At last week’s annual meeting of the National Milk Producers Federation/Dairy Management Inc. dairy farmers and industry professionals met to discuss a variety of issues. Several interesting highlights were reported by Dairy Herd Management:
Per-capita milk sales may decline
Per-capita fluid milk sales could decline again this year. Sales have declined every year since 1970, with 2006 being the one exception. Tom Gallagher, chief executive officer of DMI, blamed the presumptive decline this year on price volatility — a 25-percent increase in retail gallon prices that spiked too abruptly.
So, is the checkoff really working?
Given milk’s long losing streak — in terms of per-capita sales — one has to wonder if the 15-cent-per-hundredweight checkoff is really working. Shouldn’t sales be going up instead of down? DMI’s Tom Gallagher points out that progress is being made. Certainly, the checkoff is helping to stimulate change among dairy processors and retailers, giving consumers better buying opportunities. “There are billions and billions of pounds of unmet consumer demand, and it is just waiting for the U.S. dairy industry to turn it into sales,” Gallagher says. Signs of progress include:
• More than 9,100 schools offer milk in plastic, re-sealable containers, compared to zero schools in 2000.
• 60,000 foodservice outlets, including many of the major fast-food restaurants, now offer milk in plastic bottles.
• Supermarkets are looking at ways to improve their dairy aisles.
Exports continue to grow
Last week’s NMPF/DMI annual meeting in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., was another opportunity to spotlight the progress made in dairy exports. Exports now account for 11.2 percent of the milk solids produced in the U.S — more than double the level of just five years ago. Tom Suber, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, points to these factors:
• A higher standard-of-living in China and the oil-exporting nations.
• A weak U.S. dollar abroad has made our product less expensive to foreign buyers.
• The European Union doesn’t have a surplus to export anymore, since its milk production is now being absorbed domestically among former Soviet Bloc nations with a growing appetite for dairy products.