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Updated as of January 5, 2009
USDA Terminates Proceedings on Class I and II Milk Prices
The U.S. Department of Agriculture delivered some good news to IDFA members late last month by terminating the proceedings for considering an increase to Class I and II milk prices. This final decision is based on an emergency hearing held in December 2006 to consider five proposals submitted by National Milk Producers Federation to modify the Class I and II price formulas. NMPF had asked USDA to decouple these formulas from changes in the Class III and IV price formulas, and to increase the Class I price by 77 cents per hundredweight and the Class II price by 3 cents per hundredweight. IDFA and member companies vigorously opposed the proposals.
What Has Happened to Dairy Prices?
As 2008 came to a close, wholesale dairy product prices in the United States fell to levels no one anticipated even a few weeks earlier, said IDFA Chief Economist Bob Yonkers in his year-end Dairy Market Update column. Reasons cited for the recent drop in prices, he said, tend to focus on the general economy, both in the United States and abroad. However, dairy futures markets indicate an upward trend in dairy market prices for 2009.
Dairy Forum Opens This Sunday! Have You Registered Yet?
Dairy Forum 2009 is scheduled to open at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resort in Orlando, Fla., just days from now — on January 11 — but there's still time to register. The program features many of the industry's hottest topics, such as the economy and its impact on dairy, global challenges, milk marketing orders, political changes in Washington, sustainability and much, much more. Visit Dairy Forum 2009 online, where you can register and find the latest agenda updates, optional and spouse activities, travel discounts and Walt Disney World® ticket information.
IDFA Offers New Slate of Meetings and Workshops for 2009
Following Dairy Forum, IDFA will offer a dozen additional educational meetings and training sessions in 2009, starting with the Sweetener Colloquium, February 8-11 in Orlando, and ending with Worldwide Food Expo, October 28-31 in Chicago. The meetings will cover a variety of topics, such as SQF and HACCP, sustainability, labeling, milk procurement, ice cream technology and cultured dairy products. For more information, view the full calendar of IDFA Meetings and Training Events for 2009, or contact Kellie Bland, IDFA meetings assistant and registrar, at kbland@idfa.org. To register for upcoming meetings, visit www.idfa.org.
Start the New Year with the Latest Edition of Dairy Facts
Dairy Facts 2008, published by IDFA and Dairy Foods magazine, provides a comprehensive overview of 2007 sales, consumption and production data for the dairy foods industry. This 120-page booklet offers an excellent summary of the overall health of the U.S. dairy industry and dairy trends. Delivered in an easy-to-use format, Dairy Facts provides information from government and private market research sources on the fluid milk, cultured dairy, cheese, and ice cream and frozen desserts markets.
Look Who's Just Joined IDFA
IDFA welcomed seven new members in December. The J.M. Smucker Company, a marketer and manufacturer of a variety of branded products, and Rich Dairy Products, Inc., best known as a marketer and wholesaler of fluid cream, have joined the Milk Industry Foundation. Joining IDFA as Business Partners are J.M. Swank Company, a food ingredient sales and distribution company; Quickway Services, which specializes in the delivery of milk and dairy products; SolArc, Inc., a market-focused software company; and Talmera Inc., a global marketing and trading company for dairy products. Southern Association of Dairy Food Manufacturers also joined IDFA as an Affiliated Association member.
For more news on regulatory, legislative, international and marketing issues or on membership and educational opportunities, visit IDFA's News Center.
