Expanding export markets oversees is key to helping the dairy industry recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Milk Producers Federation vice president for trade, Shawna Morris, says work continues on “what needs to happen over the next year or two” to help the industry recover. Despite the disruptions, Morris says trade officials need to keep long-range goals of open commerce essential to returning dairy to prosperity in mind.
Morris says NMPF and others are working with the federal government and others to outline the dairy industry’s priorities for upcoming trade agreements, notably with the UK and Kenya. Additionally, NMPF is focusing on issues and policy barriers that had existed before COVID-19 and are still in place and hindering dairy trade. With the drop in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy farmers are forced to dump milk, and some experts have warned the industry needs to retract production by 10%. However, strong export demand following the COVID-19 pandemic could help the industry quickly recover.
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)