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