FarmFirst Eyes the Future p 2

Tackling Biotech Labeling p 3

FIRSTHANDMILK INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE

MILKLINEN E W S L E T T E R

March 2016

Dedicated to serving and representing you, our family farm members, FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative represents farms in Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana through policy bargaining, dairy marketing services, laboratory testing opportunities and industry promotion.

HIGHLIGHTS: Trade Agreements p 3

PDPW Youth Derby p 4

Dairy Policy, Pricing and Economics p 5

Upcoming Tradeshows p 6

Finding Common Ground.

Recently, someone asked me what the greatest challenge will be for the future of my dairy farm. Now, it’s not the first time I’ve been asked, and surely not the last.

I believe the question challenges everyone a little differently. Right now, milk prices are far from ideal and that’s a challenge for everyone. For others, it’s a challenge to plan for the future as they don’t have someone in their family or local community interested in taking over the farm. And for many others, challenges exist in working with landowners on rented land or hiring a reliable work force.

However, I believe there is one challenge that will exist for every dairy farmer going into the future. And that’s educating the consumer.

Consumers nowadays are just so confused. And who can blame them? There are all sorts of claims and

statements on food packaging. And nearly all of it is misleading. As if to say that meat was allowed to be placed on grocery store shelves that had tested positive for antibiotics? I can’t blame consumers for wondering about things they don’t fully understand.

In order to keep the industry moving forward, we need to connect with today’s consumers and share with them what we do on our farms.

Last fall, I was asked to have the local grade school second and third graders come for a visit to my farm. It ended up being a beautiful fall day, and while I was prepared for it, I don’t think I could anticipate just how many questions those little minds had in store for me.

I was more than happy to share with them how we do things on our farm, and I even tried to come up with ways for them to relate to what we do. My go-to example is comparing the feed we give our cows as to mixing up a batch of cookies. Just as you need the right mix of sugar, flour and chocolate chips to make cookies, so do we need the right mix of corn silage, haylage and protein to make the right feed for our cows.

While many of the kids might not remember everthing they learned that day, they did experience first-hand what we do on our farm, how comfortable our cows are and they had a chance to meet me, an actual dairy farmer. Best part, there were many parent chaperones along that day and they also had the chance to ask me

Applicants for the 2016 FarmFirst Scholarship are encouraged to contact the FarmFirst office if they have not received a confirmation email of their application being successfully submitted.

All applicants, whether their application was submitted online or via postal mail, were sent a confirmation email that their application was received. Due to technical issues a few days before the application deadline, applicants who did not receive an email confirmation are being encouraged to contact the office to ensure their application was received.

This technical issue would have only affected a few individuals, if any at all. To ensure that we haven’t missed anyone, applicants may email jmartin@farmfirstcoop.com or call directly at 608-244-4250 ext. 309 to verify their application status by April 1.

2016 Scholarship Applicants:

Verify Your Application Status

Article by John Rettler,FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative President

questions too.

Not everyone is able to welcome the local school to their farm, but we all can be a part of working together to maintain this common ground with the consumer. They are the ones that are buying our product, after all.

visit us onFarmFirstDairyCooperative.com

CO

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N BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: John Rettler Neosho, Wis. 920-625-3237

Vice President: Peter Kleiman Wilson, Mich. 906-497-5350

Secretary: Kathy Bauer Faribault, Minn. 507-332-2870

Treasurer: Ken Wunderlin Livingston, Wis. 608-943-6496

Randy Geiger – Reedsville, Wis. 920-772-4184

Kelly King – Edgar, Wis. 715-581-3850

Richard Meyer Unity, Wis. 715-223-2058

Joe Schmitt – Holy Cross, Iowa 563-552-1135

Brian Wozniak – Stanley, Wis. 715-703-0361

MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 14380 Madison, WI 53708-0380

MADISON OFFICE 4001 Nakoosa Trail, Suite 100 Madison, WI 53714 (608) 244-3373

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FarmFirstDairyCooperative

Cooperative Happenings

Learn more about the Young Cooperator program in our April MilkLine newsletter.

FarmFirst Eyes the Future at Fourth Annual Meeting

Over 200 dairy producers and industry members gathered together for FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative’s fourth annual meeting on Feb. 12-13 in Onalaska, Wis. The cooperative event focused on preparation for the future, with the workshop presentations providing producers with the knowledge to anticipate transition challenges between generations as well as what the dairy market might forecast for the year ahead.

“There are many challenges facing our dairy farmers today, and the greatest challenge right now are the low milk prices. We want our members to know what the future looks like for dairy markets so that they can be prepared,” says David Cooper, general manager for FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative. “Understanding what factors are at play on the global market allows producers to better understand when better prices might become a reality.”

The two-day event kicked off with its Producer Discovery Workshops on Friday afternoon, featuring Michelle Birschbach from Steimle Birschbach, LLC as she highlighted the importance of preparing and communicating the plan for a farm transition, and John Newton from National Milk Producers Federation addressed the current dairy market and political environment as we go through 2016.

This year’s evening banquet began with a keynote address by Kim Bremmer from Ag Inspirations. She shared her message with producers and industry guests about how important it is to share their story of agriculture to encourage consumers not to ‘fear their food.’ She commented, “you have a great story and you share common ground with consumers. When we don’t tell our own stories, others tell them for us. If not you, then who?”

“Today’s dairy producers are in a much different environment than they were a decade ago,” says Cooper. “They have to be top-notch managers of their dairy farm in addition to being able to serve as their own spokesperson for their dairy farm in the community and on social media.”

Retiring board members were also recognized at Friday evening’s banquet, including David Allen of Reedsburg, Wis., Wayne Hansen of Van Dyne, Wis., Lee Klumpers of Waupun, Wis., Mark Ryan of Fond du Lac, Wis., and Dave Schmitz of Fond du Lac, Wis. Long-time staff members were also recognized in appreciation of their dedication and commitment to the cooperative and its divisions. Bob Hodgson was recognized for celebrating 30 years with the cooperative, Karen Gengler for celebrating 25 years, and Cheryl Harrmann for celebrating 20 years.

Michelle Birschbach shared key tips and reminders regarding estate transitions.

Retiring directors from the board, including Mark Ryan, David Allen, Wayne Hansen and Dave Schmitz. Not pictured: Lee Klumpers.

Kim Bremmer presented her experiences on educating others about agriculture.

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Government & Legislative Update

Trade Agreements... Sifting Through the Details

When it comes to trade agreements, not everyone can be a winner. Yet, when it moves in the right direction, it can be a positive step forward. In evaluating the recent Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which has lots of moving parts, one can easily be persuaded to have a specific opinion when only looking at a few of those parts. Did we secure sales that will create more significant export opportunities? No, so there alone could be disappointment. Did we avoid giving up more import access in comparison to export opportunity? Yes, so that is a moral victory. Do we have greater access or lower tariffs in countries we do less business with? And did we maintain our access to those we do lots of business with? Yes, at this point, it appears we have. Even better, much of that opportunity is found in the early years of the agreement implementation rather than later.

Foundational elements were found in this agreement which have not occurred in past discussions, meaning that this agreement creates an improved landscape for future agreements and ensures a level playing field. Additionally, this improved landscape would allow this agreement to be monitored, to ensure that all participants in the agreement follow and abide by the agreement. Without this, past agreements have been reinterpreted which have caused limited sales opportunities.

Among these foundational items include sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) and geographical indication (GI) provisions, aka Common Food Names. We have talked about the common

Senate Ag Committee Tackles Biotech Labeling

Recently, Senator Roberts who serves as chairman of the Senate Agriculture committee released a bill on addressing how to label biotech foods, aka the GMO debate. The bill would ban state labeling laws for genetically modified foods and require the Agriculture Department to set up a voluntary national labeling program. Later this year, Vermont’s mandatory labeling law would go into effect and likely would begin a firestorm of additional

state mandates. The challenge with individual state legislation on such a divisive issue is that it drives up costs and adds to consumer confusion. You can imagine how buying a product in one state, then finding the same

product in another state with a completely different set of labeling requirements can become a bit confusing. A study of the impact of state labeling requirements was recently done by the Corn Refiners Association and it concluded that this type of requirement would increase the cost of producing food in the U.S. to about $82 billion

per year, or about $1,050 per family. The reason for the added costs goes beyond production and labeling because it would require food companies to either build or buy all new facilities so they could keep GMO and non-GMO ingredients separate.

FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative signed on in support of Senator Robert’s legislation for two reasons. One, misleading labels and state-by-state labeling rules could create confusion and additional costs that may drive consumers away from dairy products if there were included in these labeling requests. Second, we feel it is important to protect farmers and the food they produce from a patchwork of state requirements which could strip away valuable agricultural technology and have an impact on future innovation. While we acknowledge that challenges can present themselves when the federal government gets involved, this is an area where uniform, consistent, and voluntary standards that can be applied across all states would seem to provide the most accurate level of information to consumers while not harming our nation’s farmers in the process.

food name issues many times before as they relate to cheese names. The SPS regulations come down to quality or sanitary methods or measurements. The somatic cell count requirement by the European Union would be one example used in the past. In addressing trade agreements, having this foundational element puts everyone on notice of following both the letter and spirit of the new obligation in these areas. These types of discussions add to World Trade Organization (WTO) standards for SPS to help address the escalating use of unfair or sudden changes made by countries who undermine our export opportunity.

As noted in previous newsletters, the TPP agreement did not give us the market access we sought, but it did limit the access others sought in the U.S. In general, the sales opportunities are neutral to slightly positive. With additional countries eyeing the opportunity to join the agreement in the future, we feel it could have additional positive benefits. The increased dialogue and commitment in the SPS and GI arenas add another positive to the agreement. If the administration can commit to enforcing the agreement to its intent with our trading partners and ensure that market access requirements are followed, then our congressional leaders should be looking to have an honest discussion on this agreement and work to ask the right questions in support of this trade agreement.

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Industry Happenings

Continued... FarmFirst Eyes the Future at Fourth Annual Meeting

Sponsorships AvailableAttend PDPW’s Youth Leadership Derby - April 16-17

Dive-In, Dissect and Discover Dairy at PDPW’s Youth Leadership Derby!

“Having such tremendous and dedicated employees and board members to help the cooperative achieve its goals in various ways is vital to maintaining our grassroots and our commitment to members,” commented Cooper.

This year’s annual meeting theme is ‘We Are FarmFirst,’ acknowledging the diversity of the cooperative, most especially the dynamic producers throughout the cooperative membership.

“FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative is truly unique in being able to service such a diverse group of dairy farmers. FarmFirst is also unique in having the opportunity

to work with so many different entities of the industry, all of which help us to better serve producers and improve the industry,” says Cooper.

New to this year’s annual meeting was a Young Cooperator panel, which was emceed by the newly elected steering committee chair, Janet Clark. Four individuals who also serve on the Young Cooperator Steering Committee for the cooperative participated in this panel.

“This panel was a great opportunity for our cooperative members to understand a little more about who we are as farmers, as well as what our goals are for the Young Cooperator program,” says Janet Clark, the chairperson of the steering committee, elected on Friday of the annual meeting.

“FarmFirst has a very exciting future ahead, and we look forward to being part of it,” says Clark.

AgSource Cooperative ServicesAlan & Stephanie HughesAnimartBadgerland FinancialBob & Bev HodgsonBonnie Mohr StudiosBrian & Kristi DindermanBubrick’s Office Charm Sciences, Inc.Chula Vista Resorts

Clifton Larson Allen LLPComfort Inn & SuitesDairy Management, Inc.Eric & Misty VogelFCStoneThe Galloway CompanyMicheal LeahyMichelle KellerNelson-Jameson, Inc.NorthStar Cooperative, Inc.

Pat YeaglePeter & Diane KleimanRadisson Paper Valley HotelRandy & Rosalie GeigerRich & Judy MeyerSemex USASteel CowSteimle Birschbach, LLCStoney Creek Hotel & Conf.CenterThe Murphy Insurance Group

Thysse Printing ServiceTravis & Janet ClarkUdder Tech, Inc.USAgnetWinner’s CircleWisconsin Beef CouncilWorld Dairy ExpoWisconsin Livestock Id.Cons.Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

Thank You to our Annual Meeting Supporters!

PDPW’s Youth Leadership Derby is designed for high school students (ages 15-18) who want to dive in and explore more than 20 future agricultural-related career opportunities. Attendees will have the chance to dissect alongside veterinarians during the hands-on lab dissection, and experience Holsum Dairy’s 72-stall rotary parlor, methane digester and other modern dairy technologies. During this two-day event, youth will explore a wide range of dairy industry careers and be inspired by world-class speakers, featuring:

- Eddie Slowikowski, World-Class Runner, Author Entrepreneur - Teyanna Loether, 68th Alice in Dairyland

This year’s Youth Leadership Derby is taking place in Brillion, Wis. Program begins 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 16 and ends mid-day Sunday April 17. Ride share options are also available (please contact PDPW for potential ride share options).

Take the next step to grow your leadership skills while discovering an exciting career path. Contact the office at 608-244-4250 ext. 309 or info@farmfirstcoop.com by April 1 for more information on registration. Sign up today!

The 2016 Annual Meeting logo, ‘We Are FarmFirst’ spotlighted the diverse talents of the cooperative and its members.

The first-ever Young Coopeator panel show-cased the young leaders of the cooperative.

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MPP Tracker

MonthAll-Milk

PriceMPP

Feed CostMPP

MarginTwo-Month

Average

Sept 2015 $17.50 $8.5509 $8.9490$9.0820

Oct 2015 $17.70 $8.4849 $9.2150

Nov 2015 $18.20 $8.1852 $10.0147$9.5570

Dec 2015 $17.20 $8.1006 $9.0993

Jan 2016 $16.10 $7.9951 $8.1048 N/A

Numbers referenced are USDA’s Farm Service Agency national average prices and calculations used to determine indemnity payments under the Margin Protection Program for Dairy.

Dairy Policy, Price and a Bit of Economics

John Newton presented dairy data from the past year’s markets while sharing a few updates on U.S. dairy policy initiatives.

Keeping up to date and staying in-the-know is important for all dairy farmers, especially in challenging times of milk prices. John Newton, Senior Director of Economic Research at the National Milk Producers Federation, shared a brief snapshot of what the markets did in 2015 as well as what might help protect prices in 2016 during his workshop presentation at FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative’s annual meeting, which took place Feb. 12-13 in Onalaska, Wis.

2015 was certainly a challenging year for dairy farmers. Milk production in the U.S. was up 1.2 percent to a record 208.5 billion pounds while milk prices declined by more than 30 percent from their 2014 highs. While prices in the Upper Midwest declined relative to 2014, the average mailbox prices in this area remain 20¢ to 80¢ per hundredweight above the national average.

“Thus far, 2016 is proving to be equally challenging as USDA is currently projecting U.S. milk production to increase by another 1.6 percent year-over-year with an average all-milk price of $15.30 to $16.00 per hundredweight,” said Newton.

However, there have been declines in value throughout agriculture commodities over the past 12 months. Crude oil is down 40 percent, pork is down 36 percent, beef is down 30 percent, and the overall commodity price index is down 16 percent.

“Yet, firm domestic consumption of milkfats helped to keep U.S. milk prices higher than prices received in New Zealand and the EU,” added Newton. “Prior to 2015 the average contribution of fat to the class III milk price was approximately 40 percent. During the past year, due in large part to the record high butter prices in 2015, fat represented nearly 52 percent of the class III milk value.”

Newton also shared a few factors that are helping

support U.S. dairy market prices, including the CWT (Cooperative Working Together) program.

“In order to help expedite the recovery of U.S. milk prices, the CWT program provides export assistance to move product offshores to international buyers. Since 2010 the CWT program has provided assistance to 826 million pounds of cheese,

butter, and whole milk powder,” said Newton.

In addition, NMPF is engaged in a number of policy issues to help improve the consumption of dairy and milk products produced by U.S. dairy farmers, including the Child Nutrition Reauthorization.

“We’ve worked to include provisions that will return 1% flavored milk and 14oz. milk containers to schools. We’re pushing back on overly restrictive standards by highlighting the science of milk’s nutritional value and reverse the trend regarding restrictions on milkfat,” commented Newton.

While championing dairy within the U.S., NMPF worked with the U.S. Trade Representatives to prevent the Trans-Pacific Partnership from being a one-sided trade agreement.

“NMPF is still conducting the economic analysis on TPP, but by far the biggest win for U.S. dairy farmers was in preventing full access to our markets to New Zealand,” said Newton.

“As we work through challenging times, we will continue to engage with farmers on ways to improve milk pricing and farm safety net programs,” said Newton. “We are reviewing ongoing issues in the Federal Milk Marketing Orders and actively working to make the Margin Protection Program a more effective safety net.”

To stay up-to-date with timely dairy market information, visit NMPF’s “Milk Pricing and Economics” website at www.nmpf.org/economics. The new website includes up-to-date interactive charts featuring key indicators of dairy price and marketing conditions.

John Newton was a Producer Discovery workshop presenter at FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative’s Annual Meeting on February 12.

Fed

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Milk

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Mar

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Info

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JANUARY 2016UPPER MIDWEST CENTRAL MIDEAST

Order Name and Number Order 30 Order 32 Order 33Producer Milk (lbs.) 3,256,511,466 1,375,113,017 1,704,817,844Producer Price Differential @ base zone $ 0.23 $ 0.66 $ 0.88Statistical Uniform Price/cwt @ 3.5% BF* $ 13.95 $ 14.38 $ 14.60Class I Price/cwt $ 17.84 $ 18.04 $ 18.04Class II Price/cwt $ 14.19 $ 14.19 $ 14.19Class III Price/cwt $ 13.72 $ 13.72 $ 13.72Class IV Price/cwt $ 13.31 $ 13.31 $ 13.31Component Prices & Test Avg. % avesButterfat/lb. $ 2.3062 3.92% 3.92% 3.84%Protein/lb. $ 1.8169 3.18% 3.24% 3.18%Other Solids/lb. $ 0.03710 5.69% 5.75% 5.74%SCC Adjust Rate/1000 $ 0.00076Producer Milk Classified %Class I 9.10% 30.46% 32.20%Class II 1.60% 9.77% 20.30%

Class III 84.80% 47.88% 30.40%

Class IV 4.50% 11.89% 17.10%100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

PRESORTED STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDMADISON, WIPERMIT NO. 1

We would like to welcome these individuals and farms that have joined FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative recently.

We look forward to your participation and involvement in the programs and services of your cooperative where we put members first.

Welcome New Members

Kevin Sousa

Martin & Virginia Hoover

Mike & Jessica Grunewald

Simon Bowser

Lawrence & Dorcas Martin

Floyd Schoen

Larry & Lee Dahl

Elam Allgyer

Ben Beiler

Jason & Jill Bergner

Tracy Felix

Eric Nolte

Sean & Erica Perronne

UpcomingTradeshowsVisit with us and learn more about

what’s happening at the cooperative!

PDPW Annual Business Conference, Madison, WI – March 16-17 - Booth #214

Wisconsin Public Service Farm Show, Oshkosh, WI – March 29-31 - Booth #D6608

Central Plains Dairy Expo, Sioux Falls, SD – March 29-31 - Booth#200

HAPPY

ST.PATRICK’S

DAY