Dairyline
By Lee Mielke

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is pleased with the approval of the mandatory dairy price reporting bills passed by both the House and Senate agriculture committees. “This is an issue that we’ve been trying to get fixed, going on a decade now,” Chris Galen reported on Thursday’s “DairyLine.”

Last week, the House Agriculture Committee approved the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010, H.R. 5852, while the Senate Agriculture Committee last Wednesday approved an identical piece of legislation, S. 3656. The bills reauthorize mandatory price reporting programs run by the USDA for five years.

Most importantly for the dairy sector, the bills include language authorizing mandatory weekly electronic reporting for dairy products every Wednesday. Galen said this was actually authorized in the 2008 farm bill but it was always subject to available funding.

“Meaning, they wrote the check, but there was never any money put in the bank to make certain the check could be cashed,” he said.

On another issue, because the House and Senate will be in recess until Labor Day, the NMPF encourages farmers to call their members of Congress about the pending Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement that will involve a handful of countries, specifically New Zealand.

“We want to convey the message that U.S. dairy producers are opposed to the inclusion of trade between the U.S. and New Zealand as part of this Trans Pacific agreement,” Galen said.

Dairy producers are invited to go to the “Dairy Great” section at http://nmpf.org for more talking points about the issue. Galen said because it’s an election year, it’s a good time to call your members of Congress.

“This is a major deal for dairy farmers in terms of potential trade agreement with New Zealand,” he said. “We want to make certain that members of Congress hear from dairy farmers about their concerns with the Trans Pacific agreement.”

Feds encouraging more dairy consumption
The International Dairy Foods Assoc.’s (IDFA) Peggy Armstrong borrowed a phrase from the real estate industry in Wednesday’s “DairyLine” and said, “This summer has been about nutrition, nutrition, nutrition.”

She referred to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recent report, which called for a variety of dairy options in the diet. She also mentioned legislation moving through Congress which will improve the food available to children in schools, and First Lady Michelle Obama’s leading a national conversation regarding what she called “the role that food plays in helping us all live healthy lives.

“IDFA is very pleased that low-fat and nonfat dairy products are positioned alongside fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as key to a healthy diet,” Armstrong said. “The report from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee reaffirmed the need for Americans over the age of eight to consume three servings of low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products per day and that children ages eight and younger should consume two servings of dairy products.”

In comments to the USDA, IDFA offered several ways the Dietary Guidelines could encourage Americans to reach their recommended intake of dairy products. We know how important this is, because government reports show that more than 90 percent of girls and half of boys do not meet these dietary recommendations.

The IDFA encouraged USDA to suggest yogurt for breakfast, part-skim mozzarella cheese sticks instead of cookies for snacks and lowfat chocolate milk to replace nutrient-void sweetened beverages. IDFA also recommended including nutrient-dense foods like these in schools and in federal feeding programs because the dollar value per nutrient is “excellent.”

As I mentioned, Congress is working on legislation that would extend the requirement to offer milk in the school lunch program, add a program to promote a la carte milk consumption among students who do not participate in school meals and remove “junk food” from vending machines and ala carte lines.

IDFA applauds Congress, the White House and the Obama administration for recognizing the importance of milk and dairy products in the healthy diets of American families and schoolchildren.

Dairy checkoff glowing with good news
The dairy checkoff is throwing some gas on the fire, as it were. Say “cheese,” and you say “profit” because cheese consumption is dairy’s – pardon the pun – bread and butter and, by increasing cheese consumption, you increase dairy profits.

Jim Montel, executive vice president of strategic initiatives for Dairy Management, Inc. was back in Monday’s “DMI Update,” this time to talk about the dairy checkoff partnership with Domino’s and Pizza Hut. He reported that 25 percent of U.S. cheese is consumed on pizza, making it the number-one usage.

But, pizza consumption the past few years has been on a decline, according to Montel; hence the checkoff’s decision to partner with these two pizza firms. That resulted in the introduction of several new items, he said, such as American Legends pizza from Domino’s and its new and inspired pizza, which made its debut in the first quarter of 2010.

The reaction has been tremendous, and Montel said, “You can pretty much buy a pizza now for $10, and those kind of deals and those kinds of great pizza and those kinds of great cheese-friendly pizzas are really driving the category.”

Pizza sales are up 38 million servings from a year ago, he said, and year-to-date 2010 that has meant an additional 310 million pounds of milk equivalent in additional cheese. This is because each serving of pizza now has about 5 percent more cheese on it, Montel concluded.

“So, dairy farmers are getting a great return on investment and consumers of America are getting a great tasting pizza today,” he said.

(Please refer to the newspaper for the remaining portion.)

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with comments for Lee Mielke may write to him in care of this publication.