Farmer leaders and staff representing National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) and National Dairy Board (NDB) shared policy and promotion updates at the NMPF/UDIA/NDB joint annual meeting, held Nov. 13-15 in Orlando, Florida.
In his opening remarks, NMPF Chair and Missouri dairy producer Randy Mooney referred to dairy’s current position as the “eye of the storm” and expressed optimism for the years ahead.
“As we look to the future, I’m excited about what I see,” Mooney said. “We may be in the eye of the storm right now, but I believe this is the dawn of a new day. We’re in a position to capture opportunities, adapt, evolve and grow through adversity and challenges but also through innovation, creativity and position change.”
New at this year’s meeting were four breakout sessions offering attendees the chance to dive deeper into policy and promotion initiatives, programs and updates.
“We feel it’s important for you to have the opportunity to engage in smaller group settings to get a closer look at the programs that are underway and to ask questions directly of the staff that is doing the work,” said Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) Chair and Pennsylvania dairy producer Marilyn Hershey.
Hershey was re-elected as chair of DMI, and three other farmer leaders were elected to chair UDIA, NDB and National Dairy Council (NDC).
- UDIA – Alex Peterson, Missouri
- NDB – Joanna Shipp, Virginia
- NDC – Audrey Donahoe, New York
The 2024 joint annual meeting will be held Oct. 20-23 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Farm bill, FMMO updates
During the policy breakout session, NMPF staff members Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president, policy development and strategy; Paul Bleiberg, executive vice president, government relations; Will Loux, vice president, global economic affairs; and Stephen Cain, senior director, economic research and analysis; discussed the state of the farm bill, Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) modernization and other focus areas.
During the week of the meeting, Congress was in the process of passing a one-year extension of the farm bill, which was signed by President Biden a few days later.
“The extension carries the Dairy Margin Coverage Program (DMC) over to the 2024 year,” Bleiberg said. “It also folds the Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage into the underlying DMC. [The overall progress of] the farm bill slowed down a bit because of the speaker fight and the larger government funding battle, which has impacted discussions in both the House and the Senate. [However,] I do expect that the work on the new bill in the first part of 2024 is going to move pretty quickly.”
Paul Bleiberg, left; Stephen Cain, center; and Jaime Castaneda, right, discussed farm bill progress, Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization and other priorities during the policy breakout session. Photo by Kimmi Devaney.
Cain described the FMMO modernization process, including the ongoing hearing, as a “huge, monumental effort to gain consensus across the entire dairy industry.”
“The federal order system works well,” Cain said. “What we’re trying to do here is bring it in line with how current operating procedures are happening today in the dairy industry. It’s been 25 years since we’ve had an update, and things have gotten out of pace with how the dairy industry operates.”
NMPF submitted five of the original 22 proposals discussed during the hearing.
- Limit the make allowance to NMPF’s proposed levels
- Return to the ‘higher of’ in the calculation of the Class I mover
- Eliminate 500-pound barrel cheese pricing from the calculation of the Class III protein price
- Increase and regularly update skim component tests used to determine the FMMO skim milk price
- Adopt the NMPF Class I price differential proposal
In addition to the farm bill and FMMO modernization, panelists also highlighted other policy priorities, including FSA programs, farm labor and immigration, nutrition issues such as school milk programs, FDA policies like milk labeling and international issues, and trade policy issues where NMPF works closely with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC).
Promotion partnership overview
Hershey and DMI President and CEO Barbara O’Brien discussed national promotion updates and reviewed her priorities for the first two years as CEO, including a listening tour to meet with dairy farmers across the nation. Her first year at the helm of DMI was internally focused and included a staff restructure to “drive greater collaboration and efficiency,” while the following year was focused on external outreach.
Partnerships are key to driving incremental sales.
“In terms of new sales volume, the domestic and global food service partnerships continue to deliver,” O’Brien said. “Both longtime partnerships and new partnerships are growing sales while also giving consumers new experiences with a broad range of dairy products that we know they enjoy.”
McDonald's and Taco Bell are two of DMI’s longtime quick service restaurant (QSR) partners. Taco Bell experienced a 7% dairy volume increase year-to-date while McDonald's increased by 3% in the same time period.
O’Brien commented on how cheese has shifted from being a garnish on the plate to now the center of the plate, and that grilled cheese is “on fire at Taco Bell.”
“[As of this year, the] grilled cheese burrito is now a permanent menu item. [Taco Bell] also introduced the grilled cheese taco melt and of course, it’s accompanied by a cheese sauce and other sauces. We’re going to see more; that’s just a little nod to future innovations,” O’Brien said.
At McDonald’s, ice cream and shakes will be “center stage” with the partnership in 2024. In addition to new and existing dairy-based menu items like new McFlurry flavors, DMI staff supported preventative maintenance testing to combat a common frustration of McDonald’s customers – broken or malfunctioning ice cream machines.
“This year, we have refocused and revitalized their dessert business, including shakes,” O’Brien said. “Earlier this year, they introduced the first new milkshake in a decade called the Grimace shake. It became a viral hit overnight.”
While discussing program successes, she acknowledged that not everything goes according to plan.
“I feel good about those areas where we have been able to build trust and drive incremental sales this last year, but things do not always go as expected, especially in this environment today,” O’Brien said. “[There is] a lot of volatility, but like you on the farm, you learn, adapt and move forward.”
She spoke about a “misalignment of timing” as newer partner Raising Canes expands their footprint, sets up stores across the country and works to get their standard operating procedures in place.
“Our vision was to build out the potential for more dairy [within their menu],” O’Brien said. “Even with the expansion of sites, we’ve seen 30 percent growth in their dairy usage, but there is so much more that’s going to happen there. [However,] it’s been about timing. … We’ve agreed to a 2024 plan and we’re bullish on what we’re going to see in terms of growth with Raising Canes.”
She said the funds originally allocated to the Raising Canes partnership were redeployed to incremental pizza opportunities this fall, including Domino's and another with a pizza player in China that had a 100% international supplier and a portion of that business has now come to the U.S.
“Overall, those two pizza projects will generate an incremental 12 million pounds of cheese, and we’re expecting it to actually be a little bit more,” O’Brien added.
Representatives from General Mills and the Mayo Clinic spoke in their respective sessions about their partnerships and collaborations with DMI.
The Mayo Clinic is a newer collaboration and, according to Hershey and O’Brien, is a “bright spot” that will help bring new information forward to offset some of the negative narrative around dairy and heart disease.
O’Brien described it as a “groundbreaking relationship” and a “partnership of a different kind” for DMI, particularly in the science area where they have mostly worked through the university systems.
“They are working on new information on dairy and cardiovascular health, but we’re also talking to them about immunity, gut health, mental health and a lot of new areas. We’ve just launched our first research project with them,” O’Brien said.
Eric Klavetter, operations administrator for the Mayo Clinic, shared his perspective on the collaboration with DMI and NDC and elaborated on the three focus areas.
“When we organized the relationship [and collaboration with DMI], we wanted to make sure that we had a framework in order to be focused,” Klavetter said during his presentation. “We have three components of this work: 1) scientific research, 2) education and outreach, and 3) digital healthcare transformation. A big thank you to [DMI and NDC] for having the vision and the foresight for us to work together. We like that we can continue to be independent of each other so that when we produce a paper on dairy nutrition and its role within [overall] nutrition and health, that it has the merit of being scientifically validated, but that we can do that in collaboration.”
In another session, Kerry DeLaney, General Mills dairy business unit director, shared his company’s vision and commitment to driving growth in the yogurt category. He said they are planning to launch a new high-protein, low-sugar yogurt product in 2024 and that yogurt overall is in a “really, really good position.”
Aside from general session presentations, three promotion-focused breakout sessions shared more information about specific programs.
- Innovating for dairy’s future: Leveraging science for sustained growth – DMI staff explained how U.S. dairy is leveraging science and innovation for the future, how the consumer landscape and consumer expectations are rapidly changing, and how the dairy checkoff is identifying new opportunities for dairy products and ingredients.
- Fueling dairy love – This included a discussion of industry-wide efforts that bring dairy nutrition, dairy purpose and taste front and center with target audiences.
- Collaborating for dairy’s future – This panel discussion with DMI and NMPF staff members focused on environmental stewardship initiatives, including the FARM-ES program.
NMPF leadership transition: Mulhern retires, Doud takes the helm
After leading NMPF for a decade, President and CEO Jim Mulhern thanked dairy farmers, the dairy industry, his board and NMPF staff for their well wishes as he turns the page from his 45-year career into retirement. Mulhern received multiple standing ovations from the audience throughout the meeting.
National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern, left, is wrapping up his 45-year career and handing the reins to Gregg Doud, right. Photo by Kimmi Devaney.
In his remarks during the general session, he said that “significant progress” stands out the most when looking back over his career.
“In my view, the progress we’ve made is all because we’re blessed with great people on the farm, in our marketing and processing organizations, and in the policy and promotion organizations that are working to advance your interests,” Mulhern said. “It’s also because we’re producing a great product – nature’s most perfect food, a food whose demand is growing both domestically and internationally. Perhaps most importantly, we have the most efficient, productive, resilient and sustainable dairy producer community in the entire world. You do it better than anyone else, and you’re only going to get better.”
During his opening remarks, Mooney extended his thanks to Mulhern.
“Jim has been instrumental in so many policy milestones even beyond his career at National Milk,” Mooney said. “He’s led us through two completed farm bills, the COVID-19 crisis and a roller coaster of a legislative environment – always focused on doing what’s best for dairy farmers. His experience in the dairy and ag industry, as well as on Capitol Hill, have been invaluable, and his influence on the organization and on me will be felt for many years.”
As Mulhern wraps up the final weeks of his career, he said he does so with the “great comfort” of knowing the dairy industry is “in great hands for the journey that lies ahead.”
“The board made a very wise decision in the selection of Gregg Doud as my successor,” Mulhern said. “Gregg is perfectly positioned to lead this organization and industry forward. Gregg, I’m excited to watch you take this organization to new heights.”
In another session, Doud expressed his appreciation for Mulhern’s leadership and for the opportunity.
“It is an honor to follow in your [Jim Mulhern’s] very large footsteps,” Doud said. “You’re an institution. Thank you for the opportunity to do this, and I look forward to working with [DMI, USDEC and other industry organizations] well into the future.”
