By LEE MIELKE
Mielke Market Weekly

Dairy Market News (DMN) reports that Hurricane Joaquin brought heavy rains to part of the Southeast, producing floods of historical proportions. However, milk hauling was marginally affected in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. A slight uptick of bottled milk sales in these regions is attributable to pulls from the hurricane situation. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic milk production is flat. Milk volumes are slightly lower in Florida. Central and Northwest milk intakes are seasonally declining. Heavy rains and high humidity are adversely affecting the milk yield in the Southwest. Western and Eastern cream supplies are steady to lower. Cream demand remains strong across the country.

In politics, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) gave a thumbs up Friday (Oct. 16) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which ordered a nationwide halt of the implementation of the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) Final Rule, which became effective on Aug. 28.

"The ruling provides greater certainty for dairy farmers across the country, who up until today faced conflicting sets of new water regulations, depending on which state they are in," NMPF says.

The nationwide stay was granted after a 2-1 vote, with the majority finding "a substantial possibility of success on the merits of their [18 states bringing the suit] claims." The court took issue with both the content of the rule and the lack of notice and comment for significant changes that were added in the final version. Due to both procedural and merits claims, the court ordered the Clean Water Rule stayed, nationwide, pending further order of the court.

Meanwhile, the International Dairy Foods Assoc. (IDFA) reports that the Organic Trade Assoc. (OTA) has formally petitioned the USDA to amend all Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMO) to change how organic milk handlers meet their minimum pricing and pooling obligations.

The OTA says the proposed amendment would not exempt organic milk from the federal marketing orders but rather would provide for an alternative, audited mechanism for USDA-certified organic milk handlers to meet their minimum price obligations under the various orders. It would permit USDA-certified organic milk handlers to use either the current method of payment or an alternative mechanism that recognizes premiums paid by organic processors to organic dairy farmers.

Read more at http://bit.ly/1GmsFHW

In other political news, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell appeared Oct. 7 before the House Agriculture Committee to discuss the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. The process is undertaken every five years to make recommendations to consumers so they can make food choices that lead to a healthier population. But, they also influence government policy on food stamps and school lunch programs.

A posting on IDFA’s website states that committee members were told that the new guidelines will "stick to food-based recommendations that emphasize the importance of following total healthy eating patterns and that they will not deal with sustainability or recommend a food tax."

"The hearing followed up on concerns expressed by Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), chairman of the committee, and other members about recommendations made by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee in its nearly 600-page report released in February," according to the IDFA.

"At the hearing, the secretaries assured the committee that the 2015 Dietary Guidelines will be based on sound science. They noted that thousands of scientific papers and decades of nutrition and medical research will be considered in addition to the more than 29,000 public comments that the departments received on the advisory committee’s report."

A question about milk was raised at the hearing by Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa,), who serves on the House committee. He asked whether current USDA nutrition policies contribute to the trend of milk consumption falling short of the Dietary Guidelines recommendations. Vilsack said they are currently reviewing the policies, which will continue to evolve as new information becomes available.

USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services are currently finalizing the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, which are expected to be completed in December of this year, IDFA concludes.