By LEE MIELKE
Mielke Market Weekly 

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and International Dairy Foods Assoc. (IDFA) called on Congress to "solve the trade dispute over country-of-origin labeling to head off damaging new tariffs on U.S. dairy exports by Canada and Mexico."

"Retaliation against dairy products would come at a particularly challenging time for our industry, given the currently depressed global dairy market," said NMPF, USDEC and IDFA. "Multiple cooperatives have already been faced at times this year with oversupplies of milk, causing them to dispose of excess milk at a loss. Retaliatory tariffs would back up exports further onto the U.S. market."

Dairy support mechanisms also came under fire this week. An NMPF press release states: "While the United States has reduced support mechanisms for dairy farmers in recent years, a wide range of foreign dairy subsidies remain, limiting the U.S. industry’s ability to sell more of its products overseas."

In testimony before the House Agriculture Committee, NMPF said these foreign dairy support programs impede an industry that has gone from exporting less than $1 billion in dairy products in 2000 to $7.1 billion last year.

"Trade agreements have helped make this possible by lowering and removing barriers to our exports," said Jaime Castaneda, NMPF’s senior vice president. "However, they have done little to constrain the use of domestic supports in the dairy sector or agriculture as a whole."

He adds that "Foreign dairy subsidies take different forms, ranging from direct aid, to import protections and regulatory measures designed to give foreign dairy producers an advantage over U.S. competitors."

The 28-nation European Union is the biggest provider of direct dairy support, according to Castaneda, offering cash payments, storage subsidies, price supports and, most recently, emergency aid to producers to counter low prices. In addition, the EU is attempting to limit dairy imports further by blocking the use of commonly used product names outside prescribed areas.

•Joanna Lidback, a dairy farmer from Westmore, Vt., told a panel of senators on Capitol Hill how important biotechnology is to her family’s farm, explaining that the efficiencies of using biotech crops help sustain the business she and her husband own. Lidback spoke before the Senate Agriculture Committee, outlining several reasons why she supports the use of genetically-modified crops and does not support her home state’s mandatory GMO-labeling law.

•The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Thursday approved legislation backed by NMPF allowing states to increase truck weights so that milk is shipped as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The bipartisan amendment offered by New York Republican Richard Hanna and Connecticut Democrat Elizabeth Esty was added to a transportation bill that could reach the House floor later this fall. It was approved on a voice vote.

The ongoing hearing regarding the formation of a possible Federal milk market order in California heard testimony last week from Dairy Institute witnesses.

The Milk Producers Council’s Rob Vandenheuvel reported that the majority of the week’s testimony attempted to demonstrate that there is no disorderly milk marketing in California and that no justification exists to establish a Federal Order.

"This is a very different message than the testimony we’ve heard from producers and their organizations in recent weeks regarding the support for a Federal order," he says. He expects more details of the Dairy Institute’s actual proposal this week.

You can follow the process and listen to a live audio stream at www.ams.usda.gov/live Transcripts are posted at a two-week lag at www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/moa/dairy/ca/transcripts

The USDA announced the November Federal order Class I base milk price at $16.48 per cwt., up 64 cents from October but $7.58 below November 2014, the lowest November Class I since 2009 when it was at $12.35, and it equates to about $1.42 per gallon. The 2015 Class I average now stands at $16.30, down from $23.35 at this time a year ago and $18.70 in 2013.

September milk production in the top 23 producing states totaled 15.6 billion pounds, according to USDA’s preliminary data issued Tuesday, Oct. 20, up just 0.4 percent from September 2014. The 50-state output, at 16.6 billion pounds, was also up 0.4 percent. Revisions added 15 million pounds to the original August 23-state tally, now put at 16.3 billion pounds, up 0.9 percent from a year ago.

September cow numbers totaled 8.63 million head in the 50 states, unchanged from August but 41,000 more than a year ago. Output per cow averaged 1,805 pounds, down 86 pounds from August and 1 pound below September 2014.

Output for the July to September quarter totaled 51.6 billion pounds, up 0.9 percent from a year ago. Cow numbers, at 9.31 million head, were down 7,000 from the April to June quarter but up 43,000 from the same period a year ago.

California continues to trail year-ago output, down 3.6 percent in September, which follows a 3.1 percent decline in August. Output per cow was down 65 pounds, with 1,000 fewer cows milked. Output per cow was back on top of Wisconsin after trailing the Badger state last month, the second time in 57 years.

Wisconsin was up 3.1 percent, which followed a 4.8 percent jump in August. Output per cow was up 45 pounds, and Wisconsin’s herd was up 8,000 head.