It is full speed ahead for dairy this year.
The Dairy Checkoff has been working to boost sales for the last ten years, and leaders say it has netted a lot of meaningful conversations.
According to Anne Splitstone with Dairy Management, Inc., “Back in 2015, there was a lot of discussion about what should we be doing to really revitalize fluid milk and really focus on slowing the declines that we were seeing. The main goal of pulling together a group of farmers and experts on revitalizing the category was really kind of two fold— How to drive milk as milk and then how to drive milk as an ingredient in a value-added sort of way. One of the ways was starting a number of partnerships and understanding the power of brands to really drive the category, and that’s where a lot of our partnerships in the fluid milk arena started.”
Protecting the industry has been another factor this year with the introduction of high path avian flu.
NCBA says that producers face threats that consumers have no clue about.
“We continue to face threats every single day from foreign animal diseases and pests that could devastate us as cattle producers, and not only devastate us and our livelihoods but also devastate our ability to put a high-quality protein on the table for American families,” CEO Colin Woodall states.
He says that the best course of action is to have a plan in place, noting it is crucial for the future of U.S. beef production.
