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July 27, 2018 CapitalPress.com Falling milk prices, lower premiums boost MPP participation Group questions FDA on limiting use of dairy terms By CAROL RYAN DUMAS By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Capital Press Signing up for the Margin Protection Program and buy- ing up-coverage has become a no-brainer for many dairy producers struggling with low milk prices and high feed costs. Markets made it clear the insurance program would pay out this year, and an es- timated 21,274 dairy farms signed up. That’s a 5 percent increase from enrollment last year and represents 53 percent of all licensed U.S. dairy operations. “Dairy operations found the improved Margin Pro- tection Program would be a worthwhile choice in 2018,” John Newton, direc- tor of market intelligence for American Farm Bureau Fed- eration, said. Congress substantially re- duced premiums on the first 5 million pounds of milk in- sured, making the program more attractive. Those premiums to cover an $8 margin between milk prices and feed costs dropped from 47.5 cents per hundred- weight of milk to 14.2 cents. USDA made participation even more attractive by ex- tending signup through June and making the program retroactive to the first of the year. It was already a given that producers opting to insure an $8 margin would see indem- nity checks in the mail for February through April, and While dairy groups are encouraged to hear Food and Drug Administration Com- missioner Scott Gottlieb an- nounce he intends to enforce existing labeling regulations that protect the identity of milk, others don’t think pre- venting companies from using such terms as “almond milk” will pass muster. The FDA chief said he intends to enforce FDA’s standard of identity that milk comes from a lactating animal but he does expect the agency to be sued because some defi- nitions of milk hold that it can be derived from a nut. The Good Food Institute, which promotes plant-based alternatives to animal prod- ucts, filed a petition with FDA in March 2017 asking the agency to clarify that common sense modifiers — such as almond milk — are allowed when naming new foods. GFI on Wednesday said it is pleased FDA will look into the issue of dairy products and labeling. Its petition asserts that producers of plant-based dairy alternatives have a First Amendment right to use la- bels that consumers recog- nize and that clearly describe their products, such as almond milk. “Once FDA has considered all of their options, we believe they will grant our rulemak- ing petition,” Bruce Friedrich, GFI executive director, said in Don Jenkins/Capital Press File Participation in the federal Margin Protection Plan has increased as premiums have decreased. USDA’s forecasts held the promise of additional pay- outs through the summer. USDA’s Farm Service Agency is crunching the numbers on enrollment and hasn’t released a breakdown of participation or coverage levels, but Newton said the agency has told him 95 per- cent of participants bought higher coverage than the free catastrophic protection lev- els. In addition, 95 percent of buy-up coverage was at the $8 margin, he said. That’s a stark difference from 2017 when only 8 per- cent of the farms enrolled opted for buy-up coverage. Most producers had been burned in the first two years of the program, seeing little to no payout despite tough times and paying millions in premium. In addition to lower pre- miums at the first tier, there was more assurance that USDA’s margin calculation would pay out this year. The agency’s calculated margin was $6.88 in February, $6.77 in March, $6.62 in April and $6.78 in May. Looking ahead, the agen- cy is forecasting margins of $7.44 in June, $6.98 in July, $7.27 in August and $7.90 in September. Estimated mar- gins for October through De- cember are above $8. 9 FDA chief takes stand on imitation dairy products By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Dairy producers say they are encouraged that the federal Food and the Drug Administration will finally crack down on companies using dairy nomenclature to market their plant-based products. Speaking last week at the Politico Pro Summit, which was live-streamed from Washington, D.C., FDA Commissioner Scott Got- tlieb said he will start the process of enforcing FDA’s standard of identity for milk “very soon.” “This has been a bit of a bugaboo to the dairy indus- try because you see the pro- liferation of products like soy milk and almond milk calling themselves milk,” he said. FDA’s standard of identi- ty for milk references a lac- an email response to a Capital Press request for comment. Given Commissioner Gottli- eb’s record of combining an understanding of scientific nuance with common sense practicality, GFI is optimistic the FDA will make the right call — allowing plant-based producers to continue to clearly label their products as tating animal, he said. “An almond doesn’t lac- tate, I confess. So the ques- tion becomes: Have we been enforcing our own standard of identity? And the answer is probably not,” he said. National Milk Producers Federation, which has been pushing labeling enforce- ment on imitation dairy products for 20 years to lit- tle avail, would agree. “Time and time again, FDA has cited lack of per- sonnel and resources to address the flagrant and ever-escalating labeling vi- olations. But to be frank, that excuse has never rung true,” Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO, stated in a letter to Gottlieb last Oc- tober. NMPF said Gottlieb’s statements at the summit were an indication that the or- ganization’s requests for FDA action are being heard. what they are, he said. The government is only al- lowed to restrict commercial speech if there is a substantial risk of consumer harm and the solution is narrowly tailored to solve the harm, he said. If FDA were to ban the use of dairy terms on plant-based products, GFI would sue, he said. Goats a Popular 4-H Project SALEM, Ore. — Dairy and meat goat numbers are on the rise in Oregon, and the apparent surge in production has created an unexpected increase in county fair 4-H entries. “Dairy goat entries have more than doubled from 24 in 2017 to 61 this year, and meat goat entries have increased by about 50 percent,” said Melanie McCabe, Extension 4-H Youth Development faculty for Marion County. Andrea Krahmer, a veteran 4-H volunteer leader from Turner, Ore., isn’t surprised at the expansion. “Goats are fun and easy animals to raise, and their food is reasonable in cost,” she explained. Her daughter Hanna, a sixth-grader at Cascade Middle School, has raised and shown Boer meat goats for seven years as a member of the 4M Livestock Club. This year, the family is adding a pair of Alpine dairy goats as a trial run. “Meat goat does will make enough milk to feed two kids, but if they have three or four babies, you end up bottle feeding some of them,” says Krahmer. “We plan to breed the two dairy doelings and produce milk to feed any extra Boer babies that pop out.” Hanna Krahmer with a Boer goat kid. Hanna is a daily caretaker of the 4-H goat herd. She has learned to stay alert to a range of needs — nutrition, training, medicine, and safe housing. “We had to create a separate shelter and pasture for the dairy goats because they jumped over the concrete barrier in the barn,” she said. “I like goats because they have so much personality, and it’s obvious if they like you,” Hanna Krahmer said as her dairy doeling, aptly named Mischief, playfully untied her shoe laces. There are many breeds of goats raised and enjoyed in Oregon. The primary meat goat breed is the Boer, which commonly sports a red “hood” on a white “bullet-shaped” body, but also appears with a solid red-brown coat. Another popular meat goat breed is the Kiko, which was developed in New Zealand. The seven top dairy goat breeds include Alpine, American Lamancha, Anglo-Nubian, Saanen, Toggenburg, Oberhasli and Nigerian Dwarf. Pygmy goats are considered pets and not a production breed. Research shows that goat numbers are indeed growing in Oregon. Jenifer Cruickshank, OSU Extension Dairy Management faculty member, confirmed dairy goat numbers in Oregon increased 3 percent and meat goat numbers increased 7 percent in the past year. The research was conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. According to Cruickshank, goats have many uses, including the following: • Meat • Milk and milk value-added products, and to feed other animals. Hanna with her dairy doeling named Mischief. • Fiber (mohair and cashmere) • Vegetation control • Packing • Companionship for other livestock • Companionship for people “The life skills learned by working with a 4-H animal project are numerous, including responsibility, record-keeping, time management and team work,” said McCabe. “You can contact your local Oregon State University Extension Service office to be connected with a 4-H livestock club in your area.” 30-3/HOU
