DairyNZ lead scientist Paul Edwards told farmers and rural professionals at the Northland Dairy Development Trust conference that future dairy farming systems will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

He stated that the industry must be globally competitive, locally responsible, and regionally resilient now and in the future.

The dairy industry must work within domestic constraints, also known as the social licence to operate, while also dealing with regional and year-to-year variations.

Because 95% of New Zealand’s milk is exported, the country must ensure that its products are more appealing than competitors’.

He cited the current Northland Agricultural Research Farm trial in Dargaville on alternative pastures and low emissions as an example of the resilience effort.

NZ is already in a good position in terms of global competitiveness, but DairyNZ is tasked with determining where the NZ industry should be in a decade.

It is evaluating competitors, such as the efficiency of US mega-dairies, and milk alternatives to determine where it can be more competitive. The goal is not to replicate systems, but to improve the pasture-based farm systems in New Zealand.

DairyNZ researchers investigated mega-dairies and tested the concept against various scenarios:

• Business as we expect it to be, with existing trends continuing.

• Consumers’ awareness of product attributes such as footprint or welfare grows.

• The world may become more chaotic and isolated.

• Governments may impose more regulations, and society may impose more standards, and

• Agriculture could see a significant increase in productivity.

“We then look for common themes across the scenarios to see what is likely to be important for future dairy systems,” Edwards explained.

Labor, farm costs, footprint, animal care, and system transparency, which is about “demonstrating we are meeting consumer and regulatory expectations and providing product provenance,” were common themes.

Because of the limitations on increasing herd size and the difficulties in employing rural labour, labour is already a hot topic.

According to Edwards, milking is an important part of farm labour, and there have been some notable shifts in the use of once-a-day (OAD) and flexible milking strategies over the last decade, which have already been well documented.

Twice-a-day milking has dropped from 65% of farms to less than 40%, and 60% of farms now use full-season once-a-day, part-season OAD, or part-season flexible milking.

According to Edwards, Northland herds were only 27% full-season twice-a-day in 2021-22, with 30% full-season OAD, compared to 9% nationally.

Monitoring production for four seasons before and five seasons after switching to OAD milking on farms where seasonal production is less than 250kg/cow or 251-300kg reveals little change or even a slight improvement in production.

With a provincial average of 320kg in Northland, the preference for once-a-day milking is logical.

“It’s possible that the time saved will be used to better manage the farm,” he said.

While milking frequency can help to reduce labour requirements, on-farm demand during calving and mating still creates labour peaks.

Late last year, DairyNZ held a workshop for rural professionals and farmers, and it was determined that flattening labour demand throughout the year and within each day would be beneficial.

This could be accomplished by considering changes such as extended lactations and batch robotic milking.

Reduced calvings and matings due to extended lactation would undoubtedly save time, money, burnout, fatigue, and bobby calves. It may also improve animal welfare by improving reproductive performance and extending life.

A 24-month calving interval with half of the herd calving every year corresponds best to feed demand and reduces winter weather risks to cows.

“The modelling suggests that a Dargaville-type pasture curve may be more profitable,” Edwards said, but there are many assumptions and limited data.

DairyNZ is therefore establishing a farmlet-scale pilot at Scott Farm beginning in the 2023-24 season to investigate what cows can produce in their second year of lactation, as well as the relationship between feed supply and demand.

Batch robotic milking refers to group milking (similar to conventional milking) rather than voluntary milking, with milkings spread out over a 24-hour period.

“Current robotic technology on the market cannot directly replace a milker, which means a robot would be needed at every milking point, for example a 50-bail rotary would have 50 robots.

“With the obvious capital expenditure required for this, a system redesign is required,” Edwards explained.

Combining robotic milking with virtual herding technology and dividing the herd into batches of 100 cows is one example of a redesign that drastically reduces the number of robots required.

Production costs are linked to labour requirements, and DairyNZ has used an inflation-adjusted average milk price of $6.80 over the last decade to estimate where production costs may need to be in 2030.

This is calculated by converting historic milk price values to what they would be in today’s terms using the consumer price index, which accounts for inflation.

Assuming a 30% gross margin, the required operating expenses would be $4.76, which is 10% less than the actual farm expenses figure for 2019-20, which is $5.32.

“The technological gains … would add extra costs and it is part of our thinking to evaluate those costs and benefits to see if they stay within the required farm working expenses and generate the required margin.

“On the plus side, halving the number of matings and calvings would lower costs; however, the farmlet pilot will help quantify how this compares to changes in production.”

According to him, the rich data capture required for system transparency should be complementary to the goals of automation and system simplification.

“Another example of how data integration can provide management insights is heat stress.

“We can take a weather forecast and turn it into an indicator of heat stress, combine with grazing records and shelter knowledge, and present options for cow management.

“Then, following the event, we use data on what happened – actual weather data as well as animal behaviour captured on their smart halters – to review and refine management.”

Edwards stated that his Future Farming Systems project was evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and that it largely projected existing dairy farming trends.

“It is also critical that we re-examine old ideas through a new lens or purpose as operating contexts change.”

“In conclusion, this is an opportunity to lead change rather than be forced into it.”

Participants all along the dairy value chain are being squeezed, according to a new Rabobank report. Producer milk prices have fallen from lofty levels in 2022, while feed prices are at all-time highs. Processors and dairy cooperatives began the year by discounting costly inventory made with expensive milk. Meanwhile, rising interest rates and higher inflation are pressuring consumers to make more frugal purchases.

In the key export regions, year-on-year milk production growth has increased in 2023, compared to 2022’s low levels. Simultaneously, farmgate milk prices are catching up to global commodity market trends and have fallen. Expensive input costs continue to be a major headwind globally, and when combined with lower milk prices, they are putting pressure on farm-level margins. As a result, the slaughter of dairy cows has increased.

“Milk production from the Big 7 export regions is expected to grow by 0.7% year on year in 2023, following a 0.9% decline in 2022,” says Mary Ledman, Rabobank’s global sector strategist for dairy. “Rabobank reduced its 2023 forecast from 1% in the previous quarter. This slower growth is due to increased culling in the United States as well as weather-related production challenges in New Zealand, Brazil, and Argentina.”

Price Uncertainty Persists

Uncertainty in dairy market prices persists across regions and dairy products. A little more milk and a little less demand have both contributed to lower dairy commodity prices in the first quarter of 2023. Stock levels in key exporting regions, on the other hand, are not burdensome. Cheese and butter prices have fared the best, while the markets for skim and whole milk powder have yet to find a footing.

Consumers play a role in the story. In a complex macroeconomic environment, with core services inflation remaining high, there are growing signs of a slowdown in household consumption, which is likely to worsen in the coming months. “Consumers haven’t abandoned the dairy aisle,” Ledman says, “but they are looking for value.”

With an eye on Chinese demand

Lower global cheese, milk powder, and whey prices are expected to boost exports. To support dairy product prices in 2023, much will depend on internal Chinese policies and broader demand resilience.

Despite China’s retreat, global dairy trade in 2022 was better than expected. Exports to key importers such as Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, Algeria, and South Korea exceeded 2021 levels. “Through November 2022, total dairy product volume trade was within 1.5% of the previous year, despite a 20% reduction in Chinese imports,” Ledman notes. With China’s reopening, Rabobank expects foodservice revenues to increase by 1% to 2% over pre-Covid levels. “Looking ahead, China’s dairy imports in the first quarter of 2023 are expected to fall short of year-ago levels, with renewed buying interest developing in the second quarter of the year. Imports are expected to rise slightly year on year in the second half of 2023.”

Aliana Varvaloucas will tell you that her colleagues have seen “broken everything” in the homes of the dairy farmworkers she represents.

The Farm Worker Law Project’s managing attorney ticks off a list of damage, decay, and vermin that endangers human health and safety: broken windows, doors, floors, walls, stoves, water heaters, heaters, roofs, cabinets; slanted floors, sewage in showers and going into the ground around the housing; soft wet spongy floors, no locks on doors or windows; flies and bugs, broken steps; rooms with no windows, wall-to-wall rugs that haven’t been cleaned in years, filthy furniture, beg bugs, mosquitos, skunks living under housing, mice, rodents and rats.

While many who help farmworkers find the conditions appalling, she claims that workers rarely complain about their employer-provided living quarters, which include ageing mobile homes and farmhouses or, in some cases, dormitories in the barns themselves. einsteinerupload of. Without work or a place to live, they may be deported, as advocates estimate that 90 percent are from outside the United States, with the vast majority being undocumented. There appears to be no simple solution for workers whose bosses are also their landlords. The problem is exacerbated by a lack of oversight for dairy worker housing due to legal limitations, which advocates are working to change.

“There are six different farmworker housing statutes, and none of them apply to dairy housing,” said Varvaloucas, who is based in New Paltz. “Dairy farmworkers get lost in the shuffle. There is a massive legal loophole.”

Both in Albany and in Washington, there is some effort to create housing oversight. The New York Farm Bureau has requested that Governor Kathy Hochul restore $400,000 to its budget to support farm-provided housing inspections. In Washington, the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act was passed by lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives, which would move year-round dairy workers out of the shadows and into the H-2A visa programme, which requires the state Department of Health to inspect worker housing.

Advocates such as Varvaloucas argue that these measures are only the beginning of a much-needed overhaul for dairy farmworkers, who are isolated across vast swaths of the state’s rural landscape.

Ideally, she would like to see comprehensive immigration reform, but for the time being, she and other farmworker advocates would like the state to require inspections of all employer-provided housing.

“Inspection isn’t perfect, and there are problems at H-2A camps as well,” Varvaloucas said. “However, at least in those camps, there is a visit, and there is some kind of third-party authority overseeing things.”

Of course, not all farms provide workers with dilapidated, unsafe, or unsanitary housing. Immigrant advocates acknowledge that some farm owners welcome workers by providing adequate housing. One Saratoga County farmer, for example, has been identified by county social workers as having worker apartments as well as “his own home.”

He recently spoke with the Times Union, requesting anonymity in order to protect his undocumented workers from deportation. He believes that providing decent and safe housing is a wise investment.

“They’re decent people,” he said. “It’s worthwhile. They are extremely valuable to us.”

The Saratoga Immigration Coalition’s Terry Diggory agreed. He stated that these employees are trained in animal care.

“What the farmers really value are people who already have that experience and can supervise a herd,” said Diggory, who drives workers to appointments and on errands on a regular basis. “They take care of medical problems that arise, identify diseases, attend calves’ births, there is a wide range of things that the workers must be specialists in.”

They must also milk the herd twice or three times per day.

Workers on a Saratoga County farm care for, feed, and milk a herd of over 1,000 cows. That dairyman fully supports the bill in Washington that would incorporate these year-round employees into the seasonal or migrant worker H-2A programme. Currently, that programme allows workers to travel from their home country to work for a limited time period, such as during an apple orchard harvest or during the summer at a hotel in Lake George. Dairy farms cannot currently participate because they are year-round operations.

“The country requires assistance,” the farmer stated. “We are eager to receive assistance. We can’t find it anywhere. … I’d hoped to persuade the government to do something simple and effective. There is currently no programme available to us.”

However, Emma Kreyche, advocacy director for the Worker Justice Center of New York, which operates in 33 counties, believes the act creates a new problem. It will bind the worker to a single farm. If they leave or are fired, they will be deported as well as lose their home.

“As a worker’s rights organisation, we are categorically opposed to the expansion of the H-2A programme, not because we dislike H-2A workers, but because the H-2A programme has a history of labour abuses,” she said. “It’s true that H-2A housing is more strictly regulated. But for an employer to say, “If we get access to the visa programme, we’ll improve our housing,” is just plain wrong. It’s a very problematic solution to a problem that could be solved through better state regulation and oversight in worker housing more broadly.”

This is a critical issue in rural areas throughout the state, which, according to the US Department of Agriculture, is one of the top five dairy producers in the country. According to the state Farm Bureau, there are over 3,600 dairy farms in the state that produce 15 billion pounds of milk from 625,000 cows each year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly 26,000 farm labourers work 150 days or more on farms, including dairy farms. There was no breakdown figure for dairy farm labourers.

According to a 2019 study on New York dairy farmworkers conducted by Kreyche’s Workers Justice Center, 97 percent of dairy farmworkers live in farm-provided housing. Of those polled, 58 percent had bug or insect infestations in their homes, 48 percent did not have door locks, 32 percent had holes in their walls or floors, and another 32 percent had poor ventilation.

Among other things, the report recommended that the state “ensure that all farmworkers live in safe and dignified housing.”

“Dairy housing must meet all housing requirements and should provide safe, sanitary housing regardless of immigration status,” said Steve Ammerman, a Farm Bureau spokesman, in an email. “Local code enforcement and health departments have jurisdiction and can be called in if there is a complaint. If a problem arises, the New York Farm Bureau encourages workers to notify the appropriate authorities. The same is true for workers’ rights organisations. They are not permitted to make allegations without first reporting them to authorities. If they do not, I will question why.”

Dairy farmworkers, according to Kreyche, do not want their advocates to report the conditions because they fear punishment.

“I went to a farm near Albany where workers were housed in essentially a cesspool without proper sewage,” Kreyche explained. “There was a shattered window, exposed wiring, and electricity running through extension cords. All of this is illegal. You should contact the local building inspector. But the question is, what will be the outcome? First, you must feel supported or empowered, empowered enough to not be concerned about what will happen.”

Even supportive farmers discover that their employees are hesitant to report a housing issue.

“They aren’t very good at telling me what’s wrong, so I have to go through and check the house on a regular basis,” the Saratoga County farmer explained.

He recalls a time when one of his employees’ apartment’s heat was broken.

“I asked how long this had been going on, and they looked at you as if they didn’t want to admit it or bother me,” he explained. “Everything has to be kept track of.”

That is one of the recommendations in the report “Creating Positive Workplaces: A Guidebook for Dairy Producers” by Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Farmworker Program. It recommends a monthly inspection that includes a 27-item checklist that includes checking that the stove works, the cabinets aren’t broken, and the toilet isn’t in need of repair. It also includes ensuring that there are enough beds for workers, as well as locks on doors, heat, and electricity.

“Good housing contributes to worker satisfaction and increased farm productivity,” according to the guidebook. “Some farmers place a high priority on providing good-quality housing, while others find housing to be a necessary but challenging aspect of farm management. This situation can be difficult for both the owners of the property and the occupants. Given that dairy farmers typically provide housing for their employees, having clear housing expectations for standards of care, maintenance, visitors, and security issues is critical.”

In addition, Cornell is training inspectors who will visit farms and collect housing data in a “non-subjective, non-regulatory” manner.

Nonetheless, Varvaloucas believes that the power dynamic between the worker and the farmer makes the workers vulnerable.

“Even with an anonymous complaint, an employer can easily determine who called a lawyer or local code enforcement,” Varvaloucas said. “This is why annual inspections would be extremely beneficial. They relieve the worker of the burden of coming forward because there is now a third-party enforcement agency that inspects the housing at regular intervals. Owners should have no trouble passing inspection if their housing is up to code.”

Would prohibiting nondairy alternatives such as oat milk, soy milk, and almond milk from using the word “milk” make a difference to grocery shoppers?

Vermont Senator Peter Welch joined other lawmakers this week in criticising the FDA’s recent decision to allow plant-based beverages to continue using the term “milk.” The DAIRY PRIDE Act of 2023 is being pushed by Welch and others. Nondairy products made from nuts, seeds, plants, and algae would no longer be labelled with dairy terms like milk, yoghurt, or cheese.

Farmers and industry workers joined Welch at the Howrigan Dairy Farm in Sheldon on Friday. He claims that dairy alternatives obscure the true meaning of milk and cause consumer confusion. “If the term’milk’ is to be used, it must be used correctly. Milk is derived from the mammary gland of a cow. It is not a different product. Whether oat, soy, or plant-based. “Those are fantastic, but it’s not milk,” Welch explained.

But what about the general public? “I drink dairy,” Lydia Lacroix explained.

“It has to be cows milk all the way,” Paul Delabrurere said. “A cow gives milk. I milked cows for most of my life, so I understand what it’s all about. The other milk is a forgery.”

While some coffee drinkers dismiss milk alternatives, others see both sides. “I usually put regular milk in my coffee because it’s delicious. “And for smoothies, I’ll use almond for calories and such,” Natalie Rashie explained. “I’d probably call milk’milk,’ and almond milk a’milk substitute.'”

Dairy farmers like Joanna Lidback, owner of The Farm at Wheeler Mountain in Westmore, would be delighted. “I believe we have real milk. We have milk that has been lactated by mammals. “We have cows, and this is what they do,” Lidback explained. She claims that dairy farmers have earned the right to use the milk label and the associated market benefits, and that alternative products rely on the name as a marketing tool. “When other groups take advantage of that, you know, it’s offensive.”

Others see this debate as a sign that the milk market is changing. “These beverages have diffused themselves into the marketplace,” said Jane Kolodinsky, chair of the University of Vermont’s Community Development and Applied Economics department. She claims that when coconut milk first hit the market, there wasn’t much pushback on the name, but as the market floods with products, there is value in using the term for plant-based milks because they can serve as a viable alternative. “In that sense, these plant-based milks compete with dairy.”

Kolodinsky believes it is natural for dairy to be defensive, but dairy could also shake up its labelling by employing the same strategies as milk alternatives. She believes that the most important aspect for the consumer is clarity, so that they can choose what is best for them. “Consumers must use their market power as much as marketers do,” she says.

Fonterra and Nestlé are collaborating to build New Zealand’s first commercially viable net zero carbon emissions dairy farm.

The dairy companies have formed a new partnership for this five-year project. The project’s demonstration farm is a 290-hectare property that surrounds Fonterra’s Whareroa site.

The farm, run in collaboration with Dairy Trust Taranaki, will examine all aspects of farm operations in order to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by mid-2027. The goal is to achieve net zero carbon emissions within ten years.

Dairy Trust Taranaki will collaborate with Fonterra and industry partners to reduce total farm emissions, including methane. The goal is to use solutions that are good for the farmer, good for the cow, and good for the milk.

The project’s lessons learned and activities will be shared with farmers through open days, allowing them to adopt the techniques and technologies most appropriate for their own farms. According to the companies, the practises must be economically viable and practical, as well as accessible to all farmers.
Developing novel solutions

According to Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell, the collaboration will aid both Fonterra and Nestlé in meeting their greenhouse gas emission targets. “Through its pasture-based dairy system, New Zealand already provides some of the most sustainable nutrition in the world. This new collaboration will look for ways to reduce emissions even further, increasing the country’s low-emissions advantage over the rest of the world.”

According to Hurrell, sustainability is an important part of Fonterra’s strategy. “By 2050, we hope to be net zero. We know that collaborating with others will result in greater gains for both the Co-op and the country. Working with partners like Nestlé provides us with the best opportunity to develop innovative solutions to local and global industry challenges.”

The Fonterra CEO emphasises that the project will also assist Fonterra and Nestlé customers in meeting their objectives. “Nestlé has ambitious plans, and we look forward to working together to discover systems that can assist our farmer owners in building on the already solid foundation they have.”

Nestlé New Zealand CEO Jennifer Chappell stated that the Taranaki farm would build on Nestlé’s global efforts to transform the dairy industry. “Dairy is our single most important ingredient, and our vision is that the future of dairy can be net zero,” Chappell says, adding, “It’s critical that we work with dairy farmers and their communities.”
Greenhouse gas farmer assistance programme

Nestlé currently has over 100 pilot projects underway with partners worldwide, including New Zealand. The company already has 20 farms working towards the goal of net zero emissions. Working towards a net zero farm, according to Chappell, entails considering all aspects of the farm, from cow nutrition to carbon sequestration. “We will share what we learn along the way across the dairy industry, with the ultimate goal of eventually mainstreaming on-farm practises that will reduce the dairy industry’s climate impact.”

Nestlé anticipates that the new project will help the company meet its goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, which includes reducing emissions by 20% by 2025 and 50% by 2030.

Fonterra and Nestlé’s collaboration also includes the launch of a greenhouse gas farmer support pilot programme. This multi-year project will provide additional assistance to enrolled Fonterra supplying farms in order to implement changes aimed at lowering their on-farm emissions.

This could include solutions such as better feed and pasture management and increased milk production efficiency. The opt-in pilot will begin with approximately 50 farms and will be scaled up over the next three years.

A market surplus of volumes, falling producer prices, and far too low producer income. These issues are recurring themes in dairy sector developments and characterise the current situation. To combat this trying situation, the European Milk Board (EMB) was established in 2006 and developed a market-oriented concept for crisis prevention known as the Market Responsibility Programme (MRP), which it has made available to the EU.
Activating the MRP and halting the volume increase

“Dairy producers in Europe are currently experiencing a drop in prices, which is threatening their farms,” said EMB President Kjartan Poulsen. Following a brief, unusual period of near-cost-covering prices, rising volumes and declining demand have created a market imbalance. During their press conference at the Paris Agricultural Show, the EMB Board emphasised one key point: The EU Commission should have the monitoring agency assess the market and implement volume reductions based on the MRP’s example.
Policies are required to put an end to retailer brand price dumping.

“The market situation is rough,” added Boris Gondouin, French EMB Board member, during the press conference, pointing out yet another negative market development: In many European countries, policymakers are allowing retailers to push national and fair brands brought to market by dairy farmers themselves off the shelves by price dumping with their own private labels, particularly since the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine. Strong protests are already taking place in Europe against these unfair trade practises, as was the case, for example, in Belgium and France at the beginning of February. “Policymakers must intervene to stop this unfair behaviour,” Gondouin added. “Without adequate regulation, we will quickly reach a point where too much has been removed and destroyed, and there will be no turning back.”

As the EMB stated further during its press conference, producers’ market position must be actively strengthened. “This industry requires strong, horizontal producer organisations that negotiate with dairies. Policymakers must help to facilitate and support this. “Ideally, these organisations would be transnational in order to cover the market in larger regions,” Poulsen added, before urging European dairy farmers to join appropriate organisations in order to increase dairy farmers’ market impact and bargaining power.

Several Russian food companies, including Russia’s largest meat producer, Cherkizovo, and the country’s largest dairy company, EkoNiva, have expressed interest in acquiring the Danone business in the country, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing anonymous market sources.

Danone may sell 13 dairy plants it operated in Russia before ceasing operations in October 2022. To keep a seat on the board of directors, the company wants to sell at least 75% of its Russian business, but not 100%. Danone also wants to make a buyback option a contractual requirement, according to Kommersant.

The buyback option may complicate the company’s withdrawal from Russia. According to Dmitry Gabishev, managing partner of Moscow-based think tank Peregrine Capital, this stage of the selloff could severely limit the number of potential buyers.

Danone has not responded.
Market to be affected

Furthermore, Danone intends to pass only Russian brands to the new owner. Prostokvashino, Rastishka, and Tyoma are among them. International brands such as Activia, Actimel, and Oikos will be prohibited from being sold in Russia.

According to Alexei Gruzdev, CEO of Russian research firm Streda Consulting, the Prostokvashino brand is unlikely to suffer from a change in ownership due to its strong position in the Russian dairy market. The prohibition on using the Activia and Actimel brands, on the other hand, could have a serious impact because they provided a significant share of sales, according to Gruzdev.

Danone was once Russia’s second-largest dairy company, processing 3,400 tonnes of raw milk daily. The company dominates several segments of the Russian dairy market, including fermented dairy products.

Alexander Petrikov, head of the All-Russian Institute of Agrarian Problems and Informatics, stated in January that the Danone business in Russia should not be sold in pieces. He warned that selling all dairy plants one by one would devastate Danone’s ecosystem and harm Russia’s entire dairy market.

“Estimating the resulting reputational losses is difficult. They will inevitably arise not only for buyers, but also for the corporation’s numerous Russian partners – raw milk and other input suppliers, universities and research institutes with which Danone has established partnerships,” Petrikov predicted.

Following recently announced guidance over non-dairy products using the “milk” name, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced the Dairy Pride Act.

It would require non-dairy products made from nuts, seeds, plants and algae to no longer be labeled with dairy terms, like milk, cheese, or yogurt.

The National Milk Producers Federation says the legislation is needed now more than ever.

“DAIRY PRIDE is needed more than ever, now that FDA has offered guidance on the labeling of plant-based beverages that, while taking steps in the right direction, ultimately doesn’t remedy the problem it seeks to solve, which is the proven confusion among consumers created when plant-based beverages steal dairy terms to make their products appear healthier than they really are,” said NMPF President Jim Mulhern.

According to a new FDA proposal, beverage producers responsible for making plant-based milk alternatives should be allowed to use the term “milk” to describe their products even if they contain no actual dairy content.

The FDA announced on Wednesday that it is sharing its “current view on the naming of plant-based milk” and will welcome public feedback as it works to finalise its guidelines on the subject.

The FDA stated in a 29-page draught guidance that it is considering the potential terminology allowance because most consumers understand the differences between plant- and animal-produced milk due to the growth of the non-dairy market. Because of this expansion, the term “milk” has come to refer to the byproduct produced when water is combined with a tree nut, legume, seed, or grain.

“The range of plant-based milk alternatives available in the market has also greatly expanded from soy, rice, and almond-based to cashew, coconut, flaxseed, hazelnut, hemp seed, macadamia nut, oat, pea, peanut, pecan, quinoa, and walnut-based,” the FDA wrote in its draught guidance.

AS PRICES INCREASE, EGG SUBSTITUTES FOR BAKING, COOKING, AND EATING
The US Food and Drug Administration is proposing that plant-based milk manufacturers be allowed to call their products “milk” despite the fact that they contain no dairy.

The US Food and Drug Administration is proposing that plant-based milk manufacturers be allowed to call their products “milk” despite the fact that they contain no dairy. (iStock)

According to the agency, plant-based milk consumption in the United States increased from one in every five households in 2010 to one in every three households in 2016.

Retail sales of plant-based milk are expected to reach $2.4 billion by 2020.

According to the FDA, the majority of consumer responses it has received about plant-based milk cite changing diets as the primary reason for their dairy-free purchase.
Plant-based milks, such as almond milk and soy milk, may be marketed as milk.

Plant-based milks, such as almond milk and soy milk, may be marketed as milk. (iStock)

The FDA wrote in the draught guidance’s “Consumer Understanding of Plant-based Milk Alternatives” section that multiple studies show that the majority of retail shoppers understand that plant-based milk alternatives do not contain animal-produced milk, and they are not confused when they see the word “milk” on a plant-based beverage label.

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“According to one consumer survey, approximately three-quarters of its respondents understood that plant-based milk alternatives do not contain milk; less than 10% believed that plant-based milk alternatives do contain milk, and the remainder did not know,” the FDA continued.

When discussing plant-based milk alternatives, the FDA also stated that commissioned and internally conducted focus groups revealed that the term “milk” is “strongly rooted” in consumer vocabulary.
The United States Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services that ensures the safety, efficacy, and security of food, drugs, and biological products. Its headquarters are in White Oak, Maryland.

The United States Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services that ensures the safety, efficacy, and security of food, drugs, and biological products. Its headquarters are in White Oak, Maryland. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

The FDA listed soy milk and almond milk as plant-based milk alternatives that “appear to be established by common usage.”

Consumers who took part in the FDA’s focus groups reportedly stated that they “feel familiar and comfortable” using the word “milk” instead of words like “beverage” or “drink” when referring to plant-based alternatives.

WHAT EXACTLY IS OAT MILK? IS IT ALSO HEALTHY?

Participants in focus groups stated that they buy plant-based milk to accommodate allergies, intolerances to dairy milk, and lifestyle choices such as following a vegan diet or preferring a liquid with lower fat and cholesterol content.

The FDA has the authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) to establish definitions and standards of identity for foods, such as naming conventions for common or usual foods, conformity mandates, and label requirements.

In 1973, the FDA established a standard of identity for milk, defining it as “the lacteal secretion, practically free of colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.”
Cows are the most common dairy animal in the United States. Goats, sheep, and buffalo are examples of dairy animals.

Cows are the most common dairy animal in the United States. Goats, sheep, and buffalo are examples of dairy animals. (iStock)

According to the FDA, beverage products that claim to be milk must conform to the definition and standard of milk and bear clear labelling that describes it as such.

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“Products that do not purport to be or are not represented as milk are exempt from these requirements,” the FDA stated. “Plant-based milk substitutes are not milk because they are made from plant materials rather than cow lacteal secretion. As a result, they are not permitted to be sold as “milk” under the FD&C Act.”

Although many plant-based milk alternatives are labelled with names that bear the term’milk’ (e.g.,’soy milk,’ they do not purport to be nor are they represented as milk,” according to the FDA, and consumers generally understand this despite the dairy-free product being placed next to animal milk in grocery stores.

There is no FDA standard of identity for plant-based milk. It also does not require labelling that identifies plant-based milk as “imitation” milk because the FD&C Act defines imitation foods based on resemblance and nutritional inferiority.
Plant-based milk can be made from a variety of tree nuts, legumes, seeds, and grains.

The FDA’s draught guidance acknowledged that the agency recognises the need to consider First Amendment free speech considerations when regulating commercial speech for food and beverage labelling.

THE INTERFAITH GROUP REQUESTS THAT STARBUCKS REMOVE THE VEGAN MILK SURCHARGE

The FDA recognises that the nutritional content of plant-based and animal-produced milk varies greatly depending on the raw materials and processing methods used, vitamin and mineral fortification, and the addition of other ingredients such as sugar and oil.

The FDA encourages the use of “dairy-free” and “non-dairy” labelling on plant-based milk products to ensure “truthful and not misleading label statements” for consumers, but it is not required in the same way that naming the plant-based milk source is, according to the draught guidance.

The FDA’s proposal suggests that plant-based milk manufacturers volunteer nutrient statements describing how their product differs nutritionally from animal-produced milk, so that consumers can make informed dietary decisions.

EGG PRICES ARE ‘SKY-HIGH’: A HISTORICAL LOOK AT EGG COSTS SINCE 1980

“[The] FDA seeks to improve dietary patterns in the United States to aid in the reduction of the burden of nutrition-related chronic diseases and to advance health equity,” the agency stated in its overview and purpose section. “Making sure that plant-based milk alternative labels are clear will help consumers quickly determine the attributes of products they are purchasing for themselves and their families.”

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The USDA recommends that people over the age of two consume two to three cups of dairy per day.

The USDA recommends that people over the age of two consume two to three cups of dairy per day. (iStock)

In 2018, the FDA requested public feedback on the “Use of Dairy Food Names in the Labeling of Plant-Based Products.”

According to reports, the agency received over 13,000 comments on plant-based foods with dairy terms in their names.

The FDA’s current draught guidance on “Labeling of Plant-Based Milk Alternatives and Voluntary Nutrient Statements: Industry Guidance” is available at fda.gov/media/165420/download.

Consumers can submit comments on the naming and nutrition labelling of plant-based milk via regulations.gov or by mailing a comment to the FDA’s dockets management team.

Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm 1061 Rockville, MD 20852 Dockets Management

The FDA has requested that all written comments about plant-based milk be identified with the docket number FDA-2023-D-0451.

Public comments must be submitted by Monday, April 24, 2023, in order for the FDA to consider consumer concerns before working on the final version of its guidance.

Plant-based milk producers and dairy farm associations have long disagreed about the use of the term “milk,” and both have urged the FDA to establish clear and enforceable guidelines.

The use of the term “milk” on plant-based milk packaging has been challenged in courts across the country, including in Wisconsin, which is known as “America’s Dairyland” or “The Cheese State.”
In grocery stores and supermarkets, customers have a variety of milk options to choose from.

The Office of Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin issued a press release on behalf of dairy farmers, calling the FDA’s current proposal “ill-advised guidance on the unfair use of dairy terms to mislabel plant-based products.”

According to the Plant Based Foods Association, a national trade association representing leading plant-based food companies, the FDA’s recommendation for voluntary nutrient statements on plant-based milk is “unprecedented, unwarranted, and a solution in search of a problem.”

“America’s Dairyland” is written on our licence plates. Our state has the most dairy farms of any state. Since 2009, our farmers have set a new annual record for milk production. However, the future of Wisconsin’s dairy industry appears bleak.

According to a new US Department of Agriculture report, the average American dairy farm has only turned a profit twice in the last 20 years. Between 1997 and 2017, 64% of Wisconsin’s family farms closed. In addition, one-third of dairy processors have gone out of business since 1970.
Why?

Monopolies. Dairy Farmers of America, Land O’ Lakes, and California Dairies, Inc. dominate the dairy industry, controlling 83% of milk sales. Simply put, large corporations are driving out small family farms.
The Concept

Dairy industry experts are urging the federal government to intervene and reform farm policy in order to assist family farmers like the nearly 7,000 in Wisconsin.

2020 marked the first time in state history that the number of dairy farms fell below 7,000.

“Family-scale dairies are collapsing at an alarming rate, and those that survive face rising costs, negative returns, and mounting debt, while consumers are sold the illusion of pastoral, sustainable milk products,” said Rebecca Wolf, a Food & Water Watch food policy analyst.

“The next Farm Bill represents a critical opportunity to reverse course by restoring supply management and reforming the farm safety net. The Farm System Reform Act, as well as the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act, will help ensure that we do not dig a deeper hole by preventing consolidation and factory farm proliferation.”

Sarah Lloyd, a dairy farmer from Wisconsin, has also asked the government for assistance right now.

“We need prices that are fair, covering our cost of production and giving us a return to maintain our businesses and make a living. Overproduction and industry consolidation make this increasingly difficult, if not impossible,” Lloyd explained. “We won’t be able to export our way out of this.”
FAQ on the Farm Bill

The country’s first farm bill was enacted in the 1930s as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The bill expires and is updated every five years. The current bill is set to expire at the end of 2023.

Data on Dairy

• Only about 3% of Wisconsin farms produce 40% of the state’s milk.
• Wisconsin’s milk production has increased by 25% in the last decade, but average farmer profits have not increased.
• Milk prices reached an all-time high in 2014, but have since fallen.
• In Wisconsin, the average profit margin for milk is 10%.

The region has been severely impacted by the cyclone’s aftermath, with power, roads, and communication only recently restored.

1News spoke with Nick Dawson, a dairy farmer from Patoka, just outside of Napier, who is being forced to cut his season by four months due to a lack of road access.

Dawson had to halt all milk production when the power went out, which caused significant problems for the welfare of his 460 animals.

“Our biggest issue right now is animal welfare; just getting stock water is a big issue,” he said.

“There’s also light and power for our stock water, so when that goes out, it’s pretty difficult.”

Dawson was unable to milk his cows for four days; when cows are not milked, they are susceptible to infections such as mastitis – he claims eight of his cows are affected.

He told 1News that production was up 26% for the year, making it the farm’s best season ever; however, Cyclone Gabrielle changed that.

Cows are being milked again, thanks to generators, but tankers are unable to enter the farm, forcing Dawson to dump milk.

“It’s ridiculous; there are people starving all over the world, and we’re dumping milk,” he said.

“I don’t think a tanker will come here for four to six months.”

Due to the early end of the season, Dawson is unable to get the product off the farm and thus cannot make a living. Fonterra, thankfully, will pay him for the last three years of average output.

He stated that the cyclone had altered the farm’s entire plan.

“You set your whole year around for this production, this milking and sheep and beef farms are the same; they’ve gotta get their product off the farm to make some money.

“Without them coming off, we’ve got to start thinking about winter rations, how we’re going to get through winter with the amount of grass we’ve got.”

Slips have destroyed Patrick Crawshaw’s land, which he also farms in the area.
Crawshaw, Patrick.
Crawshaw, Patrick. (Image courtesy of 1News)

He said it was difficult to see his land in the state it was in after the cyclone.

“We went through the process of [installing] hundreds of kilometres of fencing to protect the waterways, try and create biodiversity, stock management and things like that; it’s all in pieces now.

“It’s all rebuildable, but the task is enormous,” he explained.

While both men’s farms have been severely damaged, they agree that connecting the community and assisting those in need is the most important task.

“Last night, I turned on the TV for the first time in days, and we’ve got it easy,” Dawson said.

“Thoughts go out to people in town; we’re fine, we’re pretty self-sufficient; I think, look after them first and then work your way out.

“I’m fine with the work that we’ve got ahead of us and the process of getting that back in shape, but certainly out of our farm gate, it’s more about people’s welfare,” Crawshaw said.

Dairy exports in the United States reached a new high of $7.6 billion in 2021, up from $6.4 billion in 2020. However, US dairy exports not only broke that record last year; they shattered it, with exports totalling $9.5 billion. In just one year, exports have increased by 25%. According to USDA, the United States shipped 2.4 million metric tonnes to foreign buyers, a 5% increase from 2021.

“We’ve had three consecutive years of record U.S. dairy exports while facing some of the strongest dairy export headwinds we’ve ever seen,” says Krysta Harden, President and CEO of the United States Dairy Export Council.

The United States set annual export records for cheese, whey, and lactose. Cheese shipments from the United States increased by 12% to 451,370 metric tonnes, or nearly 1 billion pounds.
Working hard pays off.

“The dairy industry in the United States did not get to this point overnight,” Harden says. “It took more than two decades of hard work to get here — work that included strengthening the United States’ global reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality dairy products, developing relationships with overseas buyers, promoting dairy consumption in high-potential markets, and investing in people, products, and infrastructure specifically designed to meet the varying needs of consumers from Tokyo to Dubai to Lima.”

In 2022, the United States increased its global cheese sales, posting gains on multiple continents. Mexico grew 18%, the Middle East and North Africa grew 41%, Japan grew 17%, Central America grew 17%, the Caribbean grew 25%, South Korea grew 9%, Australia grew 14%, and Colombia grew 28%.

Mexico became the United States’ first $2 billion dairy export market, with sales increasing 37% to $2.5 billion.

Mexico was also the top volume market for the United States, with exports increasing by 9%. Better-than-expected economic growth — five consecutive quarters of GDP growth through December 2022 — aided demand recovery. A stronger peso aided affordability, especially in the second half of the year. In 2022, the United States’ cheese, nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder (NFDM/SMP), and butterfat sales to Mexico all set new highs. Cheese shipments from the United States to Mexico increased by 18%, NFDM/SMP sales increased by 6%, and butterfat increased by 340%.

In 2022, the top product markets in the United States were:

Mexico exported 27% of its cheese, 43% of its NFDM/SMP, and 30% of its milk protein concentrate.

China was responsible for 30% of whey exports and 26% of lactose exports.

Canada exported 43% of all butterfat.

Taiwan was responsible for 38% of fluid milk and cream exports.

The return of butter

Butter exports totalled 144.1 million pounds in 2022, a 48% increase over 2021 and the highest level since 2013. Butter exports totalled $240.5 million in 2022, a 37% increase over 2021. Last year’s top markets for US butter exports were Canada (105% increase), Bahrain (38% increase), South Korea (209% increase), and Mexico (97% increase).

Ice cream exports in 2022 were 2% lower than in 2021. Ice cream exports totalled $255.6 million, a 3% increase over the previous year.

Tom (from left), Tammy, Vanessa, holding Johan, Mallory and Jeremy Mursu stand by their farm near New York Mills, Minnesota. The Mursus were named the 2022 Minnesota Milk Producers of the Year. PHOTO SUBMITTED

More than 1,350 guests have visited Mursu Dairy during the last 10 years. A brown guest book lays open at the dairy, awaiting visitors who come for a tour. It is the second book of its kind, the first had the names of more than 1,000 guests.
People from the neighborhood, county, state, country and around the world have made their way to Mursu Dairy to see the innovation of this small dairy farm near New York Mills. But now in addition to vast visitors, Mursu Dairy has been named the 2022 Minnesota Milk Producers of the Year.
 “We do what we can in our little corner of the world,” Tammy Mursu said.

The farm is run by Tom Mursu and his wife, Tammy, and their son, Jeremy Mursu, and his wife, Vanessa.
Tom said the award is an honor.
“We were shocked,” he said.
Minnesota Milk selects a farm from those who have been nominated. Nominees are touted as being innovative and open to the public.
Tom said Mursu Dairy has seen an uptick in interest ever since they put two robotic milking systems on their farm.
“We’ve always had an open door,” Tom said.
Tom has served on cooperative boards, and Tom and Tammy serve on the Otter Tail County American Dairy Association. Jeremy serves on the West Central Holstein Club board.
The whole Mursu family is involved in planning and implementing an annual visit to the farm by the New York Mills kindergarten class. Each year, the students come to the farm to see and learn about where milk comes from. Princess Kay of the Milky Way usually pays a visit to the school that day as well. The event started in 2014 as an idea between Tammy and daughter Bridgett, who is a kindergarten teacher.
Mursu Dairy has come a long way in the past 70 years. Tom’s parents started to rent a dairy farm near New York Mills in the mid-1950s. After a couple of years of renting, they bought the farm.
Tom’s dad, Martin, would get up every morning and milk 12 cows by hand. Then, on his way to his job at Wadena Silo Company, he would drop the milk off at the creamery. As Tom got more involved in the farm, the cow numbers slowly increased.
By the mid-2000s, Tom was milking 50 cows in the 36-stall tiestall barn. In 2012, the Mursus talked about improvements.
“That got to be too labor intensive so something had to change,” Tom said.
Their solution was to build a new barn and purchase two Lely robotic milking units. Construction started for the project in fall 2012 and was completed in June 2013. Today, the Mursus milk around 145 cows.
“Those first years, we had a lot of people come to visit,” Tom said. “It did not take long to fill the guest book Tammy had set out.”
The Mursus farm 500 acres of owned and rented land. They harvest dry corn, silage corn and high-moisture corn. They raise their replacements and forages.
“It was an excellent year for forage,” Tom said.
Jeremy farms full time with his dad and is in charge of robot maintenance, taking care of the cows, breeding and helping with fieldwork. He has been farming full time since winter 2008.
When Jeremy graduated high school, he went to Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Fergus Falls. While there, he took a course in taxidermy and then did taxidermy work for the next two years. He then pursued a degree in elementary education.
While Jeremy was student teaching in fall 2008, he realized that was not the career for him. Since then, Jeremy has been farming with his dad. Vanessa cares for their two children and helps when she can, especially in preparation for the kindergarten visit.
Tammy helps on the farm by feeding the calves and does the bookwork. The calves are housed in the original barn that is more than 100 years old.
Tom and Tammy’s son, Trent, is a welder in Detroit Lakes. Both Bridgett and Trent come to the farm to help at various times of the year.
Martin, 93, comes to the farm every week day.
Of Tom and Tammy’s 11 grandchildren, those who are old enough to join 4-H lease animals from Tom and Tammy and show at the county fair.
Tom and Jeremy are working with an estate planning attorney to transition the farm to Jeremy.
“I think flexibility is the way to go,” Tom said.
The flexibility is also why the Mursus decided to go with robotic milking in the first place. Because they are a small farm, they do not have any employees and wanted to have the flexibility to get other things done around the farm and off the farm. They never expected to have so much attention after putting in the robots. Almost immediately, the Mursus started to welcome visitors to see the robots.
“Robots are pretty common now, but when we first got them, it was a new thing,” Tom said.
Word spread about the new technology and soon friends, friends of friends, neighbors, community members and church groups were coming to the dairy.
Tammy keeps the guest book in the office of the barn, and it contains names of people from around the world. One memorable guest was a woman from Malaysia, who was living in New York City to attend college and made her way to Mursu Dairy. She came to New York Mills with some friends who had family in the area.
“She didn’t know the difference between a hay field and a corn field,” Tom said. “We let her feed a calf; that was an experience for her.”
The Mursus said she learned a lot while visiting Minnesota and left an impact they will not soon forget. Tammy said they helped her see the good of the American farm.
“She came to realize that farmers do take good care of their animals, and in turn, the cows take care of us,” Tammy said.

According to Jennifer Spencer, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension dairy specialist in Stephenville, milk prices remain historically good for producers, and demand for milk and milk products ranging from cheese to ice cream remains strong. However, she claims that higher input costs are reducing profitability.

According to Spencer, Texas continues to perform well and add dairy capacity and cows. Texas surpassed Idaho to take third place in milk production for the first six months of 2022. However, the summer heat reduced output, and Texas finished fourth for the year.

Texas dairies produced 15.1 billion pounds of milk as of December 1, a 6% increase over the same period last year. According to the US Department of Agriculture, Spencer expected the 2022 total to be near 16 billion pounds by the end of the year, up from 15.6 billion pounds in 2021.

Prices remained above $23 per hundredweight in 2022, after fluctuating between $23 and $25 per hundredweight. The price per hundredweight averaged $23.67.

However, dairy producers faced additional challenges this year as higher costs reduced potential profits, according to Spencer.

Feed costs account for roughly 60% of dairy producers’ expenses on average, she claims. Drought and high fertiliser costs impacted forage yields this year, and prices for grains and supplemental feed like cotton seed rose dramatically.

Fuel costs and labour shortages also hampered dairy operators more than in a typical year, according to Spencer.

“Dairy producers had more opportunity to be profitable in 2021 because they didn’t have to struggle to keep up with rising feed and other costs,” she says. “Despite the good prices, it was a difficult year.”

Texas dairies are continuing to follow industry trends in which dairy size and overall production are increasing while the number of operations is decreasing.
TEXAS DAIRY PRODUCTION IS EXPANDING

Texas’ dairy production could increase significantly in the coming years as processing capacity expands to handle milk. Multiple soft cheese processing facilities, such as cottage cheese, cream cheese, and other spreadable cheeses, are set to expand or open in the next two years to meet rising demand.

The cheese industry was the primary destination for the 226 billion pounds of milk produced in the United States in 2021. 1 pound of cheese requires 10 pounds of milk.

Amarillo’s facility will open later this fall, and Stephenville’s facilities will likely expand. Another facility in Lubbock is set to open in 2024, and a new facility in western Kansas will receive milk from the Texas Panhandle.

Dairies in the Texas Plains produce approximately 80% of Texas milk.

“Texas dairies increased their production capacity by about 25,000 cows this year, and the processing expansion will help producers add to that growth,” she says. “One of the limiting factors impeding production is processing capacity.”

Liquid milk consumption is declining, but dairy products for lactose intolerant consumers are increasing, according to Spencer. Summer ice cream demand typically results in seasonally higher milk prices.

Whey, which is used in products such as muscle recovery powders and baby formula, is a growing part of dairy demand, according to Spencer. It is a byproduct of cheese production that was considered waste until a use for its 99% amino acid protein was discovered.

Spencer claims that consistently expanding dairy options for consumers is driving overall production growth in the United States.

“Texas producers are very progressive, so they are adapting to the challenges in order to maintain production and profitability,” she says. “The demand is there, and I believe there is room for Texas dairy production to expand further.”

According to French media sources, the probe, which will also look at the smaller firm Celia Laiterie de Craon, is tied to a huge controversy in 2017 involving salmonella poisoning of newborn formula.

“This step marks the beginning of the judicial investigation in which Lactalis will be fully involved and in full France probes dairy giant Lactalis over recall failure, negligence transparency”, the company said.

“We will get access to all of the components in the case in the coming weeks and will be able to reply precisely to the entirety of the concerns highlighted in this inquiry,” Lactalis said.

Lactalis, a privately owned company, is the world’s biggest cheese maker and one of the world’s largest dairy conglomerates.

Established in 1933, the firm has grown gradually throughout the years. It became a prominent worldwide player after acquiring Italy’s Parmalat in 2011.

Poland’s leading grocery chains recently began selling butter for PLN3 (US$0.68) per package, the lowest price in years. Butter prices in the Polish dairy sector increased by 20% in 2022, with certain product categories exceeding PLN10 (US$2.26) per package. Dairy firms have warned that by decreasing retail pricing, retailers are eroding profits across the supply chain.

“Nobody considers how such pricing would effect farmers,” Waldemar Bro, head of the National Organization of Dairy Cooperatives, told Money. “Over the previous two years, the price has been at or near the European average. But, not only has the price of butter decreased.”

Despite rising production costs, last year was reasonably favourable for Lithuanian dairy enterprises, according to Dalius Trumpa, CEO of Lithuanian dairy company Rokikio Sris. “Unfortunately, it has already passed us by. Dairy product prices are not merely declining this year. They’re crumbling.”

On January 24, a group of dairy firms addressed an open letter to the Polish Agriculture Ministry’s Henryk Kowalczyk, requesting that authorities interfere in the market. The authors cautioned that the sector was on the verge of collapsing owing to a sharp deterioration in market circumstances in Poland and other Central and Eastern European regions.

Another Polish dairy sector association, Dairy Forum, stated in January that local dairy firms were under rising pricing pressure from retail chains. Retailers, in turn, are thought to be concerned about a continuous reduction in sales of the most popular dairy products in recent months.
Exports are under attack.

In general, the price decrease is a worldwide trend. In recent months, the price of exported cheese in important overseas markets has fallen from €5 to €4 per kg.

Polish dairy producers have also warned of a decline in the worldwide price of a variety of dairy products such as powdered milk, butter, powdered whey, and cheese. Bro voiced worry that “prices are decreasing every day,” which might harm Polish dairy exports.

To some degree, the decline in worldwide pricing may be ascribed to fewer Chinese dairy imports in recent months, according to Polish dairy producers, who note that China is the world’s biggest consumer of dairy products and controls the price dynamics on the global market.

School lunches are a lifeline for many hungry youngsters. Every day, about 30 million youngsters depend on school lunches. Moreover, according to a 2021 peer-reviewed study conducted by experts at Tufts University and the Icahn School of Medicine, food eaten in schools had the greatest nutritional quality when compared to food consumed in grocery shops, restaurants, and other significant food sources.

On other days, school dinners may be the only healthy meal that children get. Even for children who do not encounter food hardship, school meals may help cover nutritional gaps in their diet, particularly those given by dairy foods. In reality, children who engage in school meals eat more dairy milk, fruits and vegetables, and less sweets and snacks than non-participants.

Many children’s diets, particularly those from minority populations, do not reach the daily dairy intake suggested by the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans beginning at the age of four. This is crucial because nutrient-rich milk contains calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, three elements that many youngsters do not get enough of in their diets.

Notwithstanding the advantages of dairy, there are misconceptions concerning dairy foods and school meal quality. Here are four facts about how dairy in school meals helps youngsters develop and learn.

1. Dairy is often consumed in school meals.

Many school-age youngsters get their dairy through school lunches. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, school lunches are the richest source of dairy in children’s diets. Moreover, school meals may include up to two of the three required daily portions of dairy.

According to a 2017 research published in Preventive Medicine Reports, school meals supply 77% of low-income children’s daily dairy milk intake and 70% of total dairy consumption. Milk and dairy foods, such as cheese and yoghurt, are essential in ensuring that children from all socioeconomic situations benefit from dairy’s nutrients.

2. A range of milk choices are available, all of which include nutrients.

Milk alternatives in schools include fat-free, low-fat, flavoured, and lactose-free milk. Whichever kind of milk a student selects, it contains 13 important components that are beneficial to health.

A word on lactose-free milk: Contrary to common misconception, a student does not require paperwork to get lactose-free milk, such as a parent letter or a physician declaration. It is permitted in school food programmes to meet the health requirements of pupils. “I represent a school district with a high African American population, and lactose-free milk is served as an option for any of my students who want it, helping them benefit from milk’s hard-to-replace nutrient content,” says Donna Martin, EdS, RDN, LD, SNS, FAND, school nutrition director at Burke County Schools in Georgia.

3. Flavored milk has less additional sugar than you would assume.

Many parents and health experts are worried about the presence of added sugars in their children’s diets. The good news is that milk firms have collaborated with schools to minimise the amount of added sugars in school-available flavoured milk.

According to the National Dairy Council, between 2007 and 2021, the dairy industry in the United States decreased added sugars in flavoured milk in schools by almost half. The average calorie count of flavoured milk provided in schools is 126, which is just 29 higher than unflavored milk. In the end, according to NHANES statistics, flavoured milk accounts for just 4% of added sugars in the diets of children aged 2 to 18, with soft drinks accounting for the majority of added sugars.

4. Flavored milk boosts intake of milk and nutrients.

According to a research published in Nutrition Today, eliminating flavoured milk from schools may reduce overall milk intake and impair children’s ability to satisfy their nutritional requirements.

Drinking flavoured milk may really assist youngsters in meeting their nutritional requirements. According to a 2022 study published in the journal ACTA Scientific Nutritional Health, consumers of flavoured milk drank approximately 1-cup more total milk than non-consumers, which contributed to higher consumption of calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamins A, D, and B-12, and riboflavin. In fact, as compared to non-flavored milk drinkers, they drank 51% more vitamin D, 27% more calcium, and 16% more potassium.

These are only a few statistics that demonstrate the significance of milk and dairy foods as part of nutrient-dense school meals. Children may not acquire all of the nutrients they need to develop and learn throughout their childhood and adolescence if this key food category is not included in the healthy eating patterns offered by school meals.

According to Doug McKalip, chief agricultural trade negotiator for the United States Trade Representative’s office, Canada’s second attempt at allocating dairy tariff quotas shut out most of the firms, providing only a fraction of the access promised in the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

“Under the USMCA, Canada pledged to open its market to U.S. dairy goods, and dairy producers anticipate receiving the market access advantages promised,” McKalip added.

On January 31, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) requested a USMCA dispute settlement panel for the second time, claiming that Canada’s revised quota allocation rules failed to address issues that prompted an initial dispute panel to rule last year that Canada’s practises violated its USMCA obligations.

In response, Canada’s trade minister, Mary Ng, has committed to defend the supply management system and accused USTR of attempting to “renegotiate” the provisions of the USMCA agreement via the dispute resolution process.

The first panel held that Canada had improperly reserved the majority of its quotas for raw milk imports by Canadian processors, blocking Canadian merchants and food service companies from importing several higher-value US dairy products.

According to McKalip, Canada’s quota modifications “fallen again, well short of real market access.”

Additionally, the agricultural trade official, who was approved by the US Senate on December 23, told Reuters that he urged Mexico to explain the science behind its prohibition on genetically modified maize, paving the way for another USMCA trade dispute case.

As part of the USMCA trade agreement, which was signed in 2020, Canada agreed to provide US dairy farmers access to around 3.5% of its $17 billion yearly market and to enable greater US skim milk and milk protein exports to Canada.

The agreement maintained Canada’s decades-old supply management system, which limits local dairy, egg, and poultry output to stabilise revenue and safeguard against foreign competition with hefty tariffs.

Tariff-rate quotas are intended to enable certain amounts of dairy imports duty-free while imposing tariffs if the limitations are met.

Yet, McKalip claims that Canada continues to restrict merchants and food service enterprises access to quotas, which should be made available to all buyers and sellers.

“It should work the same way it does for almost any commodity and any type of relationship of this kind, in that they truly do provide market access and that dairy farmers and various dairy products here in the United States are able to compete and be part of selling to willing buyers,” McKalip said.

“We’re not asking them to do anything they didn’t agree to when they agreed to the clauses of USMCA,” McKalip said of the United States’ stance.

A Goulburn Valley water body wants to know what governments will do when the Murray-Darling Basin Plan ends.

After a difficult couple of years marked by supply chain and inflationary challenges, Saputo has shifted its emphasis to value above volume.

Since input prices “remain high” throughout the supply chain and labour, president and CEO Lino Saputo, Jr., said the Canadian dairy giant is “focused on achieving cost reductions in addition to pricing actions to offset some of the cost challenges we cannot control”.

“The operational environment remains dynamic,” Mr. Saputo said as he delivered third-quarter results through December 31, with adjusted EBITDA increasing almost 30% to CAD1.16 billion (US$868.3 million) for fiscal 2023 to date. “As a result, we are pursuing our efficiency and productivity measures.”

As part of its four-year strategic strategy, Saputo aims to increase that measure to CAD2.13 billion by the conclusion of the fiscal year 2025. Adjusted EBITDA increased 38% to CAD445 million in the quarter.

“Despite price increases compared to last year, dairy remains an inexpensive, versatile, and accessible alternative relative to other proteins on the market,” Mr. Saputo noted. “But, customers are value aware, so we’re satisfying their demands via specific product choices, pack sizes, and promotions.”

The adjusted EBITDA margin grew to 9.7% in the quarter from 8.3% in the same period in 2022.

Since the strategic plan’s debut in the summer of 2021, Saputo’s CEO has detailed the shifting market dynamics caused by pandemic-related supply chain bottlenecks and inflationary pressures.

“The second factor I would say that has changed substantially from the earlier stages of the strat plan, is we’re not concentrating on the volume objectives anymore, we’re focusing on value above volume. And this is a significant move to ensure that we maintain our margins and continue to offer a valuable product for our consumers in an environment where they’re willing to pay for the added value,” Mr. Saputo told investors on a post-results call.
Consolidation of manufacturing facilities

Despite pricing to offset growing input prices, Saputo’s volumes are largely holding up, while customers in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, are bearing a greater pain from energy price increases than those in the United States or Canada. Volumes in Europe fell throughout the quarter.

“Our elasticities are only mildly growing, and we see solid market demand,” the CEO added.

He added: “In Europe, amid continued inflationary headwinds and a tough consumer environment in the UK, the firm improved its performance backed by price initiatives resulting into sales and EBITDA growth. Nonetheless, the persistent volatility in the operating environment put more pressure on operating margins.”

After previous statements about facility closures in the United States and Australia, Mr. Saputo hinted that more optimisation around manufacturing capacities might be in the works.

Earlier this month, the business announced plans to establish a new cheese factory in Franklin, Wisconsin, but only after closing three others: the Big Stone plant in South Dakota, the Green Bay facility in Wisconsin, and the South Gate facility in California.

As a consequence, Saputo anticipates “financial gains” beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 and “fulfilling its full potential” of roughly CAD74m per year by the end of 2027.

“We’ll continue to close the margin gap as we go on with our global strategic plan activities, which include productivity measures, right-sizing our manufacturing footprint, optimising our plant operating expenses, and cost savings,” Mr. Saputo stated.

Saputo reported third-quarter sales of CAD4.6 billion, an increase of 18%. Thus far this year, it has increased by 20.7% to CAD13.4 billion.

Throughout the relevant quarters, net income almost quadrupled to CAD179m from CAD86m the previous year, and increased to CAD463m from CAD237m year to date.

Chronic labour shortages continue to be an issue for the dairy giant, particularly in the United States, implying that other food businesses are also experiencing employment difficulties.

“Like many other firms, we have been hampered by labour shortages, particularly in the United States,” Mr. Saputo said. “Staffing numbers and the influence on operational throughput have been a serious problem in the previous 18 months. While labour has improved significantly with increased worker stability, we are not yet out of the woods.”

This is based to a USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) projection, which is influenced by several financial performance measurements such as revenues and costs, gross and net value added, and net cash income, as well as changes in assets, wealth, and financial ratios.

Net farmer income for all agriculture sectors is forecast to decrease by $30.5 billion (18.2%), while net cash income is likely to fall by $44.7 billion (nearly 23%) from last year. Both numbers have been adjusted for inflation. Even if the negative estimates are achieved, both indicators will remain above 2020 levels and above the 2002-2021 average, according to the ERS. Lower pricing will mostly drive the downward trend.

According to estimates, dairy producers are facing a perfect storm.

Milk revenues are expected to dip 14.6%, or $8.4 billion, according to the ERS, a drop only topped by chicken egg sales (-24%). Dairy producers are set to experience an increase in assistance under the Dairy Margin Coverage Program (DMC), which is expected to provide US$285 million in payments in 2023, an increase of US$156.7 million, or 122.2%. The program’s enrollment period ended on January 31, 2023.

Aside from the DMC, other direct government payments, such as those from the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) and the Emergency Livestock Relief Program, are expected to be curtailed this year (ELRP). Ad hoc aid, which includes farm bill-designated disaster programmes, is estimated to pay out US$6.1 billion less in 2023, owing mostly to decreased ERP payments.

Because of the drop in government subsidies and milk collections, dairies are expected to have the greatest dollar loss in average net cash farm income (NCFI) of any farm company that specialises in animals or animal products. The average NCFI is expected to be $408,900 in 2023, a decrease of US$258,200 (-39%). Regionally, agricultural enterprises in the Fruitful Rim are expected to lose the most money (US$46,700), while those in the Northern Crescent are expected to lose the most money (29.9% ($28,200) per farm. Farms in both locations are expected to have greater production costs and lower cash revenues in 2023.

Feed expenditures are predicted to fall from US$76.5 billion to US$72.6 billion, as is fertiliser (US$42.1 billion against US$42.4 billion, but still much over the 2021 figure of US$29.5 billion). Fuel and oils are expected to dip to US$17 billion, down from US$20.1 billion, while electricity is expected to grow marginally to US$7.2 billion, up from US$7.03 billion. Production costs, including those linked with operator residences, are expected to rise by $18.2 billion to $459.9 billion.

Brian Reisinger said that the cows gave more milk than ever before on the day they left.

“I think they might have known where they were going,” Reisinger said.

The Reisingers stopped milking cows and started raising heifers and planting cash crops instead of selling the whole farm. This is part of a bigger trend in Dairyland.

“In general, the farms that have been closing down have been smaller. Chuck Nicholson, an associate professor at UW Madison’s Dairy Innovation Hub, said that the farms that are growing are usually the ones that are bigger.

Nicholson says that over the past 20 years, nearly 10,000 dairy farms have closed in Wisconsin. The National Agricultural Statistics Service said in a report that came out last month that more than 400 dairy farms in Wisconsin closed down last year. That is the most money that dairy farms have lost in three years.

Nicholson said, “It’s not really a matter of small vs. big.” More and more small farms are moving away from dairy, merging with bigger farms, or closing down.

Nicholson said that fixed costs like buildings and equipment can be spread out over a larger number of cows on larger farms. So that their costs go down and their profits go up.

Aside from the economy, changing demographics have also had an effect on how Wisconsin looks. In Wisconsin, the average age of a farmer is 55, and not all of their children want to take over. Janet Clark says that her small family farm is still going because the next generation is willing to take over.

Clark, the second-generation owner of Vision Aires Farms in Fond du Lac, said, “A lot of farms don’t have the next generation like my parents did.”

Reisinger said that the loss of small farms affects Wisconsin’s culture, no matter how the state got to where it is now.

Reisinger said, “It’s a big part of who we are as Wisconsinites.” “So when you lose that, you do lose a part of who you are.”

Nicholson said that these changes in the industry probably won’t change what’s on grocery store shelves. As bigger farms grow, milk production has gone up.

The volume of exports rose 15% in December, and all of the major exports grew in the last month of the year. But our analysts are keeping an eye out for headwinds in the year 2023.

U.S. dairy exports ended a year that was already very good with a bang. Based on milk solids equivalent (MSE), export volume went up 15% (+24,098 MT MSE) for a total of 2.4 million MT MSE. In terms of money, exports grew by 21% in December (+$128 million), bringing the total value of exports to over $9.6 billion in 2022, which is up 25% (+$1.9 billion).

In December, most of the major exports went up. Cheese went up 16% (+5,035 MT), NFDM/SMP went up 8% (+4,675 MT), whey products went up 20% (+8,200 MT), and lactose went up 30% (+8,849 MT). Only butterfat (down 4%, or 202 MT) and fluid milk/cream (down 4%, or 462 MT) were down a little bit in December.

Overall, December’s data showed that the major trends we’ve seen all year continued: the U.S. dairy industry made long-term investments, there were plenty of supplies, and strong demand from the key U.S. markets drove exports to record highs. As an example, U.S. exports to Mexico went up 23% (MSE) in December, which added 9% to the volume at the end of the year. In the same way, Japan went up 27% in December and 22% for the year, China went up 75% in December and 11% for the year, Korea went up 4% in December and 9% for the year, and so on.

Overall, 2022 was a great year for dairy exports from the United States. Can we expect the same in 2023? In this month’s report, we’ll talk about how great 2022 was and what to expect from U.S. exports of SMP, cheese, and whey this year.

The PMVAP update and the new ODMAP will allow USDA to better help small and medium-sized dairy enterprises that survived the pandemic and are now facing new difficulties.

“The Biden-Harris administration continues to meet its pledges to cover gaps in pandemic aid for producers. “USDA is announcing a second batch of roughly $100 million payments to finish off the $350 million commitment under PMVAP via partnerships with dairy handlers and cooperatives to make the payments,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. “The USDA is also introducing additional aid aimed at small to medium-sized organic dairy producers to help with expected marketing expenses as they confront a number of obstacles ranging from weather to supply-chain issues.”

Market Volatility Assistance Program in the Event of a Pandemic

PMVAP provides assistance to producers who obtained a reduced value as a result of market irregularities induced by the pandemic and subsequent Federal regulations. Because of the increase in the production ceiling, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service will issue PMVAP payments to qualified dairy producers for fluid milk sales ranging from 5 million to 9 million pounds from July through December 2020. This amount of output was not eligible for payment under the PMVAP’s first round. Payment rates will be the same as in the previous round: 80% of the income difference each month for fluid milk sales ranging from 5 million to 9 million pounds from July to December 2020. USDA will once again distribute funds via agreements with independent handlers and cooperatives, with handlers reimbursed for allowable administrative expenses. USDA will inform handlers of qualifying producers of the chance to participate.

More information regarding the increased PMVAP production quota may be found at www.ams.usda.gov/pmvap.

Program for Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance

The new ODMAP, which will be managed by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, is meant to assist smaller organic dairy farmers that have experienced a unique mix of obstacles and rising expenses in recent years. The continuing epidemic and drought conditions throughout the nation have exacerbated these difficulties. For 2023, the FSA intends to provide payments to cover a percentage of small organic dairy producers’ expected marketing expenditures. The final amount spent will be determined by enrolment and each producer’s estimated output, although ODMAP has been granted up to $100 million.

ODMAP’s support will be supplied using leftover Commodity Credit Corporation monies from previous pandemic assistance initiatives. Based on national marketing cost estimations, the aid will cover up to 75% of qualifying organic dairy farmers’ future expected marketing expenditures in 2023. This aid will be made available via a simplified application procedure based on a nationwide per hundredweight payment. The subsidies will be set at the first five million pounds of predicted output, in line with current dairy programmes that aid smaller dairies most susceptible to marketing issues. This programme is still in the works.

As further information regarding the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program becomes available, it will be posted and updated on www.farmers.gov.

The United States Department of Agriculture provided this article.

New research shows that Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (DFW) is driving results, and consumer appreciation for Wisconsin Cheese has grown significantly.  

New research reveals recognition, growth and appreciation for Wisconsin Cheese. The team at DFW continuously tracks and monitors progress. DFW tracks awareness and perceptions of Wisconsin as a cheese origin with our target market. This is a measure of all DFW’s marketing efforts with the key objective of lifting perceptions of Wisconsin Cheese among consumers. The latest research shows: 

• Wisconsin is the No. 1 top-of-mind cheese origin among U.S. cheese shoppers/consumers;
• Among U.S. cheese shoppers, Wisconsin leads in front of other domestic and international origins with imagery attributed to great tasting, and nearly 90% agree that Wisconsin cheeses are from a place with a long tradition of cheese-making; 
• Awareness of the Proudly Wisconsin Cheese badge – on the front of Wisconsin Cheese and Dairy labels — grew 350% in the past 3 years among the target audience; and
• Consider-to-purchase conversion rates grew 80% among the target audience in the last 5 years. 

“Helping grow demand for the $45.6 billion Wisconsin dairy industry is not a job to be taken lightly,” says Chad Vincent, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. “The entire staff works diligently to be tireless advocates for our dairy farmers, and the research results prove we are making progress.”  

The marketing team has already achieved $60 million in earned public relations coverage over the past six months, earning placements and telling our cheese, farmer and dairy stories in key publications like Forbes, Tasting Table, Mashed, and NBC. Food52, a leading ‘foodie’ publication, developed a cheese-forward “Meet the Makers” video series, which to date has delivered over 5 million views across various Food52 platforms. In just the month of January 2023, DFW has earned accolades for multiple initiatives, including the following:  

Grate. Pair. Share., DFW’s digital cooking and lifestyle magazine, won three awards at the 16^th annual AVA Digital Awards. The e-magazine focuses on a blend of the three major themes that interest our target audience: knowledge, inspiration, and storytelling about Wisconsin Cheese. Harvest 2022 and Spring 2022 earned Platinum awards, and Summer 2022 received a gold award. 

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin took first place at the 2023 Winter Fancy Food show, winning the Booth Contest. With more than 13,000 qualified industry participants and more than 1,100 exhibiting companies at Winter Fancy Food, DFW maximizes the opportunity to meet with key distributors and retailers and demonstrates the top-tier quality of Wisconsin dairy products. Placing first for booth design, branding and staff performance — the Wisconsin Cheese pavilion stood out.  

Wisconsin Cheese Broadcast earned a National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) Award for Cheese Champions Virtual Media Tour. The awards program honors the best work in agricultural communications. The campaign for the tour featuring info-, recipe- and idea-packed sessions led by prominent spokespeople earned a Merit award. It will advance to the National Best of NAMA competition in April. 

Previously, the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin team achieved a Guinness World Record, received national recognition for the ‘Cheeselandia’ social media campaign, and won multiple marketing awards. 

We’re excited to continue serving the state’s dairy farmers throughout 2023.  

### 

About Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin: Funded by Wisconsin dairy farmers, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin is a non-profit organization that focuses on marketing and promoting Wisconsin’s world-class dairy products. For more information, visit our website at WisconsinDairy.org 

In 2022, agricultural exports from the United States, including dairy, established a new high in both value and volume. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (Feb. 7, 2023), U.S. dairy exports to the globe totalled $9.5 billion last year, exceeding the 2021 dairy export value record by 25% and indicating an 85% rise in only the previous ten years. Furthermore, US dairy exports reached 2.82 million metric tonnes in 2022, a new high and a 52% rise over the previous ten years.

The International Dairy Foods Association’s president and CEO, Michael Dykes, D.V.M., is overjoyed with the news.

“Today’s export results underscore the speed at which the U.S. dairy sector is innovating and capitalising on chances to market U.S.-made dairy products worldwide. Consumers in the United States and throughout the globe continue to want more American dairy because we provide a diverse range of tasty, healthy, economical, and sustainable dairy products. From high-value whey to award-winning cheeses, milk powders used to manufacture life-saving products for children and adults to safe and nutritious, shelf-stable milk, U.S. dairy is renowned across the globe for its quality and dependability. Because of the tenacity and ingenuity of American dairy exporters and dairy foods firms, we are set to become the world’s largest provider of dairy products.

“As we look into the export statistics revealed today, we notice that U.S. dairy exports touched a record $9.51 billion in 2022, exceeding the previous high of $7.61 billion established in 2021. While inflation affected export prices, overall dairy export volume reached a new high, surpassing the previous record of 2.67 million metric tonnes established in 2021. Export volumes to our main four international dairy markets—Mexico, Canada, China, and the Philippines—all reached new highs. The figures are startling since the market for dairy products in the United States was virtually completely domestic only three decades ago. The dairy sector in the United States today exports around 18% of total milk output.

“As U.S. milk output continues to climb over the next decade while other dairy-producing rivals experience diminishing production, the U.S. government must assure there are operating, efficient routes for U.S. dairy exports to satisfy rising worldwide demand. IDFA encourages the Biden Administration and Congress to explore additional free trade agreements in developing regions for US dairy and to continue to hold trading partners with whom we have agreements to their promises.”

President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, Jim Mulhern, is likewise pleased with the results.

“For the third consecutive year, U.S. dairy farmers have proved how their devotion to innovation and sustainability leadership progressively have made them the world’s source of choice for healthy dairy products. U.S. sales are at all-time highs in both value and volume, and a record proportion of U.S. milk output will be shipped internationally in 2022. This occurred despite the hurdles our exporters faced last year, which included supply chain issues, a lack of new trade agreements to promote more fair playing fields overseas, and other trade restrictions that threatened to derail progress.

“Let this be a signal to the world: U.S. dairy farmers are, and will be, a rising force for global nutrition, sustainability and health, as indicated by the increasing preference of customers globally for the goods they generate. We’re delighted to see today’s year-end export totals reflect a goal we’ve been pursuing for decades, and we look forward to seeing greater growth in the years ahead.”

One of the last farms that produces milk in the Mackay Whitsunday area is about to close, so the community has started a fundraiser to try to save the farm.
Important:

One of the only two dairies in Eungella that sells milk in the Mackay area is in danger of closing.
The community has launched a fundraiser to help save the farm.
A dairy industry analyst says that rising input costs and the nature of dairy farming make it a tough business to be in.

Eungella used to be home to more than 50 dairies. It has tropical rainforests and beautiful views of the Pioneer Valley.

But now there are only two left, and one of them may not be around much longer because of recent bad weather.

Dale Fortescue and his wife, Paula, own Eungelladale dairy. They say that a series of hard times has left them with increasing bills and a small income.

“The money in the bank doesn’t look too good,” Mr. Fortescue said.

“If we can’t get help, this is the end of the road for us.”

After storms and landslides in January shut down access roads, the community became cut off, and some people couldn’t leave.

One of them was the Fortescue family.

Even though they make and process their milk on site, the rainy weather caused a big drop in how much milk they made.

Dale Fortescue, who runs a dairy farm in Eungella, kneels down in his paddock.
Dale Fortescue is a farmer in Eungella. He says that this fundraiser could make or break the future of his dairy.
(ABC Rural: Lara Webster)

Mr. Fortescue said, “It was almost the last nail in the coffin for us.”

“The rain really cut our milk production by two-thirds when it came.”

The loss of production was made worse by the fact that there wasn’t enough grain.

Mr. Fortescue said, “Usually we have a bit of feed behind us, but we haven’t been able to do that this year.”

“I have enough grass to keep them going, but we need a little more grain to make milk.

“If we can get a lot of grain, the amount of milk we make will go up… But you’re talking about spending $10,000 on a load that only lasts us eight weeks.”
People come together to help.

Cheryl Bousfield, who lives in Eungella, started a fundraiser for the area’s dwindling dairy industry. She did this to show her support for the business.

“My friend who is close with Dale and Paula told me how hard things were,” Ms. Bousfield said.

“They’re having trouble because one thing after another has gone wrong.

So, this would only help them get back on their feet.

Milking time
Dale and Paula Fortescue run one of only two dairy farms left in the north Queensland town of Eungella.
(ABC Rural: Lara Webster)

Mr. Fortescue was surprised to hear about the fundraiser, but he said he was very grateful for it.

He said, “We’re really glad that someone took the chance to do this.”

“I don’t like being a charity case, but I’m happy because we’re pretty much out of options.”
Hard times for the dairy business

John Droppert, who is in charge of industry insights and analysis at Dairy Australia, said that all dairy farmers were having a hard time. He said that high costs for things like grain and fertiliser were a big problem.

“The basket of inputs that farmers buy, on average, has gone up by about 60%,” Mr. Droppert said.

He said that milk prices don’t go up when costs go up.

“Your cost base is very volatile, and in times like these, it tends to go up, while the price of milk doesn’t change as quickly,” he said.

“Dairy farming is a biological system, and it’s hard to turn cows on and off.”
Help for local businesses that is strong

Mr. Droppert said that there was a bright side to the market right now.

He said, “The prices of dairy products on the shelf are going up.”

“And another thing that came out of COVID was that people realised how important it is for food to be made closer to home.

“There are definitely chances for more local businesses to serve that market.”

Ms. Bousfield said that helping local farmers was very important to her.

“If we don’t support [them], then it will be all big business and big multinational companies, and we won’t have any choices,” she said.

“I think it’s very important to help small farmers who are trying to make it.

“Every day, they are just trying to stay alive.”

For the time being, the USDA says flavoured milk may remain in schools.

According to Dairy MAX, when flavoured milk is available, children are more likely to consume their three daily portions of milk, with low-fat chocolate milk being the most popular choice 70% of the time.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) are upbeat about the USDA’s planned revisions to school food nutrition guidelines, particularly the USDA’s intentions to keep low-fat flavoured milk available to kids.

The USDA is seeking feedback on two recommendations, dubbed “alternatives,” for how to manage flavoured milk in the future:

Alternative A: Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, high school students (grades 9-12) will be allowed to drink flavoured milk (fat-free and low-fat) during school lunch and breakfast. Elementary and middle school students (grades K-8) would only be able to drink fat-free or low-fat unflavored milk. The USDA is also seeking public feedback on whether to expand the age range for flavoured milk to include students in grades 6-8, limiting only children in grades K-5 to fat-free and/or low-fat unflavored milk. Sugars added to flavoured milk would be restricted in both circumstances.
Alternative B: Maintain the present norm, which permits all schools to provide flavoured and unflavored fat-free and low-fat milk during school lunch and breakfast. Sugars added to flavoured milk would be kept to a minimum.

“We are pleased that the USDA is keeping low-fat flavoured milk in schools, giving children another, and preferred, option for accessing the 13 essential nutrients milk provides, including three of the four nutrients of public health concern,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.

“However, we query why the USDA would recommend school lunch alternatives that potentially restrict a child’s access to these nutrients, and instead encourage them to extend access to dairy options.”

According to the NMPF and the IDFA, they are carefully analysing other aspects in the proposed regulation, such as the weekly added sugars and salt limitations, to determine their influence on children’ capacity to benefit from nutrient-dense dairy products. The organisations will submit official comments as asked by the USDA, which will be allowed until April 10, 2023.

Comments on the proposed rule may be made in writing using the guidelines in the Federal Register Notice.

As part of its transitional nutrition guidelines issued in February 2021, the USDA permitted low-fat flavoured milk to be sold in schools. The new final rule allows schools and daycare facilities serving participants aged six and up to provide flavoured low-fat (1%) milk in addition to nonfat flavoured milk and nonfat or low-fat unflavored milk.

“Milk is the leading source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin D in kids ages 2-18, and 1% flavoured milk is a nutrient-dense, low-fat choice children will really prefer to drink,” Mulhern noted.

According to Dairy MAX, a regional dairy council cooperation in many Southern and Western states, when flavoured milk is available, children are more likely to consume their three daily portions of milk. In fact, 70% of kids prefer flavoured milk, with low-fat chocolate milk being the most popular option.

A Canadian dairy farmer is speaking out about the legal way of getting rid of extra milk, which is called “dumping.”

In an emotional video that was posted to TikTok but has since been taken down, Jerry Huigen from Dunville, Ontario, points to a drainpipe and says that because of government rules, he has to dump 30,000 litres of extra milk at the end of the month.

“Right now, we’ve reached our goal. “The government and the DFO (Dairy Farmers of Ontario) have rules about it,” says Huigen. “It makes me sad.”

Supply management is a system that controls dairy production in Canada. It was put in place in the early 1970s to deal with production surpluses.

The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) sets quotas for how much milk can be made each month based on how much milk is expected to be needed. Farmers only get paid for the milk they make up to their quotas, so any extra milk is thrown away.

Huigen says that his 260 dairy cows make more milk in the winter than is needed, but he can’t sell it.

Huigen takes a sip of raw milk from a glass and says, “They make us throw it away.”

Last November, the CDC agreed to raise the price of milk at the farm gate by about 2.2%, or just under two cents per litre, starting on February 1, 2023. This happened after prices went up by 2.5% in September and 8.4% in February of last year.

“When I get my hair cut, people say, ‘Wow, $7 for a little bit of milk,'” he said. I say, “Well, you need to go higher up because we don’t have a voice anymore as dairy farmers,” says Huigen. He also says that it’s hard to grow his business because any money he makes “goes down the drain.”

“How dare you put this milk on the market for $7 per litre and think that’s okay when there are single mothers with no extra money and kids at the SickKids Hospital who could use this?”

“But this isn’t something we’re supposed to talk about,” he says.

Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, tweeted in response to the video that his party was the only one willing to get rid of the “costly and wasteful supply management system” and that all the other parties were “in the pocket of the dairy mafia.”

Kite Consulting says that dairy farmers will lose money in the coming year because milk prices will fall faster than their costs.

As farmgate prices continued to fall, the main topic of discussion at Dairy-“State Tech’s of the Dairying Nation” keynote session on February 1 was “surviving the next six months.”

Edward Lott, the managing consultant at Kite Consulting, said that the industry had gone through a big inflationary cycle, with the price of milk almost doubling in the past year and costs going up by almost the same amount.

See also: Milk prices at the farm gate will drop in February and March

“In the future, that balance will change, because I don’t think costs will always go down by the same amount as milk prices,” he said. “That will be the big challenge.”

Mr. Lott said that the industry needs to think about where the margins need to be in the future so that milk can be sold. He also said that in the medium to long term, an extra 2p/litre margin will be needed to do this.

Robert Craig, vice-chairman of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers and a director at First Milk, said that producers should build real financial discipline into everything they do.

“As a discipline, you should make cashflows, budgets, and analysis every month so you know exactly where you are and where you want to go. This will help you see any bumps in the road ahead. When you do that, it’s easy to stay alive,” he said.

Mr. Craig said that by the end of 2023, milk prices could be about the same as they were at the end of 2022, but there’s a bump in the road before that.

Adam White, who is in charge of agriculture at Barclays, told farmers that they should have a plan for their farms.

He said to decide if you want to grow or shrink, think about your plan for the farm’s future, and know where you want to take it.

Tom Bradshaw, the vice president of the NFU, said, “We are not alone, and there will be a lot of change.” We’ve seen this over the past year, and it’s going to keep happening. We don’t live in a world that is at all stable.

“I just want to tell everyone that if they are having trouble, there are lots of people who can help them, and we shouldn’t just sit around and try to figure this out on our own. As farmers, we have a lot to answer for. Sometimes we are too proud, and when things are hard, we need to help each other. A problem shared is half a problem.”

The head of Dairy UK, Judith Bryans, told farmers to work together and ask organisations in the industry for help. Lyndon Edwards, an AHDB board member and sector chairman, told farmers to look around the farm to see what’s good and what’s bad and to make a list of things they want to change.

He also said to think about some of the work being done on regenerative practises, which can help the bottom line and give some easy ways to make the business more profitable overall.
Profitability

Kite Consulting listed the most important things for dairy businesses to pay attention to over the next few months:

Make a plan for gathering food. High-quality forage will help cut down on feed costs, and the first cut will start in about 75–80 days.
Hedge risks Make sure you have a plan and a budget. Being able to buy the things you need to meet your plan is a great way to know where your money stands.
Increasing the price of milk New programmes, like Arla’s sustainability programme, offer bonuses for meeting requirements, and farm businesses need to start thinking about how they will do this right away.

Keep a positive attitude.

Investment Long-term resilience needs investments, and in the next few months, farmers need to think strategically about what is best for the long run.

Dr. Matt Utt, a senior dairy product analyst at the global animal health company Zoetis, said that investment on the farm is important and that sometimes you have to “spend money to make money.”

RBC says that milk containers made in Russia are now being marked with their weight instead of their volume.

Analysts from the service Prodazhi.rf say that the change is likely an attempt to hide the fact that dairy prices have gone up in recent months and that, in many cases, the amount of milk sold in each container has gone down.

“Marketing experts know that most Russians don’t know that one kilogramme of milk is less than one litre,” said Dmitry Yanin, chairman of the International Consumer Societies Federation.

In Russia, prices for goods and services rose by an average of 11.9% in 2022. Even more, the average increase in dairy prices was 15.2%.

In 2021, 11 organic dairy farms in Vermont shut down. The following year, 18 more came. And the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont thinks that another 28 farms will close this year.

This information, which was put together by a state dairy task force and recently given to legislators, is why the association wants $9.2 million to go to organic dairy farmers in the budget for this year.

During a joint meeting of the House and Senate agriculture committees last Thursday, association leaders asked lawmakers for the one-time payment. That amount would make up for the money organic farmers have lost because of changing dairy prices, which, according to the association, have only gotten more crazy over the past few years.

The $9.2 million would be the same as giving all organic producers $5 per hundredweight of their goods in 2022. A hundredweight is the same as 100 pounds of milk and is used in dairy stores.

At the hearing, the people who supported the request did not say how the money would be spent.

In the past few years, many organic dairy farms in Vermont have had to shut down. According to the Organic Farmers Association, farmers got $8 to $10 per hundredweight less than what it cost them to make that weight.

Jen Miller, who is in charge of farm services for the group, said in an interview that this trend, along with rising costs for feed, fuel, and labour since 2021, has made it hard for many farmers to pay their bills and loan payments.

Miller told lawmakers that payments to organic dairy farms started getting less money in 2017. Miller said in committee that farmers lost $2 to $3 per hundredweight that year, and prices kept going down until 2020.

Last year, drought, inflation, rising production costs, and problems in the supply chain made things worse for farmers.

Miller said in an interview, “We’re getting to the point where the best managers can’t make more money or cut costs any more than they already have over the past five years.”

Miller said that farm managers have tried to stay afloat by reducing the size of their herds and increasing the amount of milk they get from each cow, but they are running out of ways to do so.

In an interview, Maddie Kempner, the policy director of the Organic Farming Association, said, “The loss of these farms to the state is a loss for the economy, but it’s also a loss of culture, a way of life, and a huge loss for climate resilience.”

The Vermont Dairy Task Force found that when 11 farms closed in 2021, the state lost more than $41.5 million in economic activity. In 2022, 18 farms shut down, which cost another $67.9 million.

In addition to asking the state for $9.2 million this session, people who support organic farms want the federal government to make a version of the Dairy Margin Coverage Program for organic dairy farms.

Farmers can sign up for insurance from the government that helps them deal with risks through the programme. When the difference between the national price of milk and the average cost of feed falls below a certain level, the government gives money to farms.

The programme doesn’t take into account how much organic feed costs or how much organic milk costs. This means that when only organic farms are having trouble, the programme can’t help.

In an interview, Sen. Bobby Starr, D-Essex/Orleans, who is in charge of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, said that it’s not easy to figure out what to do.

Starr said that his committee could look into making a programme that would start when the price of milk fell below a certain level. When that happens, companies that buy raw milk to make other things will have to pay the difference between what it costs to make and what it sells for on the market.

Starr also brought up the idea of putting together a board of farmers, consumers, and people who process milk to help figure out who can pay what when prices change. It would be like the Northeast Dairy Compact Commission, which was in place from 1997 to 2001. Congress set up the commission, which gave the New England states the power to decide how much fluid dairy products, like drinking milk, cost.

Starr said, “I hear more from farmers about how low their prices are than from consumers about how high their prices are.”

Tuesday, the US said it wanted a second trade dispute settlement panel to look into Canada’s dairy import quotas. The US said Canada was not living up to its obligations to open its market to US producers. The move is the latest fight between the two trade partners over Canada’s protected dairy industry, which has been going on for a long time.

What is the structure of Canada’s dairy industry?

Since the 1970s, Canada has tightly controlled the supply of milk, eggs, and chicken by putting high tariffs on imports and putting limits on how much farmers can produce.

Quotes limit how much farmers can make based on how much is needed in their own country.

Import quotas limit the amount of goods from other countries that can come into Canada at a low rate of duty.

The Canadian Dairy Commission, which is a government agency, sets the price that farmers will get for their milk each year.

In 2002, a WTO panel sided with the US and said that Canada broke its trade obligations by helping dairy farmers. Because of the WTO decision, Canada can’t export as much dairy as it used to.

WHY ARE THE UNITED STATES UPSET?

U.S. companies that process dairy want to sell more to Canada, but high tariffs make that hard to do.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office says that Canada’s way of figuring out quota allocations under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Trade is unfair. This means that Canadian retailers and food service operators can’t use the allocations, which is bad for business.

Mary Ng, Canada’s trade minister, said she was disappointed by the U.S. move and that she would fight against any attempts by the U.S. to “re-negotiate” during the settlement process.

HOW MUCH IS CANADA’S DAIRY SECTOR WORTH?

Canada’s farm dairy sales are worth C$7.39 billion ($5.54 billion) each year. The government says that processed dairy shipments are worth C$16,2 billion in 2021.

CANADA WANT TO KEEP THE SYSTEM BECAUSE?

All of the major political parties say that they support supply management because it keeps dairy farmers’ incomes stable.

Prices have gone up and down a lot for producers in other countries.

There are 9,739 dairy farmers in Canada. They are one of the most powerful groups in the country. Most farms are in Quebec and Ontario, which are the two provinces in Canada with the most seats in parliament.

The opinions of others?

Other countries that make dairy products, like New Zealand, say that Canada’s controls are an unfair way to protect its dairy industry.

Some groups in Canada say that supply management keeps the country from becoming an export power in dairy, like it is in grain and meat. They say that putting a lot of restrictions on imports makes food prices in Canada go up.

“Canada’s TRQ allocation system is not only a violation of USMCA — it directly harms American dairy farmers, processors, and other workers by unfairly restricting access to their market,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Public Domain)

Jerry Dakin feels a lot better about his farm and business now than he did a few months ago. Hurricane Ian hurt his Dakin Dairy Farms in Myakka City to the tune of millions of dollars.

Dakin said, “I’ve never seen a storm like this. We’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it’s been hard, but we’ve made it through.”

There have been huge losses. Dakin lost 360 cows and a lot of buildings on his land. He won’t be putting up the old buildings again because he couldn’t get insurance for them. Since the storm, Dakin, his crew, and people from the town have been working hard to get the farm back to normal.

Dakin said, “We’re rebuilding all the main buildings and everything else. We’re already back to milking 2,000 cows, and we’re not going back on that.”

Dakin says that putting roofs back on the buildings and making sure fans and misters work are the most important things that are being done. That’s so the cows can stay cool, which is important.

Dakin said, “Our numbers are down, but we’re going to get them back up.” “Our main goal is to fix up the place, and then we’ll bring the cattle back in.”

Dakin says that the farm still needs to be fixed for another 3 months before it is back where it needs to be. He says that inflation means that insurance won’t cover all of the costs of repairs, so he’s still trying to figure that part out. Dakin says he’s thankful for how far they’ve come since Ian and where they’re going with the recovery.

“No matter what is going on, you should always look at the good things,” said Dakin. “And through all of this, there has been a lot of destruction, but there have also been a lot of wins. At Dakin Dairy Farms, we look at all the good things that have happened.

The current crisis in the Latvian dairy industry is expected to end in the next few months, when wholesale prices for raw milk should rise to €0.40–€0.50 and production costs will drop from their peak in 2022, said Janis Sholks, chairman of the Latvian dairy union, to local press.

The Latvian dairy industry is very dependent on how the European market is doing as a whole because 65% of the milk produced in Latvia is exported as raw milk or as dairy products.

“At the moment, there is too much of everything in Europe,” Sholks said. “This includes a large stock of butter, dry powder, and technical dairy products.” Sholks also admitted that the supply is currently higher than the demand on the key sales markets, which is making prices go down.

The dairy industry in Latvia is getting used to price changes. Early in 2022, wholesale raw milk prices were also low, but they went up a lot over the next few months. This made dairy companies profitable again, so they could start paying back their loans, said Guntis Gutmanis, chairman of the Latvian Council for Cooperation of Agricultural Organizations.

This didn’t last long, and the price has once again dropped below what dairy companies are comfortable with. At the moment, Latvian milk farms feed their cows with the expensive harvest from the middle of last year, because the current prices, which are a bit higher than those from the middle of last year, don’t cover the costs of production.

In the meantime, the Latvian association of agricultural statutory societies has asked Didzis mits, the minister of agriculture, to get involved in the dairy market to make sure that the price of buying milk is at least the same as in Lithuania, which is close by. Farmers in Latvia were worried that businesses can’t stay in the red for long and that the current crisis could put many farms out of business, which would help competitors in neighbouring countries.

The head of the state support department in the Latvian Agricultural Ministry, Zigmars Kinkns, said, however, that the government would not step in to set prices. He said that the wholesale milk price goes up and down in a way that is called cyclical, and that this happens several times in a year.

Sholks estimates that there are 5,000 milk-making businesses in Latvia now, compared to 14,000 a decade ago.