Thank You to All Who Participated in Our Virtual Annual Meeting Last Week, 2021 Policy Priorities

February 2, 2021

Thank you to Everyone Who

Joined Our Virtual Annual Meeting

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Virtual Annual Meeting last week. During the annual meeting, we set our policy priorities for 2021. Passage of dairy growth management legislation to balance milk supply with profitable market demand topped the list of priorities. Despite all the uncertainty created by the ongoing pandemic, US milk production is well above 2018 and 2019 levels demonstrating the need for federal dairy policy incentives so that milk supply is more responsive to changes in market demand.

We had an excellent discussion with California Representative David Valadao, CA-21, about milk pricing under the California Federal Marketing Order (CFMO), dairy growth management, livestock market concentration, trade, water, and other key issues. Rep. Valadao will serve on the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food, and Drug Administration and play an important role in determining funding for a range of agriculture and farm policies and programs. National Farmers Union President Rob Larew spoke during the meeting about how the leadership changes in the US House and Senate Agriculture Committees and the White House will impact farm policy. Given the close margins in both chambers, Larew indicated that bipartisan compromises would be important to pass agricultural legislation.

Policy Proposals:

In addition to a strong call for passage of dairy growth management legislation, the delegates to the California Dairy Campaign and California Farmers Union Joint Annual Meeting delegates voted to pass policy supporting: mandatory country-of-origin of labeling (COOL) for meat; checkoff reform; trade policy reform; antitrust measures to restore competition and other key policies.

CDC and CFU have long supported dairy growth management and are part of the Dairy Together campaign initially launched three years ago to call on lawmakers and dairy leaders to pass policies and programs so that milk production is more responsive to changes in profitable market demand. Current federal dairy policy is leading to increased milk production and lower milk prices paid to dairy producers. Federal incentives to match milk production with profitable domestic and export demand will restore long-term profitability for dairy producers.

Since June 2020, milk cow numbers across the United States increased by more than 90,000, a national dairy herd size comparable to 1998.

Although milk production decreased in response to supply management plans implemented by milk handlers near the beginning of the pandemic, milk production continued to ramp up throughout the year.

National Farmers Union

Virtual Annual Convention

The rumors are true: National Farmers Union's 119th Anniversary Convention will be held virtually!

In addition to being hosted online, the event will be structured a bit differently than it has been in years past. Instead of holding all the educational events, panel discussions, breakout discussions, and policy deliberation within a few days, we'll be doing our best to prevent Zoom fatigue by splitting everything up into several separate sessions over the course of a month.

Every week through February 26, we'll be featuring a series of education sessions. Then, on March 1 and 2, delegates to the convention will have an opportunity to discuss, amend, and adopt the organization's policy positions and priorities.

This process will stream live on National Farmers Union's Facebook page for all non-delegates to watch. On those days, we will also have some speakers from Congress and the administration, a presentation of awards, the State of the Farmers Union speech, and other convention staples.

Even better - the whole event is FREE! Registration is open and we extend our thanks to our 2021 partners.

January 28 - March 2, 2021

CVDRMP January Newsletter

Fees Increase

Central Valley Dairy Representative Monitoring Program (CVDRMP)

Key Information & Changes

• Our billing schedule will be slightly later this year. CVDRMP normally invoices members annually in January. This year, due to the need to coordinate with Nitrate Management Zones, billing will be staggered in February and March.

• Most members will see fees increase. For the first time since its formation in 2010, CVDRMP will increase member fees, to cover increased costs due to the Nitrate Control Program and Salt Control Program.

• New fees will vary by location and herd size. All members face a minimum fee of $972, which includes groundwater monitoring and for many, Salt Control Program Compliance. For larger dairies and bovine operations in Priority 1 Nitrate Control Program areas, fees could be as much as several hundred to several thousand dollars higher. Fee schedules are still being developed and will be discussed at the Annual Member meeting on February 24.

• CVDRMP members do not need to directly enroll in Nitrate Management Zones, or directly pay fees to the Prioritization and Optimization study for the Salt Control Program. If you have questions, contact the CVDRMP office before signing any agreements or paying any fees at (916) 594-9450.

Source: The full January CVDRMP Newsletter is Linked here.