Dairy Defined

Overwhelming support received last week in the U.S. House of Representatives for badly needed shipping-policy reforms is a crucial step, but far from the only one needed, to ensure reliable exports of U.S. dairy products to growing overseas markets, said Tony Rice, trade policy manager for NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, in a Dairy Defined podcast.

Since the Ocean Shipping Reform Act passed the House last week, “We are focused on keeping up that pressure and ensuring both in Congress and both with the administration that there are fixes out there and the fixes are not just a one-time or one-off, that these are going to be some fundamental reforms that are much needed in this industry to ensure that this situation doesn't happen again,” Rice said. 

Rice explains the complexities of challenges facing U.S. port traffic, with ships experiencing powerful financial incentives to quickly travel to Asia without carrying farm exports necessary to boost rural incomes and the U.S. economy. Rice also explains why public policy changes are essential, and how NMPF is working for full congressional package of reforms. 

The reconciliation bill being negotiated before Congress would help “climate-smart” agriculture move forward by adapting USDA conservation programs toward approaches that aid dairy in its Net Zero Initiative goal of being carbon neutral or better by 2050, says Paul Bleiberg, NMPF’s Senior Vice President for Government Relations, in a Dairy Defined podcast released today. 

“The excitement here for us in the agriculture space, in particular for dairy, is the possibility of new funding, increased funding for conservation programs over time, really with an emphasis on those practices, those climate-smart ag practices that can generate and yield meaningful environmental benefits, whether that be sequestering carbon in soil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, better emphasis on the newer management, feed management, things like that,” Bleiberg said. “We see a tremendous amount of potential.” 

With the UN Food Systems Summit this week and World Food Day next month, dairy’s global leadership in building sustainable, robust food chains are in the spotlight. Dairy Nourishes Africa, an initiative from Global Dairy Platform, is developing dairy’s potential in East Africa, where nutrition needs are great and dairy provides an economically promising, sustainable solution.

“It's an opportunity for U.S. dairy to build a business base in one of the fastest-growing regions in the world over the next 20, 30 years,” said Andrei Mikhalevsky, a former CEO of California Dairies Inc. and an advisor on the DNA Project. “And it gives the US dairy industry a real opportunity to make a difference in this part of the world and to do good, starting with the work in Tanzania.”

The podcast focuses on one project, a small dairy processor in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania called Sebadom founded by entrepreneur Anaty Kokushubira Kombeson and her mother. Working with DNA, the processor is supplying local schools and working with smallholder farmers to supply fresh milk while creating jobs. 

“We started this company when I had my kid, she's six years now. When she was about to start consuming dairy products, it was a bit of a challenge to get the quality milk for her,” she said. “Because of that challenge that we faced, that is where Sebadom came in.”

Also discussing DNA and dairy’s promise are Jay Waldvogel, a board member of Global Dairy Platform and Senior Vice President of Strategy and International Development for Dairy Farmers of America, and Dai Harvey, DNA’s Regional Technical Director with Land O’Lakes Venture37, the project’s implementing partner. 

To learn more about Global Dairy Platform and the DNA effort, visit globaldairyplatform.com. People interested in contributing to the effort can write the program at [email protected]. And Anaty has an Instagram page, be sure to follow it at instagram.com/sebadomyoghurt. 

National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program evaluators provide a critical link between a dairy farmer and the consumer, working to ensure best practices. But they’re also a resource for farmers, said Janae Klingler, Manager of Animal Care and Sustainability for the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, in the latest Dairy Defined podcast.

“We are a trusted advisor to our farms,” Klingler said. “Yes, we are here to make sure that our farms are meeting the program standards, but even a bigger part of our job is making sure that our farms get to that point of meeting those program standards and helping them figure out who can help them get there.” 

This week’s Dairy Defined is, admittedly, a re-run – but when the runner is an Olympic medal hopeful, additional mileage is appropriate. 

Elinor “Elle” Purrier St. Pierre easily made it through her preliminary round of the women’s 1500m race earlier today (last night in the U.S.) in the Tokyo Olympics. She’s running in the semi-finals on Wednesday – with the finals on Friday. 

Purrier St. Pierre grew up on a 40-cow operation in Vermont -- and is currently living on one with her husband. She’s spent much of her training over the past year-and-a-half in Vermont, with the COVID-19 pandemic requiring a new approach to top-level preparation. 

“I ironed out how to do it up here. I figured out that I needed to get the job done,” she said. “I bought a lot of my own equipment, and I found new places to run, and once I got settled in, I'm so happy that I have this home to come home to and train here. And I do feel very grounded here.”

Purrier St. Pierre also discussed how dairy has helped her own fitness, and how it’s a crucial part of an elite athlete’s diet. All this week, NMPF will be supporting her on social media and cheering her on in her races, which begin on Wednesday at 6 a.m. EDT and Friday at 8:50 a.m. EDT. 

From incentives for carbon markets to new conservation initiatives, the policies that will support dairy’s Net Zero Initiative continue to take shape, says Paul Bleiberg, NMPF’s Senior Vice President for Government Relations, in a Dairy Defined podcast released today. 

 The Growing Climate Solutions Act, which passed the U.S. Senate by a 92-8 vote in June, “is very helpful to our overall efforts because environmental markets are a key tool in the toolbox of the Net Zero Initiative,” Bleiberg said. Meanwhile, an investment tax-credit bill for greenhouse-gas-reducing technologies “has started to make sore real headway,” he said. And conservation programs built around climate-friendly agricultural practices “may be able to encompass some of the work that we're doing and help us build on it.”

A farm background, and the emphasis it places on people working together, brings the type of experience that’s helpful to getting things done in Congress, said Rep. David Valadao, R-CA, in the latest Dairy Defined podcast. 

“Every time a salesman shows up on your property, they might be trying to sell you a product you might not like that day, but the following day, they're going to have stuff you might like. And so to just cut off communication with someone because you disagree with them one day, doesn't mean you cut off communication forever,” said Valadao, the only dairy farmer serving in Congress. “I do believe in Congress. For you to legislate good policy, you have to have everyone at the table and be able to have a conversation about the topic. It forces you, one, to understand the issue, but two, to hear it from both sides and try to represent our areas as best we possibly can.”

U.S. dairy products are increasingly competitive globally – a fact shown in surging export numbers, according to two top dairy economists in the National Milk Producers Federation’s latest Dairy Defined podcast.

“Global demand is fundamentally really strong right now,” said Wiliam Loux, the Director of Global Trade Analysis for the U.S. Dairy Export Council.  “Consumers within China are just wanting a lot of dairy. And Mexico, after a tough year with the COVID-19 pandemic and some economic issues, is recovering. Southeast Asia, the Middle East, all need product too.”

Loux was joined by Stephen Cain, an economic analyst for NMPF and USDEC, who noted that, relative to its main global competitors, the United States may be best positioned to take advantage of further growth in international dairy markets.

“The EU and New Zealand are facing substantial obstacles in growing their herd. We're the only one that has the capacity to add cows, add growth to meet that growing demand,” Cain said. “Our ability to meet that demand, and adding cows and adding production, is really going to help serve us in terms of the global impact of U.S. dairy on the marketplace.”

All of agriculture will benefit from U.S. insistence that trade agreements be enforced, even as dairy seeks export opportunities around the globe, says Shawna Morris, NMPF’s Senior Vice President for Trade. 

“Having the willingness to be able to go ahead and enforce what's needed when it becomes clear that, that's what's required, we think sets a good tone,” said Morris in a Dairy Defined podcast released today, referring to the U.S. Trade Representative’s recent decision to pursue a dispute settlement over Canadian practices related to the USMCA trade deal. 

Meanwhile, even as existing agreements need enforcement, new deals must be pursued, she said. “One of the biggest things that's on our radar is simply the drum beat about the importance of pursuing new market opportunities,” she said. “USMCA is a piece of that. We want to make sure the market opportunities we got in that agreement just last year, we maximize, but it's a big wide world out there.”

Sustainability is shaping the U.S. dairy industry’s future, making it better equipped to make sure the world has the nutrition it needs, says Pete Kappelman, a longtime dairy farmer and Land O'Lakes' Senior Vice President of Member and Government Relations. 

 “U.S. dairy farmers are deeply involved and concerned about the many communities that they touch. And that starts with producing a safe, nutritious, affordable food, but it also includes things like being good stewards of the land, for the good of the planet,” as well as being able to pass a farm down to future generations, said Kappelman in a Dairy Defined podcast. “In order to feed a growing population, we've got to work together across continents, across cultures and markets to make abundant nutritious food available so everyone can realize their full potential.”