Dairy Council of California is helping turn back a tide that threatens to sweep flavored milk out of California school meal programs.
“Right now, we are in a sweet spot where we have stronger global dairy prices and we have the milk supply to meet that demand.” Marc Beck, US Dairy Export Council
President Obama last month quietly signed into law a spending bill that restores the American horse-slaughter industry, just a few months after a government investigation said the ban on slaughtering was backfiring.The domestic ban didn’t end horse slaughter but instead shifted the site of butchery to Mexico and Canada - which meant increased abuse or neglect as the horses were shipped out of the country and beyond the reach of U.S. law.The ban had been imposed in 2006 when Congress defunded the government’s ability to inspect plants that butchered horses for consumption. Without inspections, the meat couldn’t be sold, and the industry withered.
There is also evidence that increased reliance on exports increases price volatility within the domestic market.
USDEC chairman: “South Korea is a classic case study in long-term, integrated market development programs executed collaboratively with processors to ensure dairymen have markets for our growing U.S. milk supply.”
While there’s a world of growing opportunity out there, the U.S. dairy industry seems content to let it slip away.
The farm bill process could revert to “normal,” meaning it could require hearings from the Ag Committees and mark-up procedures that have been part of all farm bills.
The U.S. Dairy Export Council expects the agreement to net $380 million per year in dairy exports in the first few years after implementation.
Dairy manufacturers’ group says the proposed dairy legislation does not “significantly improve the short-term and long-term fiscal imbalance” of government’s budget.
Minnesota congressman also tells dairy groups to keep the pressure on EPA.
South Dakota State Veterinarian Dr. Dustin Oedekoven announced Nov. 9 that a TB-infected herd had been found in the southeastern part of the state.
Patrick Doyle, CEO of Domino’s Pizza, announced yesterday at Dairy Today’s Elite Producer Business Conference that his company was making a $1 million contribution to the GENYOUth Foundation.
California’s law banning the slaughter of animals that can’t walk, enacted in 2008 after a gruesome undercover video showed lame cows being waterboarded and jabbed with forklifts at a meat plant in San Bernardino County, will come before the Supreme Court today.
They outlined the negative effects the act would have on domestic and global dairy markets and said it has no place in deficit-reduction talks.
“No one’s interests are well served when the debate surrounding efforts to reform federal dairy policy is subjected to selective or less than complete reporting of pertinent research,” said Jerry Kozak, NMPF CEO and president.
Sen. Bob Casey’s Dairy Advancement Act of 2011 limits costs by limiting the safety net to the first 150 cows in a herd.
Digesters create renewable energy, better manage manure, produce a steady supply bedding, and lessen their dairy’s environmental footprint by reducing air emissions and odor.
The reforms could lower the U.S. all-milk price by 92¢/cwt, trigger supply management programs 40% to 45% of the time and lower cumulative net farm operating income 32% to 48%.
It seems a rare act of civic sacrifice. In the name of deficit reduction, lawmakers from both parties in the United States are calling for the end of a longstanding agricultural subsidy that puts about $5 billion a year in the pockets of their farmer constituents. Even major farm groups are accepting the proposal, saying that with farmers poised to reap bumper profits, they must do their part.But in the same breath, the lawmakers and their farm lobby allies are seeking to send most of that money - under a new name - straight back to the same farmers, with most of the benefits going to large farms that grow commodity crops like corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton. In essence, lawmakers would replace one subsidy with a new one.’'We are very much aware of the budgetary constraints of the federal government,’' said Garry Niemeyer, an Illinois farmer who is president of the National Corn Growers Association. ''We want to do our part as corn growers to help resolve those issues, but we only want to do our proportional part. We don’t want to have everything taken out on us.’'
EUROPEAN Commission proposals for reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) include a plan to dedicate 30 per cent of direct farm payments to “green” measures. Controversially, it would only be paid to farmers who leave at least seven per cent of their land fallow - something the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and National Farmers Union (NFU) pledged to fight.
Western United Dairymen says the export gain for dairy from the Korea FTA in the first few years after implementation will be approximately $380 million per year.
Dairy producers would be able to choose between signing up for Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) payments or subsidized Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy insurance at the $1.50 deductible level for not more than 3 million lb. of milk each year.
Casey’s Dairy Advancement Act would not include any supply or growth management component, but would continue the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program or allow dairy producers to enroll in the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy program.
Dairy Today’s Jim Dickrell and National Milk Producers Federation’s Jerry Kozak discuss new dairy policy, the Dairy Security Act of 2011.
International Dairy Foods Association released a statement Thursday opposing dairy reform legislation.
The International Dairy Foods Association commends legislation that would allow for the implementation of the pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
TV and print campaign educates consumers about the negative economic impact of the Federal Milk Marketing Order system.
Some would prefer to keep the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program over Foundation for the Future. But these statistics about MILC may be surprising.
When Michele Bachmann is asked on the campaign trail about her ownership of a Wisconsin farm, she says federal payments to the family partnership have stopped and that she has never pocketed “a penny’’ of the government subsidies she denounces.