DairyBusiness

This week in Dairy Profit Weekly:

1) Was dairy’s optimism at the end of the 2009 leading to the undoing of 2010? Maybe so, suggests National Milk Producers Federation’s Roger Cryan, writing in the February 2010 Dairy Market Report.

2) The name of National Milk Producers Federation’s (NMPF) Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) subcommittee was changed to the Production Management subcommittee, with its role expanded to include a thorough review of supply-demand approaches.

3) While many U.S. dairy farmers and organizations try to balance domestic milk supply/demand as a means to improve the dreadful U.S. dairy economic picture, others are seeking to build international markets. Dairy Profit Weekly editor Dave Natzke was part of a U.S. dairy industry team participating in a Middle East information mission in Dubai.

4) DPW numbers: National Milk Producers Federation’s Import Watch tracks a number of dairy imports, finding 2009 volumes were generally lower than 2008, with two notable exceptions: butter and cheddar cheese.

5) DPW Washington: USDA issued its final decision to limit pricing exemptions for large “producer-handler” milk bottlers. Dairy Management Inc. CEO Tom Gallagher released a statement regarding the Memorandum of Understanding signed last December by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and USDA. The agreement has drawn controversy, with some interpreting it as an endorsement for federal and international “climate change” policies and an admission that the dairy industry is a major contributor to carbon emissions.

Check in for daily Dairy Profit Weekly news updates at www.dairybusiness.com.

Dave Natzke, Editor