Digest highlights

Natzke dave
Dave Natzke
Editor / Progressive Dairy

FMMO proposal information session is June 16

The next steps toward a potential formal process to modernize the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system are scheduled late this week:

A pre-hearing information session to provide technical descriptions of proposed FMMO pricing provisions will be held June 16, 10 a.m. (Eastern time). The session will give stakeholders submitting proposals an opportunity to explain how their proposals would be implemented and operate; it is not to provide the justification for or impact of their proposals. Only USDA staff will have the ability to ask technical operational questions.

The deadline to submit proposals was June 14, and 10 proposals have been submitted and posted on the USDA FMMO Petitions website. Organizations submitting proposals included: the American Farm Bureau Federation, the California Dairy Campaign, Cedar Grove Cheese, the Dairy Pricing Association, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, the International Dairy Foods Association, Lamers Dairy Inc., the Milk Innovation Group, National All-Jersey Inc. and Select Milk Producers Inc.

A link for interested parties to observe the proposal information session will be posted here by 9 a.m. on June 16.

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Following the information session, modified proposals will then be accepted through June 20. An evaluation of the submitted information will assist in determining whether the proposal will be accepted if a hearing is held.

If the USDA moves forward with a formal hearing process, it will be published in the Federal Register by late July, with a tentative hearing date set for Aug. 23.

Lawmakers urge DMC program upgrade

Three senators representing Minnesota and Wisconsin sent a letter to the Senate Ag Committee urging upgrades to the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program in the 2023 Farm Bill, according to FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative.

In the letter, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-Minnesota) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) recommended that the production volume between Tier I and Tier II premiums be updated to reflect the growth in herd size, that producers be allowed to update their production history to 2022 levels for future DMC payments and that the top DMC margin level be increased from $9.50 to $10 per hundredweight to reflect the increasing costs of non-feed inputs.

Klobuchar, Smith and Baldwin are all members of the Senate Ag Committee.

NMPF board approves farm bill priorities

Members of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) board have approved policy priorities for inclusion in the 2023 Farm Bill. The current farm bill set to expire Sept. 30.

Priorities cover some issues that are already part of NMPF’s FMMO hearing petition and proposal, including: directing the USDA to conduct mandatory plant cost studies every two years for future make allowance reviews and returning to the “higher-of” Class I mover price calculation, either administratively via the FMMO process or legislatively through the farm bill.

Among other the priorities, NMPF’s board:

  • Supported continuing the DMC program while updating the program’s production history calculation, and improve the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy (LGM-Dairy) and Dairy-Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) programs should new funding become available
  • Advocated for conservation policies that better position the dairy industry to become greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050; support funding for voluntary conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program; and seek relief from program payment limitations
  • Supported enhanced funding for dairy trade promotion programs like the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development program
  • Called on the USDA and U.S. trade representative to protect common food names in international trade negotiations
  • Supported federal nutrition programs to provide dairy products to beneficiaries and support the Dairy Nutrition Incentives Program to encourage SNAP participants to choose dairy products at the grocery store

Flavored milk ‘liked’ for schools

Another proposal regarding school milk options has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The “Milk is Indisputably Liked by Kids Act of 2023 – or MILK Act” (H.R. 3930) would amend the National School Lunch Act to require schools to offer flavored milk under the school lunch program. The bill was introduced by Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin) and has seven co-sponsors. It has been referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which already approved the “Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act” (H.R.1147), a bill allowing whole milk as an option for schools participating in the school lunch program.

ICYMI (In case you missed it)

  • The NMPF notes that the best bargain in nutrition is only getting better, with latest consumer price index data showing dairy price inflation is running well below that for all items and all food and beverages. Read: Dairy Defined: Good News for Consumers on Inflation
  • April 2023 U.S. farm-level milk prices were down 22.7% from the same month a year earlier, according to the USDA Economics Research Service. Wholesale dairy prices were down 4.2%. Consumer dairy product prices were up 8%.

Coming up

Also, check the Progressive Dairy website for these updates:

  • The USDA releases the May Milk Production report on June 21, followed by the Cold Storage report on June 23. The release of both reports mean Dairy-RP coverage is not available for sale on those dates. The July FMMO Class I base price is announced on June 22.