sponsored by Farm Credit.

The National YC Program will continue to offer monthly, 45-minute virtual webinars covering a variety of dairy policy topics throughout the summer. Employees and owners of dairy farms that are members of an NMPF member cooperative and under the age of 45, as well as co-op staff, are invited to participate.