Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke to the joint meeting of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB), and the United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) in Orlando this week, highlighting the positives in the face of lower milk prices and discussing the opportunities for the industry to move forward in the future.

“Talked a little about exports and the importance of this trade agreement that was recently negotiated and expanding opportunities for dairy producers in exports,” said Vilsack in an interview after his address. “We also talked about the importance of maintaining a strong safety net.”

Only about half of the nation’s dairy farmers have so far enrolled in the new Dairy Margin Protection Program, with the deadline coming up November 20, and Vilsack said recently that one problem may be the fact that it is based on the difference between the all milk price and average feed costs, which can vary significantly on a regional basis. “We want people to participate and they’ve made several suggestions as to how the program can be improved and we’re listening to those suggestions and trying to make adjustments.”

Regarding the opportunities for U-S dairy producers in the Trans Pacific Partnership, Vilsack says there were several ways the Trans Pacific Partnership benefits dairy producers. “Tariffs are coming down or being eliminated on a lot of dairy products in Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Canada. These are markets that have been closed before,” said Vilsack. He adds that the agreement calls for a more science-based system for sanitary and phyto-sanitary food safety rules. “This is really going to help producers in this country because too often artificial barriers are constructed to our products,” he said.

In this interview, Vilsack also comments on the Subway announcement regarding using meat from animals treated with antibiotics, and the WHO statement about meat causing cancer. Interview with USDA Secy Tom Vilsack