Author: MMPA

NOVI, Mich.—Nate and Jenny Elzinga of Zeeland, Michigan, were selected as the state winning 2017 Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) Outstanding Young Dairy Cooperators (OYDC) by a panel of judges represented by leaders in the Michigan dairy industry.

As the state winning cooperators, Nate and Jenny will represent MMPA at various industry and association activities. Jarris and Rebekah Rubingh of Ellsworth, Michigan, were selected as the runner-up cooperators. Selection of the OYDC is based on the applicant’s farming operations, farm-related and community activities and demonstrated leadership abilities.

“The OYDC program identifies outstanding young leaders in our organization and provides an opportunity for them to gain a greater understanding of milk marketing activities and MMPA,” says Ken Nobis, MMPA president.

Nathan and Jennifer Elzinga own Daybreak Dairy LLC with Nathan’s father, Daniel Elzinga, and brother, Paul Elzinga. The farm operates 350 acres and milks 235 cows. The couple is a member of MMPA’s West Michigan Local in District 3.

Nathan completed the Dairy Tech Program at Michigan State University while Jennifer graduated from Baker College after finishing the Veterinary Tech Program. Nathan served on the MSU dairy judging team advising committee and is currently serving as a member on Ottawa County Farm Bureau. They plan to continue improving their animal performance and health through genetics. They are working hard to lower cost of production and make their farm more efficient.

“Our farm’s mission is to provide for the families involved and employees by bringing our modern dairy to the next level through animal comfort, nutrition, genetics and by following the best cropping and manure practices,” stated the Elzingas.

The Elzingas were one of 10 cooperators invited to the annual OYDC Conference held Aug. 17-18. The couple was selected to participate in the program earlier this year by fellow dairy farmers in their local.

The state OYDC Conference, held at MMPA headquarters in Novi, provides participants with information about milk marketing activities, cooperatives, milk testing procedures and other current events within the dairy industry. The program has been held annually the past 67 years. This year’s program featured the Top Ten OYDCs selected from a pool of applicants nominated by their local.

All Top 10 MMPA OYDCs will be officially recognized at MMPA’s 102nd Annual Meeting to be held March 15, 2018 in Lansing, Michigan.

2017 Top 10 Outstanding Young Cooperators (in alphabetical order):

• Brandon & Molly Anderson, Carson City, Michigan
• Garrett Bartholomew, Scotts, Michigan
• Jason Elenbaum, Mayville, Michigan
• Nate & Jenny Elzinga, Zeeland, Michigan
• Mike & Laura Finkbeiner Manchester, Michigan
• Adam & Charlie Freis, Wallace, Michigan
• Rachel Hinkley, Ceresco, Michigan
• Scott & Melinda Parr, Brown City, Michigan
• Jesse & Chelsea Ramer, Goshen, Indiana
• Jarris & Rebekah Rubingh Ellsworth, Michigan

The Michigan Milk Producers Association—established in 1916—is a member-owned and operated milk marketing cooperative and dairy processor serving approximately 1,700 dairy farmers throughout Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana.

More about the OYDC Program

NOVI, Mich.—Five Michigan youth will travel to Wisconsin this fall for the National 4-H Dairy Conference, thanks to a sponsorship from the Michigan Milk Producers Association. The top five selected are: Miriam Cook from Clinton County, Grace Sayles from Shiawassee County, Drew Neyer from Isabella County, Dylan Keller from Hillsdale County and Elyse Zimmerlee from Eaton County.

The students were selected as Michigan delegates after attending the MMPA 4-H Milk Marketing Tour held annual in Novi, Michigan, at the MMPA headquarters. The participants with the highest scores on a dairy industry and cooperative quiz administered at the end of the tour were invited to interview in East Lansing during the Michigan Dairy Expo. The top five interviewees were announced during the State 4-H Dairy Banquet on July 20 and awarded a sponsored trip to the National 4-H Dairy Conference in Madison, Wisconsin on October 1-4.

The National 4-H Dairy Conference, held in conjunction with World Dairy Expo, brings future dairy leaders together build upon their knowledge of the dairy industry. The five students sponsored by MMPA will join approximately 200 delegates from the U.S. and Canada.

During the MMPA 4-H Milk Marketing Tour on June 27-28, 16 youth from 11 counties came together to learn about milk marketing and cooperatives. MMPA has welcomed 4-H and FFA members to the cooperative’s headquarters for the past 80 years to be immersed in the operations of the dairy cooperative and educated about milk marketing principles.

Co-sponsored by MMPA and Michigan State University Extension, the Milk Marketing Tour is the longest running 4-H tour in existence with over 4,000 participant alumni. Throughout the tour, participants learned about the role of milk marketing cooperatives through interactive activities involving the MMPA staff members. Additionally, students visited Kroger’s Michigan Dairy plant in Livonia to see how milk is processed and packaged once it leaves the farm.

“I learned a lot about the sale of milk from the 4-H Dairy Tour. Getting to see the Kroger plant was a neat experience and I realized how much work goes into that final gallon you can pick up at the grocery store,” said Kyle Godley, a tour participant from Shiawassee County.

This year’s attendees at the MMPA 4-H tour included: Drew Neyer, Catie Theisen, Grace Sayles, Jonathan Sayles, Eric Beebe, Adam Wiles, Jessica Parrish, Jordan Parrish, Miriam Cook, Abigail VanDyk, Kyle Godley, Chrissy Polzin, Dylan Keller, Will Sharrard, Carolyn Delong and Elyse Zimmerlee.

 About the Michigan Milk Producers Association

The Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) is a dairy farmer owned cooperative founded in 1916. MMPA serves approximately 2,000 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, handling approximately 5 billion pounds of milk annually. MMPA operates two SQF Level 3 certified dairy ingredient plants in Michigan and a cheese plant in Indiana.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress must revise the dairy safety net program established in the 2014 Farm Bill to provide farmers with effective risk management protection that will increase participation in the program, according to Ken Nobis, president of the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) and first vice-chair of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), who spoke at a 2018 Farm Bill hearing today.

Nobis testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee that while he believes the dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) remains the right program for the dairy industry, “the changes Congress made to the MPP when writing the last Farm Bill rendered it ineffective when dairy farmers needed it the most.”

Nobis is a dairy farmer from St. Johns, Mich., and leader of MMPA, a milk marketing cooperative serving over 1,700 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. He testified on behalf of his cooperative and the National Milk Producers Federation. His full testimony can be found here.

In calendar year 2015, dairy farmers paid more than $70 million into the MPP and received payments totaling just $730,000. In 2016, those figures were $20 million and $13 million. Nobis said farmers found that the program was not helpful during two years that were particularly detrimental to the dairy industry. As a result, many of them have become disenchanted with the program, and participation has dwindled.

“I guarantee, if Congress alters the MPP so that it more accurately reflects the actual costs of production for businesses like mine, participation in the program will increase,” he told Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

In making his case for improving the MPP, Nobis detailed a list of proposed changes NMPF and its members had developed to improve it. The MPP is designed to help farmers insure against either low milk prices or high feed costs, Nobis said, but the determination of the feed price used in the margin calculation is problematic. During the farm bill process, NMPF’s original proposed feed formula, though considered accurate, was cut by 10 percent to address other budget concerns. Based on the government profit made on the program, concerns about budget that led to the 10-percent cut were misplaced, explained Nobis.

Nobis said it is also important to expand dairy farmers’ access to additional risk management tools like the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Cattle (LGM) program and similar programs that could be offered by USDA.

“Making the [MPP] program more attractive for dairy farmers is vital to ensuring participation in the program, and the safety of America’s dairy industry,” Nobis said.

Nobis also expressed appreciation that the Agriculture Committee’s leadership worked with the Senate Appropriations Committee to include important changes to the MPP in the agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018.

Nobis’s testimony touched on several other policy challenges affecting U.S. dairy farmers, including immigration and labor shortages, and the vitality of U.S. dairy trade as NAFTA renegotiations begin. He commended Congress and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for actions taken earlier this year to reintroduce 1% flavored milk back into schools. He also thanked Roberts, Stabenow and several other Congress members for backing legislation that would support farmers’ roles as stewards of environmental sustainability.

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About NMPF

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the wellbeing of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. Visit www.nmpf.org for more information.

About the Michigan Milk Producers Association

The Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) is a dairy farmer owned cooperative founded in 1916. MMPA serves approximately 2,000 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, handling approximately 5 billion pounds of milk annually. MMPA operates two SQF Level 3 certified dairy ingredient plants in Michigan and a cheese plant in Indiana.

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ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, The Kroger Co. of Michigan and Michigan State University (MSU) Extension were together honored by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy for their efforts supporting food insecure families with milk donations in the wake of the Flint Water Crisis in 2016.

For coming together to bring over 36,000 gallons of milk to a community in crisis, the organizations received an honorable mention for Outstanding Achievement in Community Partnerships by the Innovation Center during its sixth annual U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards in a June 28 Chicago ceremony.

The community partners, armed with information on milk’s nutrient-dense profile, are helping aide residents of Flint, Michigan during an ongoing crisis in which they are susceptible to lead poisoning from contaminated water. A healthy diet that includes nutrient-rich foods can help protect children and families from the harmful effects of lead poisoning and have a positive effect on overall health.

“Milk has always been high on the list of requested items to support food insecure families, but often is in short supply,” said William Kerr, President of the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. “The nutrient rich milk donated by the Michigan Milk Producers Association provided immediate health benefits to the residents of Flint during a time of crisis.”

In addition to community sustainability, the Innovation Center’s award program recognizes dairy farms, businesses and partnerships whose practices improve the well-being of people, animals and the planet. Award winners represent the U.S. dairy community’s voluntary efforts toward continuous improvement in sustainability.

“This year’s winners demonstrated impressive leadership and creativity in the application of technology and other practices that protect our land, air and water. And they’re proactive about building strong relationships with their communities and employees,” said Barbara O’Brien, president of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. “Based on this year’s nominations, it’s clear that all sizes of dairy farms and companies use sustainable practices because it’s good for the environment, good for their community and good for business.”

Judges evaluated nominations based on their economic, environmental and community impact. The independent judging panel — including experts working with and throughout the dairy community — also considered learning, innovation, scalability and replicability.

“These award-winning practices can serve as models for other farmers, too,” said Jason Bateman, dairy farmer, 2016 award winner and one of this year’s judges. “Winners made breakthroughs, and they improved everyday practices. It’s inspiring to see people collaborate with partners outside of dairy and build on ideas from other industries.”

From farm to table, transparency and ingenuity drive dairy forward, as demonstrated in the newly released 2016 Sustainability Report, which describes the Innovation Center’s strategic plan focused on social responsibility. The plan was developed by dairy community leaders in recognition of the changing consumer and customer marketplace where health, environmental and ethical practices are of increasing interest.

About the Michigan Milk Producers Association:

Michigan Milk Producers Association, established in 1916, is a member owned and operated dairy cooperative serving approximately 2,000 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio. Each year, MMPA’s dairy farm families produce over half a billion gallons of milk for families in Michigan, the U.S. and the world.

About the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan:

Serving local families in need since 1981, the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan has grown to provide over 25 million pounds of food each year through more than 415 partner agencies in 22 counties. Partner agencies consist of local soup kitchens, homeless shelters and food pantries who strive to feed more than 300,000 people who struggle with hunger throughout eastern Michigan.

About The Kroger Co. of Michigan:

Incorporated in Michigan in 1909 and headquartered in Novi, The Kroger Co. of Michigan includes 19,000 associates, 126 Kroger stores, 75 fuel centers, 104 pharmacies and the Michigan Dairy. The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) is one of the world’s largest grocery retailers and the nation’s largest operator of traditional grocery stores, with fiscal 2016 sales of $115.3 billion. Kroger employs more than 443,000 associates who serve customers in almost 3,000 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia under two dozen local banner names, all of which share the same belief in building strong local ties and brand loyalty with our customers. Recognized by Forbes as the most generous company in America, Kroger supports hunger relief, breast cancer awareness, the military and their families, and more than 30,000 schools and grassroots organizations. Kroger contributes food and funds equal to 276 million meals a year through more than 100 Feeding America food bank partners. A leader in supplier diversity, Kroger is a proud member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber’s Million Dollar Club.

About Michigan State University Extension:

Michigan State University (MSU) Extension helps people improve their lives by bringing the vast knowledge resources of MSU directly to individuals, communities and businesses.  For more than 100 years, MSU Extension has helped grow Michigan’s economy by equipping Michigan residents with the information that they need to do their jobs better, raise healthy and safe families, build their communities and empower our children to dream of a successful future.

MIDDLEBURY, Ind.—Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) launched Heritage Ridge Creamery as its Indiana cheese plant’s new brand today, during a community Customer Appreciation Day event.

The new brand reflects both the heritage of the plant in its Amish community and the robust history of MMPA as a farmer-owned cooperative.

“With our acquisition of the Indiana cheese plant last fall, we were enthused by the opportunity to diversify our product portfolio and develop a brand owned by our dairy farmer members,” Joe Diglio, MMPA general manager, said. “Our new Heritage Ridge Creamery brand demonstrates our commitment in expanding our presence within the dairy industry while embracing the legacy of the community.”

Today customers visited the Heritage Ridge Creamery store, enjoying free ice cream made with a steam powered engine, activities for children and store specials during the Customer Appreciation Event.

The Heritage Ridge Creamery brand will market cheese produced at the Middlebury plant and sold in the on-site retail store. An online store is currently in development and expected to go live later this year at heritageridgecreamery.com. The facility produces Colby cheese, a softer, milder flavored cheddar cheese, in addition to Colby-Jack, Cheddar, Pepper-Jack cheese and other flavors.

The acquisition last year positions MMPA to further explore expansion opportunities at the Middlebury plant location in the future, starting with the launch of this new brand and internal improvements in plant operations. The facility currently processes approximately 400,000 pounds of milk per day into longhorn and deli horn cheeses, and is operated by MMPA’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Middlebury Cheese Company, LLC.

NOVI, Mich.— Carl Rasch of Morrice, Michigan, was recently selected as this year’s recipient of the Michigan Dairy Industry Service Award at the 69^th Annual Michigan Dairy Industry Conference (MDIC) held June 1 in Lansing, Michigan. As Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) Director of Milk Sales, Rasch was nominated by his coworkers for his dedication to the industry and strong leadership over the last four decades.

“Carl’s passion and commitment to the dairy industry is well known by all of us. I can’t think of a more deserving honoree of the Michigan Dairy Industry Service Award,” said Joe Diglio, general manager of MMPA and long-time colleague of Rasch. “His willingness to educate, train and mentor many of us in the industry has been instrumental and beneficial to the past, current and future leaders of dairy.”

Leading the milk sales team for the last 40 years, Rasch has seen the co-op go from local customer base to an international scale. By being “direct and bold,” according to past and present MMPA leaders, Rasch has been able to build relationships with customers in and outside of Michigan, capitalizing on opportunities to move milk to a variety of outlets.  While working on business development and strategic planning for MMPA, Rasch is responsible for negotiating contracts with processing plant customers and milk supplying members.

Rasch currently serves on the Michigan Dairy Memorial and Scholarship Foundation Board. In the past, he has also served on the board of directors for the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, as the secretary of the Great Lakes Southern Milk Marketing Agency, and has worked on taskforces with the National Milk Producers Federation concerning Federal Order reform. At the MMPA’s annual meeting in March, the cooperative recognized Rasch as an honoree of the Michigan Dairy Memorial and Scholarship Foundation with a $1,000 contribution to the scholarship foundation in his name.

Rasch graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree. His career began by working as a field auditor at USDA before being hired by MMPA in 1977.

“Having been born and raised on a dairy farm, I am fortunate to work on behalf of members who are family, neighbors and friends,” Rasch said. “It’s been a privilege to work for an organization like MMPA who is recognized as a leader in the industry.”

Rasch resides in Morrice, Michigan, with his wife, Roxanne. They have five children: Jessica, Anthony, Michael, Carol Ann, and Katie.

The Michigan Dairy Industry Conference focusses on discussing current issues, technology, economic outlook, techniques and legislation affecting dairy farmers, shippers, processors and consumers.

MMPA is a member-owned and operated milk marketing cooperative and dairy processor serving approximately 2,000 dairy farmers throughout Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana.

FRANKENMUTH, MI – Dairy farmers in Michigan and across the nation need federal lawmakers to revise the safety net created in the 2014 Farm Bill to provide them adequate risk management protection, according to a dairy farmer from eastern Michigan who testified in Frankenmuth on Saturday at a Senate hearing.

Darrin Siemen of Harbor Beach, Mich., told a Senate Agriculture Committee field hearing held at the Saginaw Valley Research Center that the Margin Protection Program (MPP), created in the 2014 Farm Bill, “has failed to deliver the protection farmers need and expect. While MPP remains the right model for the future of our industry, changes are needed if Congress wants to prevent dairy farmers like me from going out of business,” he said.

Siemen is a fourth‐generation family farmer and owner of Prime Land Farm in Harbor Beach, in Michigan’s Thumb region. He testified on behalf of his cooperative, Michigan Milk Producers Association, as well as the National Milk Producers Federation, of which MMPA is a member. His full testimony can be found here.

Siemen said that the MPP is designed to help farmers insure against either low milk prices or high feed costs, but the way the program calculates the relative value of feeds such as corn, soybean meal and hay was “significantly changed” as it was written into law. This change “fundamentally altered the safety net designed by NMPF and other dairy leaders around the country. Unfortunately, as a direct result of these changes, the MPP safety net has failed to deliver the protection farmers need and expect,” he said.

He explained that in the first two years of the program, 2015 and 2016, farmers have paid $90 million in fees and premiums to USDA while receiving only $14 million in insurance payouts, even though margins have been tight during much of that period. This has led to a drastic reduction in the number of farmers paying premiums to selecting higher levels of margin protection. Most are now only paying the minimum annual $100 administrative fee, for which they receive only a low level of insurance coverage.

“I am not asking for a program that guarantees a profit, nor do I want a program that will incentivize excess production,” Siemen said. “However, when Congress made changes to the program, rendering it ineffective, dairy farmers like me lost faith in the idea that MPP could serve as a viable risk management tool under its current formulation. If Congress makes changes to ensure that MPP more accurately reflects the actual costs of production for businesses like mine, participation in the program will increase.”

Siemen said that in addition to adjusting the feed cost formula and the data sources for the prices of feed and milk, Congress should reassess the MPP’s premium rate structure, and consider expanding access to the Livestock Gross Margin program, a separate risk management tool offered by USDA.

The combination of suggested changes to the MPP “will require this committee to make significant and necessary improvements to the program,” Siemen said, so that “it functions as intended and that producers participate in the program. A safety net is not a safety net if no one participates.”

Siemen pointed out that dairy farmers are also facing other policy challenges, including immigration and labor shortages, tax reform, child nutrition and environmental sustainability. He thanked Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow for arranging the hearing in Michigan, and for her engagement on behalf of the U.S. dairy sector in its recent struggle against Canada’s new pricing policy, which will have long-term negative consequences for Michigan farmers’ export opportunities.

He also recognized the efforts of Stabenow and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts for their recent efforts to bring more milk options and flexibility to the School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.

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About the Michigan Milk Producers Association

The Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) is a dairy farmer owned cooperative founded in 1916. MMPA serves approximately 2,000 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, handling approximately 5 billion pounds of milk annually. MMPA operates two SQF Level 3 certified dairy ingredient plants in Michigan and a cheese plant in Indiana.

About NMPF

The National Milk Producers Federation, based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance the wellbeing of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. Visit www.nmpf.org for more information.

NOVI, Mich.—Delegates attending the 101^st annual meeting of the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) on March 23 elected Mark Iciek of Gladwin and Kris Wardin of St. Johns to at-large, three-year terms on the board of directors.

During the board’s reorganizational meeting, held after the delegate meeting, the following officers were elected: President: Ken Nobis, St. Johns; Vice President: Mark Halbert, Battle Creek; Treasurer: Eric Frahm, Frankenmuth.

Board members reelected at the district level were: Timothy Hood in District 2, David Pyle in District 3 and Anthony Jandernoa in District 6.

Delegates at the district level also elected representatives to the MMPA Advisory Committee. Members of this committee—five in each of the eight districts—serve as a liaison between the membership and the board of directors and management.

Each leader on the Advisory Committee and Board of Directors is dairy farmer member-owner of the MMPA cooperative.

Advisory Committee members elected this year to a two-year term are:

District 1             Brad Hart of Clayton, Josh Lott of Mason and Art Riske of Hanover
District 2             Danny Ransler of Gobles, Dan Ritter of Potterville and Richard Thomas of Middlebury, Indiana
District 3             William Stakenas of Freesoil, Burke Larson of Scottville and Gary Nelson of Grant
District 4             David Folkersma of Rudyard, Russell Tolan of Ossineke and Ronald Lucas of Posen
District 5             Tom Jeppesen of Stanton, Bruce Benthem of McBain and Amy Martin of Leroy
District 6             Aaron Gasper of Lowell, Steve Thelen of Fowler and Brad Ritter of Byron
District 7             Scott Kleinhardt of Clare, Jason Elenbaum of Mayville and Philip Gross of Weldman
District 8             Michael Noll of Croswell, Michael Bender of Croswell and Nick Leipprandt of Pigeon

MMPA—established in 1916—is a member owned and operated dairy cooperative serving approximately 2,000 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.

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