Digest Highlights

Gallagher stepping down as head of DMI

Tom Gallagher is ending his 30-year tenure as CEO of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), the organization overseeing the national dairy checkoff program. Barbara O’Brien, president of DMI and CEO of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, has been named to succeed Gallagher. DMI board leadership, Gallagher and O’Brien will work on a transition plan.

Natzke dave
Dave Natzke
Editor / Progressive Dairy

“[Gallagher’s] imprint on the dairy checkoff will be felt for years to come, and we look forward to building on his amazing legacy, O’Brien said.

During his tenure, Gallagher oversaw the creation or management of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, the National Dairy Council, Newtrient, which has focuses on on-farm environmental programs, the Global Dairy Platform and GENYOUth.

“I am proud of the success of the checkoff during the past 30 years and the steady foundation it created for future impact, and I am leaving with complete confidence that Barb will continue to drive this success forward in new ways,” said Gallagher, who plans to devote more time to teaching and other opportunities. “My work for America’s dairy farmers will always be the highlight of my career.”

In her current role, O’Brien has overseen operating structures for business development, domestic and international sales, science and insights, marketing communications and finance.

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For information about the dairy checkoff, click here.

USDA proposes to reapportion National Dairy Board membership

The USDA is seeking comments about a proposed rule to amend the makeup of the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB). The proposal would modify the number of dairy board members in two of the board’s 12 geographic regions. If adopted, the proposal will increase Region 8 (Idaho) representation from two members to three members and will decrease Region 10 (Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) representation from two members to one member. The total number of domestic dairy board members will remain the same at 36, and the number of regions will remain the same at 12.

The Dairy Promotion and Research Order requires the dairy board to review the geographic distribution of milk production volume throughout the U.S. at least every five years but no more than every three years and, if warranted, to recommend a reapportionment of the regions to better reflect the geographic distribution of milk production volume.

The 37-member NDB (36 domestic members and one importer member) develop and administer a coordinated program of promotion, research and nutrition education. The program is financed by a mandatory 15-cent-per-hundredweight (cwt) assessment on all milk marketed commercially and a 7.5-cent-per-hundredweight assessment on milk, or equivalent thereof, on dairy products imported into the U.S.

The proposed rule for this action was published in the Federal Register on Sept. 21, 2021. Written comments must be received by Oct. 21, 2021. Comments may be submitted through the federal e-rulemaking portal. Comments should include the document number AMS-DA-20-0060 as well as the date and Federal Register page number of the proposed rule.

September Class III-IV milk prices improve

Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) September 2021 Class III and Class IV milk prices were announced Sept. 9. Both were higher than the previous month, and the spread between the two remained narrow.

At $16.53 cwt, the September 2021 Class III price is up 58 cents from August and 10 cents more than September 2020. It’s just 6 cents less than the September Class I base price. Through the first nine months 2021, the Class III milk price averaged $16.75 per cwt, down 73 cents from the same period in 2020.

At $16.36 per cwt, the September 2021 Class IV price is a 21-month high, up 44 cents from August and $3.61 more than September 2020. The January-September 2021 Class IV average is $15.26 per cwt, up $1.73 from the same period a year earlier.

The 17-cent spread between Class III and Class IV prices was the second smallest since May 2019. That closer Class III-IV price relationship also improves Class I prices using the “average of plus 74 cents” Class I mover pricing formula compared to the previous “higher of” formula.

Class III-IV milk prices moved higher due to increases in cheese and butter prices, which drove higher values of both protein and butterfat used in monthly milk price calculations.

At about $2.60 per pound, the value of milk protein in September FMMO milk price calculations rose about 14.25 cents from August but is 79.25 cents less than September 2020.

The value of butterfat posted an 8.8-cent increase in September to about $1.94 per pound.

FMMO administrators are scheduled to announce September uniform prices and producer price differentials (PPDs) by Oct. 14.

Dairy cull cow slaughter picks up pace

With August USDA estimates, 2021 dairy cull cow slaughter finally caught and surpassed the number culled during the first eight months of 2020.

The USDA’s monthly Livestock Slaughter report estimated August slaughter in federally inspected plants at 261,400 head, up about 13,500 head from July 2021 and 36,100 more than August 2020. Through the first eight months of 2021, dairy cull cow slaughter was estimated at 2.072 million, about 21,100 head more than the same period a year earlier.

Heaviest dairy culling during August 2021 occurred in the Upper Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin) at 63,400 head. That was followed by the Southwest (Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada), where 61,700 dairy cows were removed. Other regional totals were estimated at 40,800 head in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia; 32,900 head in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas; and about 26,900 head in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

During January-July 2021, 497,200 head were culled for slaughter from herds in the Upper Midwest, followed by 492,300 head from herds in the Southwest.

Compared to a year earlier, largest increases on a regional basis have been in the Upper Midwest, up 26,200 head, and Plains states (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska), up 19,600 head.

Weekly USDA estimates show dairy cull cow slaughter was higher than the corresponding week a year earlier for 14 consecutive weeks, dating back to early June. During that period, slaughter was about 64,000 more than a year earlier.

NMPF critical on FDA inaction on ‘fake dairy’

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) amplified its criticism of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over inaction on NMPF’s long-standing requests to regulate marketing and labeling of plant-based milk alternatives.

“The news has been quiet on the fake dairy front. Too quiet,” the organization said in a recent Dairy Defined release.

Despite a new rule on yogurt labels put into effect last July, the FDA’s inaction on dairy has largely represented 40 years of neglect on this issue, NMPF said. That inaction has led to a “Wild West” approach to labeling, with litigation becoming ever-more sophisticated and time-consuming.

NMPF has sent two letters – one last October, and another this summer, to the FDA’s ombudsman, the office within the agency that members of FDA-regulated industries go to when they experience problems with the regulatory process. NMPF has also cautioned the FDA that rewriting an existing rule with guidance would be a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The APA requires regulatory changes to be made using notice and comment rulemaking which a guidance cannot overrule.

USDA accepts bids for mozzarella, process cheese

The USDA continues to purchase dairy products for domestic feeding programs. Recent contract awards cover:

  • 75.7 million pounds of mozzarella cheese for delivery in 2022 to Agropur, Appleton, Wisconsin; Dairy Farmers of America, Kansas City, Kansas; Miceli Dairy Products, Cleveland, Ohio; and Saputo Cheese, Lincolnshire, Illinois

  • 30.8 million pounds of process cheese for delivery in 2022 to Associated Milk Producers Inc., New Ulm, Minnesota; Bongards’ Creameries, Norwood, Minnesota; and Great Lakes Cheese, Hiram, Ohio

World Dairy Expo: Forage winners named; cattle shows start

Activities featuring youth, cattle and forages continue to highlight the 54th World Dairy Expo, being held in Sept. 28 – Oct. 2, in Madison, Wisconsin. Here’s another update on activities through Oct. 29.

  • Youth from across North America participated in the 2021 World Dairy Expo Youth Showmanship Contest earlier in the week. Youth from Ohio and Iowa topped 280 exhibitors competing in three divisions.

  • Toppglen Wishful Thinking-ET was named the grand champion female of the International Junior Ayrshire Show. Wishful Thinking, also the senior champion female of the Junior Show and the Lifetime Component Merit Cow Class, was shown by Tanner, Brennan, Marissa and Logan Topp of West Salem, Ohio.

  • Marilie Gentleman Karmina took home the Senior and Grand Champion titles during the International Ayrshire Show. Karmina, shown by Budjon Farms and Peter and Lyn Vail of Lomira, Wisconsin, also won the Six-Year-Old Cow & Over Cow Class.

  • Tusc-Vu Avalanche Cali-ET took home Senior and Grand Champion titles at the 2021 International Junior Holstein Show. Cali is owned by Isaac Folts of North Collins, New York.

  • The World Forage Analysis Superbowl evaluated 343 entries and presented awards to top five finishers at the Forage Superbowl Luncheon. Herrington Farms Inc. of Troy, New York, was awarded as the Grand Champion Forage Producer with their brown midrib (BMR) corn silage. The Grand Champion First-Time Entrant Award went to Marty Farms of Sterling, Ohio.  end mark