November 18, 2016
CapitalPress.com
7
Dairy/Livestock
Subscribe to our weekly dairy or livestock email
newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters
California dairy groups split over TPP
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
California dairy groups are split
on their support for the Trans-Pacific
Partnership.
Western United Dairymen Execu-
tive Director Anja Raudabaugh said
she wonders if the dairy producer
members of the Wisconsin Farm-
ers Union are members of the U.S.
Dairy Export Council and National
Milk Producers Federation, both of
which endorse TPP.
While imports and currency ma-
nipulation are valid concerns, trade
agreements over the last two decades
have made U.S. dairy a net exporter,
she said.
Wisconsin is increasing milk pro-
duction, but it’s a different situation
in California — which is experienc-
ing declines and trying to find ways
to sell more dairy products. The only
way to do that is to have strong trade
partners, she said.
There still needs to be some
strengthening of the currency manip-
ulation provisions, but TPP is one of
the strongest agreements for the U.S.
when it comes to dispute settlement,
keeping it in the hands of the U.S.
Trade Representative, she said.
It also takes the right direction in
addressing sanitary and phytosani-
tary issues, which frequently affect
California’s industry, and in protect-
ing the use of common food names,
she said.
WUD had some concerns with
TPP and took its time coming to a
position of support, but USDA an
USTR refined the agreement to re-
solve those concerns, she said.
California Dairy Campaign dis-
agrees. Its executive director, Lynne
McBride, said she is not surprised by
the Wisconsin response, noting that
the Dairy Campaign also works with
its state Farmers Union organization.
“I think dairy farmers are all too
familiar with the promises of these
agreements,” she said.
The Dairy Campaign’s measure
of trade agreements is the net value
to U.S. producers, and both USDEC
and National Milk have stated that
an analysis shows market access will
be neutral to slightly positive. But
CDC thinks those analyses underes-
timate imports, she said.
Everyone gets caught up in ex-
ports, but it’s the net value to dairy
farmers that matters, she said.
In addition, TPP gives a tribunal
of unelected officials the authority
to strike down domestic laws with
its investor-state dispute settlement
provision. It happened with the
WTO eliminating mandatory coun-
try-of-origin labeling, and that sticks
in the minds of our members, she
said.
“We don’t want to see more of
that. It diminishes or completely de-
letes our ability to have a democratic
process in our country,” she said.
The agreement also fails to ad-
dress currency manipulation, leav-
ing it unclear how competitive U.S.
products will be in Japan, she said.
The Milk Producers Council has
not taken an official position on TPP,
said Kevin Abernathy, MPC director
of regulatory affairs.
Dairy market offers Wisconsin Farmers Union dairy
its own surprises farmers reject TPP trade pact
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
E
lection week dairy pric-
es brought some surpris-
es of their own.
After
block
cheddar
climbed to $1.9425 per pound
Wednesday, the highest price
since November 2014, it fell
5 3/4-cents on Friday, Veter-
an’s Day, to $1.8850, down 1
1/2-cents on the week but 26
1/2-cents above a year ago.
The barrels finished at
$1.7550, down 10 1/2-cents
on the week, 28 3/4-cents
above a year ago, but were at a
Trump-Clinton size difference
of 13 cents below the blocks.
The blocks were un-
changed Monday and Tuesday
as traders weighed the impacts
of Monday’s 7.8 magnitude
earthquake in New Zealand
and Tuesday morning’s Global
Dairy Trade auction.
The barrels dropped a
nickel Monday and inched a
quarter-cent lower Tuesday, to
$1.7025, enlarging the spread
to 18 1/4-cents.
Midwest cheesemakers say
milk intakes are holding steady
and many plants are running at
or near full capacity to keep
up with holiday orders, reports
Dairy Market News.
Cash butter topped $2 for
the first time since late Sep-
tember, closing Friday at $2.01
per pound, up 11 3/4-cents on
the week but still 8 3/4-cents
below a year ago, with an im-
pressive 36 cars coming to the
CME.
The $2 spot was short-lived
however. The price slipped
2 cents Monday and a penny
Tuesday, to $1.98, with 10
loads trading hands.
DMN says butter produc-
tion is steady in the Central
region and Western output is
active “to keep up with strong
seasonal demand.”
Grade A nonfat dry milk
closed Friday at 87 3/4-cents
per pound, up 3 cents on the
week and 6 3/4-cents above a
year ago.
The powder was unchanged
Monday and but gained a pen-
ny and a half Tuesday, hitting
89 1/4-cents per pound.
GDT up 4.5 percent
Tuesday’s Global Dairy
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
Trade auction saw a third con-
secutive gain, up 4.5 percent
on the weighted average for all
products offered, following an
11.4 percent gain Nov. 1, and
1.4 percent on Oct. 18.
Gains were registered in all
products offered, led by butter-
milk powder, up 13.3 percent.
cheddar cheese was up 11 per-
cent, skim milk powder was up
9.8 percent, anhydrous milkfat
was up 4.4 percent, whole milk
powder was up 3.2 percent,
and butter was up 1.1 percent.
FC Stone equated the
average GDT butter price
to $1.9447 per pound U.S.
CME butter closed Tuesday at
$1.98 per pound. GDT ched-
dar cheese equated to about
$1.6768 per pound U.S. and
compares to Tuesday’s CME
block cheddar at $1.8850.
GDT skim milk powder
was at $1.1620 per pound U.S.
and whole milk powder aver-
aged $1.5526 per pound U.S.
CME Grade A nonfat dry milk
price closed Tuesday at 89
1/4-cents per pound.
California Class I up
The strong cheese market
propelled California’s Decem-
ber Class I milk prices. The
December price hit $19.22 per
cwt. for the north and $19.49
for the south. Both are up
$3.09 from November and 89
cents above a year ago, and
the highest Class I prices since
January 2015.
The northern 2016 Class I
average is $16.26, down from
$17.69 in 2015 and $24.76
in 2014. The southern aver-
age, at $16.53, is down from
$17.96 in 2015 and $25.03 in
2014.
Milk output lowered
USDA lowered its latest
U.S. milk production forecasts
for 2016 and 2017 in its World
Agricultural Supply and De-
mand Estimates report from a
month ago as recent data indi-
cated that the U.S. cow inven-
tory increased less rapidly than
expected. Output per cow was
raised.
Northwest
organizations
continue to back
agreement
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Dairy members of the
Wisconsin Farmers Union
overwhelmingly reject The
Trans-Pacific Partnership in
its current form, citing an in-
flux of low-price imports as
their top concern, according
to WFU.
Nearly 80 percent of the
1,000 dairy members sur-
veyed said Congress should
reject or place a moratorium
on the agreement until those
concerns are met.
In addition, they registered
concerns about entering into
trade agreements with coun-
tries that manipulate currency
and the loss of U.S. sover-
eignty in trade disputes.
“We will be opening our
borders to a flood of low-cost
MPCs (milk protein concen-
trates) from New Zealand,
which will displace Wiscon-
sin milk in cheese produc-
tion,” WFU President Darin
Von Ruden said in a press
release.
The loss would supposedly
be offset by access to the Jap-
anese market, but that could
evaporate overnight if Japan
manipulates its currency to
make U.S. imports more ex-
pensive, he said.
Wisconsin’s Dairy Busi-
ness Association, however,
contends the state’s dairy
community has a lot to gain
from increasing protein de-
mand in Pacific Rim coun-
tries.
“Dairy foods from Wis-
consin can help meet those
demands. We’re talking about
nearly 500 million potential
additional customers,” said
Tim Trotter, DBA executive
director.
While TPP might not have
achieved the hoped-for full
Capital Press File
A survey of 1,000 dairy operators belonging to the Wisconsin Farmers Union shows little support for
the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, but Northwest dairy groups continue to back the treaty.
market access, it provides
flexibility for expansion,
opening even more opportu-
nities for Wisconsin’s farmers
and processors to reach new
markets, he said.
The Farmers Union is one
of the few farm groups that
is against trade agreements,
so the results of the survey
are unsurprising, said Jamie
Mara, DBA director of public
relations.
Much of the Farmers
Union membership is farmers
with smaller operations, and
he doesn’t know how many
dairy members the organiza-
tion has among Wisconsin’s
9,600 dairy farmers, he said.
In the Pacific Northwest,
Jay Gordon, Washington State
Dairy Federation director of
policy and government af-
fair, said PNW dairy farmers
largely support TPP.
“I think most of our guys
are very supportive of the fact
that we need to have robust
exports,” he said.
The industry needs to keep
exports rolling and take away
barriers, he said.
With a lot of product ex-
ported from Seattle and Port-
land, Washington dairymen
might view TPP differently
than Wisconsin dairymen.
And while there are pluses
and minuses, all the economic
studies show a net positive for
the U.S., he said.
“I’d like to see organiza-
tions get together to pass it,”
he said.
Idaho Dairymen’s As-
sociation remains strongly
supportive of TPP, said Bob
Naerebout, executive director
of the organization.
“I think it increases the
value of Idaho products by
opening up markets for our
products. It eliminates trade
barriers,” he said.
As for MPC imports, no-
body who produces MPC in
Idaho has expressed a con-
cern, he said.
Imports of MPC and casein
are always a concern to dairy-
men, but the agreement on the
whole is a net gain, said Brent
Olmstead, executive director
of Milk Producers of Idaho.
It offers new access to
Canada, Japan and Asia and
puts countries on an even lev-
el on sanitary and phytosani-
tary issues, he said.
Organization
members
have been split in their sup-
port, but he thinks they would
be supportive of helping ex-
ports, he said.
Oregon, which exports a
lot of products to the Pacific
Rim, is “extremely support-
ive” of TPP, said Tami Kerr,
executive director of Oregon
Dairy Farmers Association.
“I think it’s a no-brainer
for us. We’re producing more
milk than we’re consuming,”
she said.
As long as the TPP is
properly implemented and
enforced as written, Oregon’s
dairy industry is supportive,
she said.
Because of Thanksgiving holiday,
our ad deadlines for the
November 25 th , 2016 issue
must move ahead to:
Classified Display Ads
DEADLINE TUES., NOV. 22nd @ 10AM
Classified Line Ads
nd
DEADLINE TUES., NOV. 22 nd
@ Noon
1-800-882-6789
47-7/#13
47-4/#4N