The Weekly Digest covers dairy news from the end of July into this first week of August, including:

Lee karen
Karen Lee
Managing Editor / Progressive Dairy

Milk processors expand in New York, Wisconsin

Upstate Niagara Cooperative is planning a $150 million expansion in West Seneca, New York, to meet a growing consumer demand for cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. The company has proposed a 250,000-square-foot addition to its existing 222,851-square-foot facility and plans to break ground on the expansion later this fall. The addition will include dairy product manufacturing and increase employment at the site by 54% to 370 employees.

In Wisconsin, Grande Cheese Company held a groundbreaking ceremony to signify the start of renovations and expansion of its newly acquired Chilton facility. Construction will include approximately 20,000 square feet of renovations and 60,000 square feet of new construction. The facility will be the third-largest in Grande’s network and primarily produce mozzarella cheese. Work is expected to be complete in mid-2026, with a combination of new hires and Grande transfers staffing the 75-person facility.

More than 23,000 farmers to receive payments from Discrimination Financial Assistance Program

The Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) was established by Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act. Through the act, Congress allocated $2.2 billion for the program and directed the USDA to provide financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021.

One year after the application process was opened, over 43,000 individuals, including individuals in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa, will receive financial assistance through the program. The assistance will help many of them continue farming or enhance their operations, will allow some to begin farming or in other cases will help to ease lost income.

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The recipients include over 23,000 individuals who have or had a farming or ranching operation, who are receiving between $10,000 and $500,000 of assistance, with an average of nearly $82,000. Recipients also include over 20,000 individuals who planned to have a farming or ranching operation but reported they were unable to do so because they couldn’t get a USDA loan. These individuals are receiving between $3,500 and $6,000 of assistance, with an average of $5,000.

The information provided in DFAP applications will continue to be reviewed and analyzed, and will provide a roadmap for the USDA as it fine-tunes its program equity efforts at the national, regional and local levels.

Five things we’ll miss without a new farm bill

In the most recent Market Intel report, American Farm Bureau Federation Chief Economist Roger Cryan and Economist Betty Resnick outline five key elements that would impact farmers if the 2018 Farm Bill expires.

  1. Farmer safety net: The farm bill sets a safety net to support farmers when prices fall to unsustainable levels. One part of this safety net is the crop insurance program, which is a permanent program that wouldn’t go away without a new farm bill, but it does need some improvements to make it more affordable to all farmers.
  2. Help for dairy farmers: Anticipated improvements to the Dairy Margin Coverage program through a new farm bill include opportunities to buy coverage for a higher nominal milk-over-feed-cost margin that would cover some (but not all) of the inflation of the last six years.
  3. Agricultural sustainability: Farmers are increasingly being asked to be more sustainable. A new farm bill provides an opportunity to incorporate the Inflation Reduction Act, which has dedicated federal budget dollars to conservation programs aimed at helping farmers support their own land’s sustainability, as well as the sustainability of the global environment, making it a permanent baseline for future farm bills.
  4. Research: Publicly funded research is critical to growing agricultural productivity and the sustainability of agriculture.
  5. Food security is economic and national security: From growing agricultural productivity to maintaining agricultural production capacity, this ensures a well-fed and safer world. The economic success of American agriculture also supports our national economy. Lastly, the farm bill supports those in need in our own country, through the permanent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and through programs that depend on farm bill reauthorization, such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program.

U.S. agriculture is currently working under a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, and a second extension would mean another year of out-of-date support for farmers after years of inflation and other geopolitical changes.

CDFA accepting grant applications for dairy methane reduction programs

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting grant applications from commercial dairies and livestock operations for the installation of equipment and implementation of practices that result in long-term methane emissions reductions and maximize environmental co-benefits.

Since 2015, CDFA’s dairy and livestock methane programs have funded 308 incentive projects that will result in the reduction of more than 25.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) once completed. This is equivalent to removing a total of 6.2 million gasoline-powered cars from the road.

CDFA is offering both of its flagship dairy and livestock methane reduction grants: the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) and the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP). AMMP has approximately $17.4 million available, and DDRDP has approximately $8 million available for awards.

CDFA is also opening a second grant-round for its Dairy Plus Program, a collaborative effort between the CDFA and the California Dairy Research Foundation (CDRF) funded by the USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities program. The Dairy Plus Program offers the opportunity to amplify the reach and scope of traditional AMMP and DDRDP projects through the implementation of advanced manure management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address nitrogen and salts surplus. The program already awarded 14 projects in 2023 and has $58 million in funding available for additional grants. New AMMP and DDRDP applicants, as well as previous AMMP and DDRDP recipients with in-progress or completed projects, are eligible to apply to the Dairy Plus Program.

The application deadline for all three programs is Friday, Oct. 18, by 5 p.m. PT.

Parents want more lactose-free options for kids

An analysis of milk sales across all major sales channels shows that U.S. schools are falling short in making lactose-free milk options available to students. Obstacles like mandatory doctor’s notes, a lack of reimbursements for lactose-free purchases from the federal government and inadequate nutrition recommendations that shortchange child nutrition are at issue, said President and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) Michael Dykes, DVM.

The analysis of lactose-free sales done by Prime Consulting shows lactose-free options represented 8% of all milk volume sales in 2023 across retail (grocery and supercenters) and institutions, representing the largest share of lactose-free volume sales in history. However, sales of lactose-free milk in schools were just 0.6% of all milk sales in schools.

A new Morning Consult poll of likely voters shows 8 in 10 said it is important for public school lunches (81%) and federal nutrition programs (80%) to provide lactose-free milk options to kids who prefer them.

Considering the findings, IDFA will engage with policymakers to explore ways to increase the availability of lactose-free milk options for students, remove unfair barriers that make it difficult for children to access lactose-free milk and ensure the 2025-30 Dietary Guidelines for Americans maintain the dairy category, including lactose-free dairy options.

USDA extends comment period for the Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets proposed rule

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is extending the deadline for comments on the proposed rule, Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets (89 Fed. Reg. 53886), for an additional 15 days, from Aug. 27 to Sept. 11. Comments may be submitted anonymously at Regulations.gov.

The Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets proposed rule would define unfair practices as conduct that harms market participants and conduct that harms the market. Combined, these comprehensively define the contours of “unfair practices” under the Packers and Stockyards Act.

View the webinar to provide background information and an overview of the proposed rule.