The board of directors at Minnesota Milk Producers Association (MMPA) has finalized a professional services contract with Midwest Dairy Association (MDA).Under this new contract, MDA’s resources will be utilized to carry out specialized MMPA needs such as accounting and technology, and current staff will continue to fulfill Minnesota Milk priorities as part of the Midwest Dairy staff.

“We have done significant research on where our organization and our industry has been, where it is today, and where we expect it to be years from now,” stated Pat Lunemann, president of MMPA and a dairy farmer from Clarissa, Minnesota. “We believe this agreement will strengthen our association and add efficiency in our quest to advance the success of our members.”Members of MMPA will not likely notice any change in the association. Both groups will maintain their separate identities and independent missions led by their separate boards. MDA is prohibited by law from doing many of the initiatives of MMPA, in particular policy work and dairy farmer assistance.

The roles of each association must continue to be separate and distinctly different, which is why all non-checkoff activity will continue to be financed and accounted for separately.The model of sharing administrative and staffing services between membership and checkoff organizations is common across commodity organizations in Minnesota. Both organizations share the same future, with fewer dairy farms, and the same dairy farmer funders.“Dairy farmers deserve the best from the organizations they support,” stated Bob Lefebvre, executive director of MMPA.“With increasing pressures on dairy farmers, we need to be more effective in everything we do for our members.

“This professional services arrangement will maximize the impact we have to our members without increasing dues, which are the same today as when the association began in 1977.” PD

—From Minnesota Milk Producers Association news release