Meadow Gold recalls dairy products in four states

The Meadow Gold Dairy plant in Boise, ID, is voluntarily recalling Meadow Gold brand Old Style whipping cream and Meadow Gold DairyPure brand whipping cream and half and half because insufficient pasteurization may have failed to kill pathogens in the products.

No illnesses had been reported in connection to the products as of the posting of the recall notice June 1 on the Food and Drug Administration’s website.

“It is possible that pathogens present in raw milk, including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, and/or E. coli, may have survived and, if ingested, could cause serious or life threatening issues,” the dairy company stated in the recall notice.

“The recall involves approximately 10,000 units of the affected product, which was distributed in four states including Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah through numerous retail outlets and food service settings. The company is actively notifying customers and is in the process of retrieving the affected product.”

The recalled whipping cream and half and half can be identified by the following label information:

    Meadow Gold DairyPure Half and Half — Quarts with UPC number 4190007913, date of 06-17-16, and plant code of 16-05;
    Meadow Gold “Old Style” Whipping Cream — Pints with UPC number 1570013313, date code of 06-24-16, and a plant code of 16-05;
    Meadow Gold DairyPure Whipping Cream — Half pints with UPC number 1570010018, date code of 06-24-16, and plant code of 16-05;
    Meadow Gold DairyPure Whipping Cream — Quarts with UPC number 1570013210, date of 06-24-16, and plant code of 16-05; and
    Meadow Gold DairyPure Whipping Cream — Gallons with UPC number 1570016615, date of 06-24-16, and plant code 16-05.

Meadow Gold Dairy officials discovered the potential problem during a routine review of production records, according to the recall notice.

“Consumers who have this product should not consume it. They should discard it and may return the product package to the place of purchase for a full refund or exchange,” according to the recall notice. “Consumers with questions can contact the company at 800-587-2259 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time.”

Resource: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/06/meadow-gold-recalls-dairy-products-in-four-states/#.V2kpkzUpfIU

Dairy prices hit 4-month top, despite whole milk powder weakness

Dairy prices rose to their highest level since January at the GlobalDairyTrade auction, but benchmark whole milk powder prices were down, amid ideas that New Zealand dairy production has been much better than previously thought.

Dairy prices, as measured by the GlobalDairyTrade index, rose by 3.4% at the latest bi-monthly auction event.

But the rise disguised diverging fortunes, as whole milk powder prices fell back 1.7%, while prices for skimmed milk powder soared 12.1%.

Premium narrows

The jump in skimmed milk powder marks a change in fortunes for the commodity, which has been falling back against whole milk powder.

At the last the discount of skimmed milk powder to whole milk powder reached $593 a tonne, the highest since October 2013.

After Wednesday's auction, the premium stands at just $338 a tonne.

Supportive summer

The performance for whole milk powder prices was slightly worse than expected, with production from New Zealand, the world's top exporter and the dominant player in whole milk powder markets, proving more resilient than thought.

"New Zealand late‑season production has held up better than expected thanks to good summer pasture availability," said Tobin Gorey, at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Dairy Australia said New Zealand's production had fallen less than expected, due to "with timely rainfall and warm temperatures maintaining good pasture cover in many regions".

And for farmers who use feed in addition to pasture" lower demand and a shortage of storage for supplementary feeds such as feed grains, palm kernel and maize silage are contributing to sharp price reductions for these products," the industry body said.

Milk production in New Zealand was down 2.1% year on year between June 2015 and March 2016, Dairy Australia said, with overall production in the year to May 31 2016 down by just 3%.

Earlier in the season there was talk that production might fall by as much as 10%.

Global surplus

Dairy Australia warned that globally, "supply continues to outpace demand," and inventories are building up, particularly in Europe.

"The European Union continues to produce significant growth, while US farmers have seen margins cushioned by cheap feed grain prices."

"These stocks will likely slow any emerging price recovery," the industry body said.

Australian production to fall

Still, Australian production is expected ease due to lower prices paid to farmers.

Australian farmers in the southern, export-focused regions saw cuts to farmgate milk prices in April and May of this year.

"Although it remains too early to quantify the impact of the recent milk price cuts, it is clear that farmer confidence will be significantly impacted," Dairy Australia said.

But this fall in confidence could result in lower output in 2016-17, which would be supportive for the global milk market.

"As always, regional variation is expected, but a national volume total below that of 2015-16 is considered highly likely," Dairy Australia said.
Resource:  http://www.agrimoney.com/news/dairy-prices-hit-4-month-top-despite-whole-milk-powder-weakness--9607.html

Aging processing plants have exceeded capacity, forcing producers to dump skim milk daily

Already forced for months to dump skim milk because there isn’t enough processing capacity in Ontario, a bad situation could get worse if action isn’t taken to modernize aging plants, Ontario’s dairy farmers are warning.

In testimony before the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Peter Gould, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Ontario said there could be a devastating impact on rural Ontario and rural Canada in the absence of a well-thought-out strategy.

“The status quo is not an option. Doing nothing is not an option,” Gould said. “It’s not a pretty picture.”

Processing plants that turned skim milk into powder hit their capacity 12 months ago in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. The industry has been disposing of skim milk almost every day since, he said.

Tens of millions of kilograms of skim milk have been used for animal feed, the lowest-priced market. Some skim milk has been dumped into lagoons or manure pits.

Canada has a dozen processing plants that make skim milk powder in a system that uses dryers. Out of the 12, 10 of the dryers are more than 40 years old, Gould said.

“For all practical purposes, they have outlived their useful life. In fact, any one of those dryers can fail at any time.”

Building new plants to replace the dryers will cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars and would take about three years, he estimated.

Dairy farming is the largest agricultural sector in Ontario with most of the province’s 3,800 dairy farms located in Southwestern Ontario.

The president of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada Jacques Lefebvre agreed with Gould’s bleak evaluation of the situation.

“The way it has been presented is pretty accurate,” Lefebvre said Tuesday.

The limited skim milk processing capacity also constrains Canada’s ability to produce enough butter to meet growing market demand, Gould testified.

Business is being turned away and it is questionable if the industry will ever be able to recapture the lost opportunities, he said.

Lefebvre said the positive part of the challenge facing the dairy sector is that there now is unprecedented co-operation between processors and producers to modernize the system in Canada.

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario moved in April to create a new class of milk with prices designed to encourage processors to invest in new facilities.

“The challenge has been in Canada is we have not created a marketplace that is conducive to domestic processors investing in these modern plants because we price that use of skim at such a high level,” said Graham Lloyd, general counsel, for Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

The new class of milk has created a competitive marketplace, Lloyd said.
Resource: http://www.lfpress.com/2016/06/01/aging-processing-plants-have-exceeded-capacity-forcing-producers-to-dump-skim-milk-daily

Falling cattle numbers attributed to dairy price slump

The number of dairy cattle in New Zealand has fallen for the first time in about a decade, according to the 2015 Agricultural Production Survey.

Statistics New Zealand says the number of dairy cattle fell to 6.5 million in 2015, which was the first decline after nine years of consecutive increases.

Sheep numbers have continued to decline and there is now just over six sheep for every New Zealander, down from 13 sheep per person 20 years ago.
The survey is based on responses from farmers and foresters for the 12 months ended June last year, and it shows the number of dairy cattle has fallen as dairy farmers have slaughtered cows because of the slump in dairy prices.

The national dairy herd hit a record high of 6.7 million in 2014.

The biggest fall in animal numbers is in the Waikato dairy heartland where there were 153,000 fewer dairy cattle than in 2014, while Taranaki dairy cattle numbers were down by 8 percent and in Canterbury it was 6 percent lower.

The survey also shows that sheep numbers fell by 2 percent to just over 29 million sheep.

The number of beef cattle was marginally lower at 3.5 million and deer numbers dropped 6 percent to 900,000.
Resource:http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/303637/falling-cattle-numbers-attributed-to-dairy-price-slump

New Coles milk brand sparks derision from dairy farmers

Farmers have met a decision by Coles to create a milk brand that will deliver funding for the struggling industry with cynical laughter.

Coles will launch a new milk brand and divert 20¢ a litre from sales to an independent diary industry fund, which the retailer said would "provide direct support to farmers and invest in innovation to ensure the long-term future of the dairy sector".

It would also contribute $1 million to the fund.

The decision comes amid warnings dairy farmers will go out of business in the face of low global milk prices.

"It's important that we have a vibrant dairy farming sector, and we can only have that if we work together to ensure the long-term health of the industry," Coles managing director John Durkan said in a statement.

Farmers argue they have little respite from challenging global conditions in their home markets after Coles slashed the price of private-label milk to $1 a litre five years ago. Woolworths followed suit.

"It's incredibly ironic [the fund]," said Victorian dairy farmer Marian Macdonald.

"Now that Coles are killing the goose that laid the golden egg they're saying we'd better get some grain under their nose to keep the head up."
Coles milk profit rising

Coles is making more money from its private-label milk than when it struck a deal with the nation's biggest milk processor, Murray Goulburn, in 2013 because the prices it pays are pegged to the international price, which has dropped.

When global prices rise, Coles pays Murray Goulburn more for its milk. When it falls, it pays less. Coles pays a processing fee, regardless of the price for milk. The retail price has remained the same at $1 a litre.

Ms Macdonald said she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth and welcomed the prospect of funding for dairy farmers.

"We love that [Coles managing director] John Durkan has had an exorcism," Ms Macdonald said.

"Tell him we will forgive him for his past sins. We will even shout him a glass of milk, fresh from the cow."

When Murray Goulburn secured the Coles private-label contract, former managing director Gary Helou argued it could turn a profit from $1-a-litre milk, when other processors said they couldn't, because he would invest in new manufacturing plants that would lower production costs.
Shareholder backlash

Murray Goulburn is facing a shareholder class action and a probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after it shocked farmers and investors by slashing the price it would pay its farmers for milk.

It will struggle to meet half its net profit forecast outlined in the prospectus for its partial float on the Australian Securities Exchange less than a year ago, after management's expectations for Chinese demand for its milk powders failed to materialise. 

Coles says its private-label milk accounts for only 6 per cent of Murray Goulburn's production. The retailer, which has yet to set a price for the new brand, also says it will not make any profit from sales of the new label.

Its decision comes amid growing angst in the sector, with some farmers calling on Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce to intervene and establish an independent review of the industry.

Industry group Australian Dairy Farmers has argued a $1-a-litre milk price is unsustainable.

ADF president Simone Jollife and chief executive Ben Stapley have meeting with Coles and Woolworths executives this week.

Ms Jolliffe, a NSW dairy farmer, said many farmers were hurt because Murray Goulburn's decision to cut prices came so late in the season, well after budgets were set in place and costs incurred.

She said she wanted to understand the detail of Coles' new milk brand and how the fund would support farmers.

"We would welcome an opportunity to add value," Ms Jolliffe said.

Victorian dairy farmer Andrew Leahy said the world market was holding farmers to ransom and was thankful Coles was at least "trying to do something".

But he said it was still up to the consumer to choose what will probably be milk priced at a premium to Coles' private label.


Resource  :http://www.afr.com/business/retail/new-coles-milk-brand-sparks-derision-from-dairy-farmers-20160517-gox1sc

India signs dairy products export protocol with Russia

 After nearly 16 months of formal announcement, India has finally signed protocol with the government of Russia for exports of dairy products to that country.

With this, Indian producers may start exports of dairy products largely hard cheese to Russia to which the first consignment is expected to leave Indian ports by June-end.

Estimated at 230,000 tonnes, Russia's hard cheese supply was met largely through imports from European countries. But, since restrictions were imposed on dairy products import from Europe in retaliation with the economic sanctions levied by European countries, the hard cheese import was diverted from South America and neighbouring Russian markets including Belarus etc.

Amid stiff conditions on quality, therefore, Russia was desparately looking for alternative supply of hard cheese from Asian countries and India being the largest milk producer in the world, could get some pie of the Russian markets.

"The government today signed the protocol, which would allow Indian dairy exporters to start shipment of hard cheese," said a senior industry official.

Russian announced opening of its dairy product markets for Indian exporters in December 2014 coinciding the visit of its President Vladimir Putin. But, the actual shipment hit a roadblock due to stiff conditions laid down by the Russian phytosanitary authority Rosselkhoznadzor.

After visiting around two-dozen factory premises and facility of milk procurement in India, Rosselkhoznadzor officials concluded that farms with less than the herd size of 1,000 cattle would not be allowed to export dairy products to Russia. In India, therefore, only two dairy farms including Parag Milk Foods and Schreiber Dynamix were conforming to this norm.

While Parag MD Devendra Shah recommended the government to sign the protocol to begin with the exports and negotiate for the liberalisation in norms later, dairy companies like Amul brand producer Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) insisted the government to sign the protocol only after liberalisation in this norm.

The objective of GCMMF was to accommodate more companies including small and medium size producers for exports.

"After signing the protocol by the government of India, the Rusian authority would sign it. The entire process would take at least 15 days to one month. After that, negotiations of prices and trade terms would take at least one more month. So, by June- nd we would be able to supply first consignment of hard cheese to Russia," said Shah,

Industry sources, however, said that the Russian authority has liberalised norms to accommodate more Indian players in dairy exports. Instead of herd size of 1,000 cattle, the Russian authority has focused on traceability of milk procurement and quality of cheese India produces.

"More than exports of dairy products, Russia would be able to pay some premiums compared to other export destinations which would help raise prices of skimmed milk powder (SMP) and other products which have been under tremendous pressure for over 18-month. Once dairy farms begin to get higher realisation, they would pass on to farmers for milk procurement. So, farmers would benefit ultimately," said Shirish Upadhyay, Senior Vice President (Strategic Planning), Parag Milk Foods.

Resource :http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/india-signs-dairy-products-export-protocol-with-russia-116042801248_1.html

Import of dry milk harming local farmers’ interests: UVAS VC

LAHORE - Massive-scale import of dry milk and whey powder has been damaging local milk farmers, as they are unable to get the right price of their milk.
This was stated by Vice Chancellor of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Prof Talat Naseer Pasha in an exclusive talk with APP here on Sunday.

He said that European Union was giving subsidy to their farmers to produce milk that’s why their farmers were growing and they had acquired a strong position in milk production.
About the potential of agriculture and livestock sectors, Prof Pasha said that Pakistan is an agricultural country with world’s one of the best irrigation systems, fertile lands and all four seasons.
Agriculture sector contributes about one fourth to the country’s GDP and is believed to be the backbone of the rural economy, as it provides employment to 45 per cent workforce of the country, he added.
While livestock is an integral part of the agriculture sector, it contributes 55.
1 per cent to the agricultural value added, and approximately 12 per cent to the national GDP, he said.
Responding to a question about the rise and fall of investment in the dairy sector, the VC said that milk is largely the single most commodity of the livestock sector and the value of milk alone exceeds combined value of wheat, rice, maize and sugarcane in the country.
More than 8 million farming families are associated with livestock sector and majority of them are small-holders and landless.
This depicts the critical dependence of 40 to 50 million rural people on the livestock sector.
Selling milk for meeting day-to-day needs has become a visible phenomenon in the country during the last two decades and hence livestock farming has become vital in generating instant cash flows for the rural population.
Historically, majority of the livestock farming has been fragmented into small holders, as smaller herd size is 1-6 animals.
As a result of various dairy development initiatives since 2005, tremendous improvement had been witnessed in dairy farming where commercial and corporate sector in dairy farming emerged.
The country has seen phenomenal growth in investment in dairy farming during the last one decade.

The emerging commercial scale farmers had positively influenced the whole livestock farming sector in terms of transforming practices, sharing modern knowledge and skills and attracting international service providers.
The trend of investment in the dairy farming continued until 2013 when this growth started declining and has currently been halted, he added.
About the declining trend in the dairy sector, Prof Pasha said that livestock farmers especially samll farmers have been facing various issues for the last few years, that have not only hampered the growth in this sector but eventually put the livelihoods of 40 to 50 million people at stake.

One of the major issues that has adversely impacted livestock sector is the unchecked import of milk powder and whey powder in the country, as the duty regime is just 20 per cent for such imports that makes it easy to get it dumped in Pakistan.

These imports have shaken the dairy sector stake-holders particularly the producers/ farmers.
It’s worth mentioning here that Pakistan is considered the third largest milk producing country in the world with nearly 50 billion liters of annual production.
However, despite having one of the largest animal population base and huge local production of milk, the import of powders indicates manipulation in the value chain, resulting in net economic loss both to producers and consumers.
In short, the dairy farming sector is at the verge of devastation due to influx of skimmed milk powder and whey milk powder (SMP&WM) from across the globe, the VC added.
The use of SMP&WP in the dairy processing industry, dairy related products, biscuits, sweet making, confectionary industry and tea whitening segment has deprived the local farmers of getting the right price of their commodity and eventually triggered a discouraging wave in the developing dairy farming sector.

The VC said that import of SMP&WP, according to the United Nations database, Pakistan imported 35 million kilograms of milk powder in 2012 worth $102.
1 million, 22 million kilograms in 2013 worth $70.

8 million and 34 million kilograms in 2014 worth $117 million.

At the same time, Pakistan imported 19.

5 million kilograms, 18.

3m Kgs and 20.

2m Kgs of whey powder in 2012, 2013 and 2014 worth $13.

4 million , $15 million and $16.

9 million, respectively.

From 2007 onwards, there has been a shift in focus of Pakistani dairy processors from selling milk to selling recipe products made out of SMP&WP and vegetable fat etc.
These products are generally called tea whiteners and dairy liquids.

According to estimation by dairy industry experts, in 2014, the share of recipe products (other than milk) in litre-age term has gone up to 59 percent in total sales while plain white milk is only 41 percent.
Since these recipe products are made using SMP&WP for dairy processor, the cost of production of these products is far below the raw milk prices, which ultimately deprives dairy farmers of a better price for their raw milk, the VC claimed.

When asked what should be done to halt the import of dry milk and whey milk to help the local farmers to continue their business, he suggested levying 100 to 150 per cent duty on import of dry and whey milk.

Resource  :http://nation.com.pk/lahore/25-Apr-2016/import-of-dry-milk-harming-local-farmers-interests-uvas-vc