NEWS

Release No. 0071.09
Contact:
Office of Communications (202) 720-4623

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES PLAN TO BENEFIT NUTRITION PROGRAMS AND DAIRY FARMERS

* WASHINGTON, March 26, 2009 - Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today announced that approximately 200 million pounds of nonfat dry milk will be transferred from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to USDA's Food and Nutrition Service for use in domestic feeding programs. The goal is to help support both low-income families struggling to put nutritious food on their tables and dairy farmers who have been challenged by high feed costs and low dairy prices.

"President Obama understands that providing food to those in need will help many weather these tough economic times," said Secretary Vilsack. "At the same time, USDA's disposal plan will benefit dairy farmers, who have seen markets disappear and prices plummet in recent months, by increasing consumption of milk and other dairy products."

USDA has a long history of delivering nutritional assistance through domestic and international feeding programs and administers 15 domestic nutrition programs that touch the lives of one in every five people in America each day.

The nonfat dry milk (NDM) was acquired by the CCC under the Dairy Product Price Support Program. Under this program, CCC purchases NDM, butter and cheddar cheese at statutorily mandated prices. These purchases support the prices of NDM, butter, and cheese and the price farmers receive for milk.

USDA will make available about 200 million pounds of NDM for further processing or barter. The acquired products are expected to include items such as instantized NDM, ultra high temperature milk, cheese, and soups for domestic feeding programs. This includes:

-40 million pounds of NDM will be fortified and instantized, placed into consumer-sized packages, and made available for use in the National School Lunch Program, TEFAP, CSFP, and FDPIR;

-30 million pounds of NDM will be donated to States for further processing to acquire fortified fat-free fluid milk and macaroni and cheese, for use in the National School Lunch Program;

-60 million pounds of NDM will be bartered for 1% ultra high temperature milk, for use in TEFAP;

-20 million pounds of NDM will be bartered for ready-to-eat, milk-based soups (Creamy Tomato, Cheese), for use in TEFAP; and

-50 million pounds of NDM will be bartered for reduced fat and lite cheeses, for use in the National School Lunch Program and TEFAP.

In addition to the 200 million pounds above, USDA also plans to make NDM available as follows:

-at least 1 million pounds on a competitive basis, for the production of casein;

-about 500,000 pounds for use in the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program; and

-about 1 million pounds for use by the U.S. Agency for International Development, based on anticipated requests from the State Department.

Products should be moving through the supply chain starting in this spring and continuing through 2009.

For more information about the Dairy Product Price Support Program please visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov.

USDA News
oc.news@usda.gov
202 720-4623

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2008

CONTACT: michelle@geauxdairy.com

Louisiana Dairy Industry Promotion Board Launches New Campaign: "Milk. The Original Energy Drink."

BATON ROUGE — Before soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and bottled water. . . there was good old-fashioned milk. Yet with each new trend in the refreshment market, the classic glass of milk risks getting lost in the mix. The Louisiana Dairy Industry Promotion Board sees this crowded marketplace as an opportunity, and has launched a new $130,000 campaign themed "Milk. The Original Energy Drink." to bring Louisiana consumers back to milk.

"Without the massive budgets of the other commercial beverages, we have had to work smarter," said Lanny Connerly, dairy farmer and chairman of the Louisiana Dairy Industry Promotion Board. "The campaign plays off the aggressive positioning of the energy drinks to show how milk stacks up even better."

While prior campaigns have targeted primarily women between the ages of 25 and 54, this new campaign is aimed at tweens, teens, young adults, and mothers of young children, trying to retain milk drinkers before they switch to other beverages.

The campaign includes advertising through outdoor boards, radio, cinema, and print. Cinema ads, for instance, reach the younger audience as they sit and socialize before a movie. The board is also introducing a guerilla-marketing component, using unconventional methods to get the message out. For instance, basketball goals mounted to the back of dairy delivery trucks reinforce the "original energy drink" theme. When parked, the trucks could even spark an impromptu game of basketball.

"People respect the nutritional benefits of milk, especially calcium, but research shows that the average American diet still falls short of the daily recommendations for milk and dairy products," said Michelle Estay, assistant commissioner of marketing and agro-economic development at the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. "The new campaign puts milk head-to-head against the trendier drinks in terms of health benefits, taste, and cost," she said. "It also shows how cool milk really is."

The Louisiana Dairy Industry Promotion Board is a unit of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, charged with promoting knowledge of the health-giving qualities and dietary values of milk and other dairy products and effectively promoting the consumption of Louisiana milk and other Louisiana dairy products. The board engages in various advertising and promotion programs, school nutrition education programs, school food service programs, and retail marketing programs.

For more information about the Louisiana Dairy Industry Promotion Board and its new campaign, please contact us at michelle@geauxdairy.com

LDIPB Media Release