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CapitalPress.com
Friday, June 4, 2021
Dairy
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Congressmen urge fl exibility in school milk
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
A bipartisan group of 55 mem-
bers of the U.S. House of Repre-
sentatives is urging USDA Secre-
tary Tom Vilsack to address the
under consumption of dairy foods
by school-aged children.
Led by Reps. Joe Court-
ney, D-Conn., and Glenn “GT”
Thompson, R-Pa., the lawmakers
sent a letter to Vilsack in support
of allowing schools to off er low-
fat fl avored milk.
“One of the best ways to
encourage healthy eating is within
the federal school meals program
under your jurisdiction,” the law-
makers said.
Students who choose school
A group of U.S. House members
wants reduced-fat chocolate milk
allowed with school lunches.
meals are almost three times as
likely to have milk with their
lunch as their peers who do not,
they said, citing the recent School
Nutrition and Meal Cost Study.
Current law requires milk vari-
eties to be consistent with the
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
and specifi cally permits fl avored
milk.
“Accordingly, we believe
schools should continue to have
the option to off er low-fat fl a-
vored milk,” they said.
“Surveys have shown that stu-
dents drank less milk when all fl a-
vored milk was required to be fat-
free,” they said, citing one survey
that showed a 10.8% decline.
In turn, consumption rose in
58% of schools surveyed when
schools were able to off er low-
fat fl avored milk under waiver
authority, they said.
The lawmakers also cited the
2020 Dietary Guidelines Advi-
sory Committee report that found
79% of 9- to 13-year-olds who
rely on the school meal programs
to meet their nutritional needs are
not meeting the recommended
intake of dairy foods.
“Both the 2015 and 2020 edi-
tions of the Dietary Guidelines
for Americans amplifi ed this con-
cern, stating that beginning at a
young age, average dairy con-
sumption falls short of recom-
mended amounts,” the lawmakers
said.
“This is a signifi cant concern,”
they said.
While current USDA fl exibil-
ities allow schools to off er low-
fat fl avored milk through the
2021-2022 school year, USDA
has before it a proposed rule that
would make them permanent.
Leading
dairy
groups
applauded the lawmakers’ eff orts.
“Milk benefi ts children in
many ways — but it can’t bene-
fi t them at all if they don’t drink
it, and ensuring that they do so
requires a wide range of options,”
said Jim Mulhern, president and
CEO of National Milk Producers
Federation.
“Milk’s unique nutritional
package is of great benefi t to the
nation’s schoolchildren, and this
message to Secretary Vilsack
strongly supports the critical goal
of boosting consumption of essen-
tial nutrients of public health con-
cern, including calcium, potas-
sium and vitamin D,” he said.
Dairy West hires sustainability chief
Capital Press
Dairy West has hired
Marissa Watson as its
fi rst vice president of
sustainability.
The move underscores
the importance of sustain-
ability within the dairy
community and all of
agriculture.
Agriculture plays a key
role in developing sus-
tainable solutions for a
climate-smart future and
this new focus for Dairy
West demonstrates that
leadership
commit-
ment, Kar-
ianne Fal-
low, Dairy
We s t ’s
CEO, said
in a press
Marissa
release.
Watson
M o s t
recently the
sustainability manager at
University of Vermont Din-
ing, Watson brings more
than eight years of agricul-
ture experience with a mas-
ter’s degree in agricultural
economics from the Uni-
versity of Georgia.
“We are thrilled that
someone of Marissa’s cal-
iber is joining our growing
Dairy West team,” Fallow
said.
“Dairy farmers, who
are dedicated stewards of
our land and animals, con-
tinue to make great strides
toward reducing their car-
bon footprint because
we know the future of a
healthy planet depends
upon how we care for its
resources. Marissa’s exper-
tise will accelerate our
progress in that direction,”
she said.
The U.S. dairy com-
munity has set a goal of
becoming carbon neutral
or better by 2050. Watson
said getting there requires
developing
innovative
solutions to achieve com-
mon goals across all sec-
tors, including agriculture.
“I am very excited to join
Dairy West in this import-
ant role,” Watson said.
“Having a planet-for-
ward mindset isn’t new
to dairy farmers. Tell-
ing their stories, innovat-
ing on-farm management
practices and working with
partners to showcase agri-
culture’s place in environ-
mental sustainability will
help highlight the prog-
ress that is being made,”
she said.
Established in 2017,
Dairy West is a regional
dairy promotion organi-
zation representing dairy
farmers, processors and
supply chain partners in
Idaho and Utah.
Website showcases U.S. dairy commitment to Southeast Asia
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The U.S. Dairy Export
Council has a new web-
site to highlight its state-
of-the-art U.S. Center for
Dairy Excellence in Sin-
gapore and the U.S. dairy
industry’s long-term com-
mitment to Southeast Asia.
The center, which offi -
cially opened in October
2020, gives the U.S. dairy
industry a bricks-and-mor-
tar physical presence that
“puts a stake in the ground”
in Southeast Asia, Krysta
Harden, the export coun-
cil’s president and CEO,
said in a press release
“It says to customers
in the region we are seri-
ous. We are going to be
here for the long term,” she
said. “You are going to be
a focal point. We want to
work with you. We want
to grow with you. We’re
going to help you learn,
and we’re going to learn
from you.”
The export council has
been investing in the region
since 1998, and that invest-
ment has paid off .
In 2020, Southeast Asia
passed Mexico to become
the top U.S. dairy export
market in volume, buying
the equivalent of more than
one day of total U.S. milk
production per month.
MORE
INFORMATION
For more information go
to www.USdairyexcel-
lence.org
www.usdairyexcellence.org
A screen capture from the new U.S. Dairy Export Council website highlighting the
U.S. Center for Dairy Excellence in Singapore.
The region ranked sec-
ond for sales in 2020, buy-
ing $1.26 billion in U.S.
dairy products and ingredi-
ents — a 36% increase over
the previous year despite
the challenges presented by
a global pandemic.
The region encompasses
Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines,
Singapore,
Thailand, Vietnam, Bru-
nei Darussalam, Burma,
Cambodia and Laos, with
a combined population of
more than 670 million.
That’s more than dou-
ble the population of the
United States.
The U.S. Center for
Dairy Excellence was
designed to be an edu-
cation hub and meeting
place that inspires innova-
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tion and mutual learning
between U.S. dairy sup-
pliers and Southeast Asian
customers.
The new website includes
a link that off ers a snapshot
of the center’s features and
services and a timeline of
the U.S. Dairy Export Coun-
cil’s involvement in South-
east Asia.
It also includes a recipe
database by dairy ingredi-
ent, nutritional information,
video testimonials from cus-
tomers in the region and an
introduction to U.S. dairy
farming from dairy farmer
and DMI Chairperson Mari-
lyn Hershey.
The website also has an
events section detailing the
export council’s webinars,
workshops and other activ-
ities in the region, off er-
ing companies the chance
to engage more closely with
the export council and U.S.
suppliers.
COVID restrictions in
Singapore have made it
impossible for the cen-
ter to launch with the
immediate impact it could
have had through in-per-
son engagement, so it has
been leveraged in virtual
programming.
As restrictions ease, the
new website will help spread
the word, not just to cus-
tomers but to U.S. member
companies.
“Many of our members
are very interested in using
our test kitchen and using our
facilities to bring buyers and
potential buyers to a place
where they can grow their
relationships,” Harden said.
“The center also is giv-
ing some of our members an
opportunity to think about
opening their own offi ces in
Singapore. We are going to
see a ripple eff ect with this
center,” she said.
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
Cheese
price fall
resumes
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
A
pril’s Cold Storage
data put the brakes
on cheese prices
falling last week, but only
for a day. After plunging
15.50 cents the previous
week, the Cheddar blocks
closed the last Friday of May
at $1.53 per pound, down 4
cents on the week, 27 cents
below where it was on May
3, and 70 cents below a year
ago when they pole vaulted
29.25 cents to $2.23 per
pound.
The barrels entered the
Memorial Day Weekend at
$1.57 per pound, down 3.75
cents on the week, down
24.25 cents on the month,
45.25 cents below a year ago
when they jumped 13.25
cents, but at an inverted 4
cents above the blocks.
There were 36 cars of
block traded last week, 123
for the month of May, up
from 85 in April. Barrel sales
totaled 33 for the week, 110
for the month, up from 81 in
April.
The markets were closed
Monday for the Memo-
rial Day holiday but came
to life Tuesday with the
blocks dropping 2 cents
on 10 trades, to $1.51 per
pound, duplicating the Feb.
18, 2021 price, and the low-
est it has been since May 12,
2020.
The barrels were up 0.50
cents Tuesday to $1.5750,
on 6 trades, 6.50 cents above
the blocks.
Cheese demand remains
mixed, according to Dairy
Market News. Some retail
Cheddar producers say
buyer interest is and has
been quite busy while other
varietal cheesemakers were
less busy. Barrel prices top-
ping the blocks is viewed
with “a skeptical eye,” says
DMN.