Posted: May 15, 2013 at 3:31 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The House Agriculture Committee came out in support of the Dairy Security Act (DSA) on Wednesday, voting to reject an amendment by Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and David Scott (D-GA) to remove the supply management mechanism of the act.
“Supply management is antithetical to the future growth of the dairy industry,” Goodlatte and Scott said in a statement expressing their disappointment in the vote. “A supply control program that will directly intervene in markets and increase milk prices will ultimately hurt dairy producers and consumers as well as dairy food manufacturers by stifling industry growth. This program is contrary to the reforms already in the Farm Bill.”
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) was pleased with the outcome. “The House committee has now twice rejected the Goodlatte-Scott effort to undermine establishment of a workable national dairy policy,” said NMPF president and CEO Jerry KozaK. “As the farm bill moves to the House floor, we hope that the committee’s decision today will be the final word on the matter. It is time for dairy processors to end their campaign of divisiveness, and assist us in moving the farm bill toward completion.”
The committee worked for over five hours straight on the bill before taking a break, but will reconvene this evening to finish. By contrast, the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday completed its work in less than four hours. House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) met with farm broadcasters just shortly before his committee began the markup saying he expected it to be a long day but maybe not quite as long as last year’s 15 hour session. “But I would note that we had approximately 100 amendments a year ago, as of this morning we have approximately 100 amendments this time,” he said.
Lucas says the bill will go to the House floor this year “a dramatic improvement over a year ago” but he does expect it to be a struggle. “Whatever we do in the committee, many of the battles – whether it is over dairy, or sugar, or the size of the nutrition reforms, will be fought out again on the floor of the United States House,” he said. “But it’s a struggle we’re prepared to engage in and we’re prepared to move forward on.”
Listen to Lucas’s comments here House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas
Posted: May 14, 2013 at 6:51 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
The Senate Agriculture Committee meets this morning to consider the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 and the House ag committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow morning to consider their version of a farm bill. Drafts from both committees were released last week.
Chris Galen with the National Milk Producers Federation says both drafts contain the Dairy Security Act and he expects the Senate to pass this proposal which they support, but on the House side there is another proposal being offered which they oppose. “Basically it would turn farmers into takers of government welfare because it would not allow the marketplace to correct quick enough,” he said. “They would be getting margin insurance subsidized by the government but not getting the necessary price signals that would either restore the market price for milk or reduce the cost to the taxpayer of the program.” That alternative is being proposed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA).
Galen says Congress appears to be serious about getting a farm bill passed this year. “I don’t think anyone wants a repeat of 2012,” he said. “The good news is that we’ve heard rumors that not only is the Senate Ag committee going to work on the farm bill this week, but they may actually vote on it on the Senate floor this week.” The House was a hold out last week, of course, but Galen hopes they will schedule time for it this year. “I think the stars and planets will align and that they will either be desperate enough or sick enough to get us a new farm bill this year.”
Listen to an interview with Galen conducted yesterday in Washington D.C. at the annual National Association of Farm Broadcasting Washington Watch: Interview with Chris Galen, National Milk Producers Federation
Link to Senate farm bill page.
Link to House farm bill draft.
Posted: May 9, 2013 at 9:56 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
A coalition of more than 50 state and national dairy organizations have sent a letter to members of the House Agriculture Committee urging them to include the Dairy Security Act in the farm bill when they begin mark up next week. The letter states the need for “a financially-sound risk management program to help farmers better manage margin volatility.”
The groups further ask the Committee members to reject the Dairy Freedom Act put forth by Congressmen Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and David Scott (D-GA) “because it would weaken the safety net for farmers in order to benefit dairy processors.” The Dairy Freedom Act does not contain the market stabilization component the DSA does. The groups contend the supply management provision would send a clear signal to farmers when production needs to be reduced resulting in a faster rebound in low-market situations.
Supporters of the Dairy Security Act argue the production controls would be detrimental to the dairy industry in that producers and processors would be reluctant to grow and expand for fear they may be called upon to cut milk output at some point. They also say that would make us an unreliable supplier on the world market.
The Senate Ag Committee is scheduled to mark up their farm bill on Tuesday but there are no indications the alternative Dairy Freedom Act will be introduced in that committee.
Posted: April 10, 2013 at 6:19 pm
By News Editor
During a two-hour long session at the National Dairy Producers Conference, which reviewed the prospects of the Farm Bill in general – and the outlook for the Dairy Security Act (DSA) in particular – panelists agreed that the risk management approach embodied in the Dairy Security Act provides a cost-effective safety net for farmers.
University of Minnesota economist Marin Bozic, who participated in the discussion in Indianapolis, reported that farmers who enroll in the DSA will find that the program “works as catastrophic risk insurance. It reduces extreme margin risk, as it pays you the most when you need it the most.”
He said that farmers will likely view the risk of not enrolling in the program as far greater than being part of it. Regarding concerns that milk production growth could be restricted by the DSA’s market stabilization component, Bozic told the crowd that producers using the three-month rolling base will experience milk production growth over the long term similar to if they were not part of the program.
Bozic is one of a group of Midwestern university professors who have performed a detailed analysis of how the DSA program performs for farms of various sizes, under various economic conditions. The analytical tool he reviewed has been developed to help farmers determine how best to participate in the DSA, once it becomes law.
One of the other academics, John Newton, described how an independent economic model of DSA can serve as a tool for farmers to help them make decisions regarding participation on the proposed DSA. Newton, an Ohio State University doctoral candidate, said that DSA works for farmers, whether small or large, and regardless of whether the model is merely a yearly analysis or a cumulative revenue report over a period of years.
Monday’s findings by the agricultural economists about the effectiveness of the DSA will bolster the case on Capitol Hill that the measure needs to be part of the next farm bill, according to NMPF’s Chief Executive.
“We’ve spent the past three years working within the industry, and with members of Congress, developing a program that meets the needs of America’s dairy farmers in the 21st century,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF, which organized the National Dairy Producers Conference. “The evidence continues to demonstrate that the DSA is both good policy, and good politics.”
Kozak said that competing approaches to the DSA, either featuring no market stabilization element, or exempting all but the largest farms from market stabilization, are both overly costly, and politically unacceptable.
“Any proposal featuring margin insurance alone, such as the Goodlatte-Scott amendment, which severely limits the amount of milk that farmers can insure, will hamper the growth of their operations. Beyond that, it’s a prescription for lower milk prices and higher government costs, which will scuttle the whole economic basis for margin insurance in the future,” he said.
By the same token, “any approach that attempts to drive a wedge between farmers of differing sizes by exempting large numbers of farmers from the market stabilization program is divisive and wrong. In addition, it would dramatically increase the cost of the overall farm bill. The industry has moved beyond the regional divisiveness of past dairy policies and Congress needs to do so as well,” he said.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: March 22, 2013 at 1:11 pm
By News Editor
The National Dairy FARM Program (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) has reached 70-percent participation.
With the recent addition of several major cooperatives in the National Dairy FARM Program, more than two-thirds of the nation’s cows will be covered by the industry’s animal well-being effort, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).
NMPF started the FARM program three years ago to provide a consistent, national, verifiable means of showing consumers and the food value chain how dairy products are produced. The number of cooperatives and processors subscribing to the program has continued to grow, and now includes farms producing 70% of America’s milk supply.
Read the entire article here.
Source: Dairy Herd Network
Posted: March 14, 2013 at 2:10 pm
By News Editor
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) Board of Directors reaffirmed the organization’s support for a new farm bill, containing a better safety net for dairy farmers, at the Federation’s spring meeting.
With the Senate Agriculture Committee expected to begin work on a new farm bill next month, NMPF’s leadership said this week that a new, voluntary dairy program known as the Dairy Security Act (DSA), which combines margin insurance with market stabilization, remains critical to the future of the industry.
Randy Mooney, Chairman of NMPF, and a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Missouri said that NMPF members were encouraged by a report delivered to them Monday from Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, who reaffirmed his support for the DSA and indicated that the House agriculture panel also will begin work on a farm bill this spring.
In another development Tuesday affecting NMPF and its members, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service announced that it will suspend the monthly milk production report for the remainder of fiscal year 2013, as a result of sequestration-reduced funding.
The monthly milk production report for February’s milk output will come out next Tuesday, but the next six reports for April through September will be suspended, as will the Milk Production, Disposition and Income (Milk PDI) reports previously scheduled for release next month.
NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak said that, “Eliminating the USDA’s monthly milk production report through September will detrimentally affect how decisions are made about the marketing of milk, starting at, but not ending with, the farm level.”
He noted that among the other NASS report suspensions, “Dairy is the only major commodity that will be substantially affected. The July Cattle report consists of a mid-year update of the January Cattle report, which is obviously not affected by the current fiscal year suspension, and other NASS reports will continue to report non-dairy cattle inventory information.”
“This decision is a concern to NMPF as well as to the entire dairy industry, and we will need to have further discussions with USDA about why an extremely important informational tool involving a major commodity is being affected this way.”
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 10:42 am
By News Editor
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has announced a reorganized to its staff to better meet the challenges that are sure to come in the year ahead and promoted several staff members who will facilitate these efforts.
As first announced in December, Jim Mulhern will start next week as NMPF’s Chief Operating Officer, a new position in the organization that will bolster NMPF’s team of professionals working on issues as diverse as farm policy, labor availability, trade expansion, environmental regulation, animal care, and milk pricing. Mulhern will report to President and CEO Jerry Kozak and have direct oversight of government relations, membership, and communications activities.
In order to better coordinate the often parallel efforts of the government relations and regulatory teams, those staff members have been combined into one department that will be managed by Senior Vice President of Government Relations Dana Brooks, who will in turn report to Mulhern. Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Jamie Jonker and regulatory staff members Beth Briczinski and Betsy Flores, who were promoted to Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs, and Senior Director of Animal Health and Welfare, respectively, will now report to Brooks.
Anuja Miner was promoted to Vice President of Membership Services and will report directly to Mulhern. Gail Mobley was made Senior Director of Finance and Administration and will continue to report to Tom Balmer, Executive Vice President.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: January 3, 2013 at 10:37 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) says “the status quo is not an acceptable outcome, either for farmers or taxpayers” and they will continue to push the 113th Congress for a five-year farm bill that includes the Dairy Security Act.
NMPF Senior VP of Communications Chris Galen says the dairy security act that was part of the farm bill legislation passed by the senate last year and included in the house bill would not only help the dairy industry but also reduce spending. “They had to find some offsets to pay for the extension of the dairy programs that were included in the fiscal cliff package,” said Galen, who notes that overall adoption of a new farm bill would save $20-30 billion.
Galen says dairy producers are pleased with what the fiscal cliff agreement included for estate taxes from returning at punitively high levels in 2013. “They did do something for the dairy industry and for the farm community on that issue,” he said. The package includes a 40% rate on estates valued at more than $5 million, up from the previous 35% rate, but far less than the 55% top rate on $1 million estates that was scheduled to become permanent.
I talked with Galen about the concerns of NMPF and how they intend to address them in the 113th Congress. Interview with Chris Galen
Posted: January 2, 2013 at 7:13 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
While the National Milk Producers Federation is very opposed to the farm bill extension included in the fiscal cliff deal, at least one other dairy group supports the extension.
Officials with the Dairy Business Association (DBA) in Wisconsin say they are “extremely pleased” with the extension because they are opposed to the program that was included in the Senate version of the farm bill passed last year.
“The supply management program was rejected because legislators in Congress realized that if it were passed; this communism style of dairy policy would intrude on dairy markets by controlling the milk supply and artificially creating demand for dairy products at higher prices. Supply management programs have been tried before, been proven to be a mistake and a costly failure. We can’t continue to make the same mistakes,” said Laurie Fischer, Executive Director of the Dairy Business Association. “The removal of the Dairy Security Act from the farm bill extension is a victory for the Nation’s dairy producers.”
DBA worked persistently to educate members of Congress on the harmful impacts limiting milk production advocating for the consideration a milk insurance program instead. DBA had advocated for reforming the dairy safety net programs, but DBA believed the Dairy Security Act would have taken our Nation’s dairy industry in the wrong direction.
“Limiting milk production and paying producers to not produce milk just doesn’t make sense,” added Jerry Meissner, DBA’s President. “In spite of some national dairy groups advising legislators that all farmers were in favor of supply management, it simply is not the truth. Farmers from across the nation are not in favor of this provision.”
DBA release
Posted: January 2, 2013 at 4:58 pm
By News Editor
Now that the House of Representatives has passed the Senate’s fiscal cliff package extending existing farm programs into 2013, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) said today it will continue its push in the 113th Congress for a five-year farm bill that includes the Dairy Security Act.
NMPF said that “we need to spend the coming months figuring out how to move farm policy forward. The status quo is not an acceptable outcome, either for farmers or taxpayers. The renewal of current programs doesn’t offer dairy farmers a meaningful safety net,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. The fiscal cliff package, among other things, extended the MILC program through Sept. 30th, 2013, and the price support program through Dec. 31st of this year.
Kozak thanked supporters of the Dairy Security Act – the new margin insurance-based safety net for dairy farmers – who worked diligently into the final hours of 2012 attempting to gain its inclusion in the final legislative fiscal cliff package.
As the Senate and House Agriculture committees begin work next month on a full, five-year farm bill, Kozak said that dairy farmers would reiterate the value of the Dairy Security Act, which eliminates the dairy product price support program, direct payments, and export subsidies, and establishes a voluntary risk management tool for farmers that saves the government money.
Kozak did express satisfaction that the overall fiscal cliff deal prevents the estate tax from returning at punitively high levels in 2013. The package includes a 40% rate on estates valued at more than $5 million, up from the previous 35% rate, but far less than the 55% top rate on $1 million estates that could have become permanent absent the new package.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: January 1, 2013 at 7:56 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The fiscal cliff compromise passed by the Senate in the wee hours of New Year’s Day morning only included a farm bill extension because of the so-called “dairy cliff” – but few are pleased with the concept.
“I am pleased that the final agreement also includes an extension of the 2008 Farm Bill through the end of September 2013,” said ranking minority member on the Senate Ag committee Pat Roberts (R-KS) in a statement. “While this extension is not the best possible bill, I believe it is the best bill possible at this time. It provides consumers certainty by avoiding the dairy cliff, and it provides certainty to our producers and their lenders as Congress continues work on a Farm Bill in 2013.”
National Milk Producers President and CEO Jerry Kozak called the nine-month extension of current farm policy “a devastating blow” to the nation’s dairy farmers. “After months of inaction, the plan that passed overnight as part of the fiscal cliff package amounts to shoving farmers over the dairy cliff without providing any safety net below,” said Kozak. “These stop-gap efforts don’t even qualify as kicking the can down the road. It’s little more than a New Year’s Day, hair-of-the-dog stab at temporarily putting off decisions that should have been made in 2012 about how to move farm policy forward, not offer more of the same.”
The Senate package passed by a vote of 89 to 8, with both of Iowa’s Senators – one from each party – voting against it for different reasons, although Republican Chuck Grassley said he did support extension of the farm bill. The others who voted against the deal in the Senate were Tom Carper (D-DE), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Marco Rubio (R-FL). House leadership spent most of New Year’s Day trying to get the votes to pass the bill and finally approved the bill late in the evening by a vote of 257-167.
Posted: December 17, 2012 at 7:59 pm
By News Editor
A revised Spanish version of the National Milk Producers Federation’s (NMPF) residue prevention manual is now available.
This version was translated to Spanish from the revised 2013 Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention Manual, which was released in the fall. The new Spanish version is a concise review of appropriate antibiotic use in dairy animals. It’s a quick resource to review those antibiotics approved for dairy animals and can also be used as an educational tool for farm managers as they develop their on-farm best management practices necessary to avoid milk and meat residues.
Additions to the 2013 version include a section on avoiding potential residue violations from extra-label drug use in an unapproved class of cattle, cephalosporin extra-label use prohibitions, as well as an updated drug and test kit list. The 2013 manual includes a certificate of participation that can be signed by a producer and his/her veterinarian to demonstrate their commitment to the proper use of antibiotics.
The dairy industry is committed to producing safe, abundant, and affordable milk and dairy beef of the highest quality. Healthy animals help make for safe food and disease prevention is the key to keeping cows healthy, said said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF.
The Spanish manual was sponsored by Charm Sciences, IDEXX, and Pfizer Animal Health. No check-off funds were used in its development and distribution.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: December 3, 2012 at 6:11 pm
By News Editor
Congratulations to Jim Mulhern, who will be the Chief Operating Officer of National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), as of January 1.
Mulhern’s position is a new one within NMPF. He will report directly to President & CEO Jerry Kozak and have direct oversight of the communications, government relations and membership functions of the organization.
“As the scope of NMPF’s activities has broadened in recent years, and as we plan for the future, we are fortunate to bring Jim on board to help the organization and its members with the significant challenges our industry is facing,” Kozak said. “Jim’s deep knowledge of both the dairy industry and Capitol Hill, coupled with his demonstrated ability to get things done, will greatly benefit National Milk. His strategic insight and extensive network of contacts both inside and outside the Beltway perfectly complement our existing capabilities.”
Mulhern has an extensive dairy industry background, including earlier work with NMPF. A Wisconsin native and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Mulhern began his professional career working for a dairy cooperative in Madison.
Mulhern came to Washington, DC, to work on Capitol Hill in 1983. He first joined the staff of NMPF in 1985 before returning to Capitol Hill to serve as Chief of Staff to Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl. Mulhern has since worked in senior management positions for Fleishman-Hillard, the Fratelli Group, and Watson/Mulhern LLC. Throughout his time at each of these Washington, DC, public affairs companies, Mulhern maintained his relationship with NMPF by working as a consultant to the organization on numerous projects.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: November 14, 2012 at 7:54 pm
By News Editor
Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 12 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold, Land O’Lakes and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell 2.090 million pounds (948 metric tons) of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and 5.463 million pounds (2,478 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The product will be delivered November 2012 through May 2013.
In 2012, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in making export sales of Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Gouda cheese totaling 108.4 million pounds, butter totaling 66.7 million pounds, anhydrous milk fat totaling 127,868 pounds, and whole milk powder totaling 85,980 pounds. The product will be delivered to 36 countries on four continents. On a butterfat basis, the milk equivalent of these exports is 2.458 billion pounds, or the same as 68% of the increase in U.S. milk production through September 2012.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively impacts producer milk prices in the short-term by helping to maintain inventories of cheese and butter at desirable levels. In the long-term, CWT’s Export Assistance program helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the farm milk that produces them.
CWT will pay export bonuses to the bidders only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.
Source: Cooperatives Working Together (CWT)
Posted: November 14, 2012 at 7:35 pm
By News Editor
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) joined more than 230 other farm, agriculture and food groups in urging Congress to pass a new, five-year farm bill in the upcoming lame duck congressional session expected to begin this week.
The letter, which was directed at the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives, noted that there is still ample time for the House to complete its work on a new farm bill, and reconcile any differences with the already-adopted farm bill approved last summer by the Senate.
Failure to pass a new bill before Dec. 31st “will create significant budget uncertainty for the entire agricultural sector, including the rural businesses and lenders whose livelihoods are dependent upon farmers’ and livestock producers’ economic viability,” the letter said.
NMPF has been working for three years on a new and better safety net for dairy farmers that was incorporated by the House Agriculture Committee in the overall farm bill adopted by that panel in August. The dairy reforms featured in both the House and Senate versions of the new farm bill will reduce government expenditures compared to current policy.
“If the question in Washington is how to reform government programs and make them more effective, we have an answer: pass the 2012 Farm Bill. The dairy title, along with the rest of the bill, saves money compared to the present program,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF.
While some have suggested that Congress should forego action on a new bill and simply pass an extension of current programs, “any temporary extension would be a short-sighted, inadequate solution that would leave our constituencies crippled by uncertainty. Both the Senate and the House Committee on Agriculture passed versions of a five-year farm bill with strong bipartisan support. We urge you to lead your colleagues in passing a new 2012 Farm Bill this year,” the coalition letter said.
NMPF’s Board of Directors earlier this year came out against an extension of the status quo, asserting that an extension of current policy through 2013 does dairy farmers no real good, and leaves the tough choices about budget priorities unresolved.
NMPF President Jerry Kozak said that if Congress can’t generate the necessary effort to pass a new farm bill this year, the organization would not support an extension of current dairy programs, and instead would insist on getting the Dairy Security Act – the dairy reform bill already included in the Senate version of the Farm Bill – included in any extension package of other farm programs.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)
Posted: November 1, 2012 at 6:59 pm
By News Editor
The National Milk Producers Federation’s (NMPF) Board of Directors seated two new members this week at the organization’s 2012 annual meeting.
Donald De Jong from Dalhart, Texas was elected to represent Select Milk Producers, Inc., while Larry Webster from Buffalo, New York, was elected to represent Upstate Niagara Cooperative.
The eight officers currently serving NMPF were reelected to their existing positions. They include:
· Chairman Randy Mooney, from Rogersville, Missouri, representing Dairy Farmers of America;
· First Vice Chairman Ken Nobis, from St. Johns, Michigan, representing Michigan Milk Producers Association;
· Second Vice Chairman Cornell Kasbergen, from Tulare, California, representing Land O’ Lakes, Inc.;
· Third Vice Chairman Mike McCloskey, from Fair Oaks, Indiana, representing Select Milk Producers, Inc.;
· Treasurer Pete Kappelman, from Two Rivers, Wisconsin, representing Land O’ Lakes;
· Assistant Treasurer Adrian Boer, from Jerome, Idaho, representing Northwest Dairy Association;
· Secretary Dave Fuhrmann, from Baraboo, Wisconsin, representing Foremost Farms USA;
· Assistant Secretary Doug Nuttelman, from Stromsburg, Nebraska, representing Dairy Farmers of America.
In addition to the officer elections at this year’s meeting, NMPF recognized three outgoing directors for their service on the NMPF Board of Directors: Tom Croner, from Berlin, Pennsylvania, and Les Hardesty, from Greeley, Colorado, both representing Dairy Farmers of America, and Clyde Rutherford, Syracuse, New York, representing Dairylea Cooperative. NMPF also recognized four Honorary Directors, who provided exemplary service not only to NMPF, but also to the entire dairy industry: Lew Gardner from Galeton, Pennsylvania; along with Tom Croner, Les Hardesty, and Clyde Rutherford.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: October 30, 2012 at 6:52 pm
By News Editor
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has released a revised version of its Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention Manual for 2013. As an area of focus for the National Dairy FARM Program, the manual can be found online.
The Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention Manual is a concise review of appropriate antibiotic use in dairy animals. The manual is a quick resource to review those antibiotics approved for dairy animals and can also be used as an educational tool for farm managers as they develop their on-farm best management practices necessary to avoid milk and meat residues.
Additions to the 2013 version include a section on avoiding potential residue violations from extra-label drug use in an unapproved class of cattle, cephalosporin extra-label use prohibitions, as well as an updated drug and test kit list. The 2013 manual includes a certificate of participation that can be signed by a producer and his/her veterinarian to demonstrate their commitment to the proper use of antibiotics.
“We know that there is increased attention to the use of medicines in livestock, and in order to maintain the ability to use those products, we have to demonstrate that we are using them properly,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “This newly-revised manual represents the ongoing commitment dairy farmers have to using antibiotics responsibly and prudently.”
The dairy industry is committed to producing safe, abundant, and affordable milk and dairy beef of the highest quality. Healthy animals help make for safe food and disease prevention is the key to keeping cows healthy, Kozak said.
The National Dairy FARM Program was created by NMPF to demonstrate and verify that U.S. milk producers are committed to providing the highest levels of quality assurance including animal care, residue prevention, and other on-farm practices.
The Residue Avoidance manual was sponsored by Charm Sciences, IDEXX, and Pfizer Animal Health. No check-off funds were used in the development and distribution of this manual.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: October 25, 2012 at 1:05 pm
By News Editor
National Milk Producers Federation’s Dairy Data Highlights are now available!
Dairy Data Highlights is a collection of 53 tables and 19 graphs that provides state-by-state and national metrics on all aspects of milk production from the recent past through 2011. This includes cow numbers, feed costs, relative prices, the sales of milk and dairy products, the difference between farm and retail prices, and trends in dairy products production. The booklet also tracks export and import information. Dairy Data Highlights has been published annually by NMPF for more than 60 years.
Dairy Data Highlights is available to NMPF member cooperatives and associate members for a per-copy price of $7.50 for orders up to 10 copies, and $5 per copy for orders larger than 10. For non-members, the per-copy price is $10.00 up to 10 copies, and $7.50 each for more than 10.
To order copies of the booklet, send number of copies requested, name, company name and address to kgibsonwhite@nmpf.org.
Source: National Milk Producers Federation
Posted: October 25, 2012 at 10:41 am
By Melissa
A report issued about the National Dairy FARM Animal Care Program found that overall, its subscribers are doing a thorough job of adhering to its multi-faceted approach to comprehensive dairy animal well-being.
In June 2012, data collected from the more than 5,000 second-party evaluations made of the dairy operations enrolled in FARM program was reviewed and analyzed to determine the effectiveness of on-farm implementation. A summary of those results is available here.
Here are several examples of where adherence is greatest, as well as where improvements are needed:
• 99.2% of farm operators engage in dairy animal observations to identify any potential health issues;
• 99% of farm operators train personnel to handle and restrain calves with a minimum of stress to the animal;
• 95.5% of farm operators train personnel in proper methods to move non-ambulatory animals;
Meanwhile:
• 72.7% of farm operators have emergency plans to address animal care needs stemming from unique circumstances such as a natural disaster;
• 68% of farm operators apply antiseptic to the navels of calves after birth as a preventative health measure.
Posted: October 23, 2012 at 9:39 am
By Melissa
As part of its efforts to revitalize one of the most recognized product symbols in the food industry, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) announced that the REAL® Seal is undergoing a makeover. The first step in that process was taken Tuesday, with the launch of a revamped website: www.realseal.com.
The previous website existed primarily as a resource for dairy product manufacturers and marketers interested in putting the REAL® Seal on their packaging. The new website will contain more content to educate consumers about why they should look for the REAL® Seal on the foods they buy, while also continuing to provide information for those companies using the REAL® Seal to enhance their product marketing.
Effective March 15, 2012, the management of the REAL® Seal program was transferred from the United Dairy Industry Association to NMPF. This change was the result of an agreement between the two organizations that the transfer was the best opportunity to place a renewed emphasis on highlighting the importance and value of American-made dairy foods.
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