Dairy Exports Rebound

Dairy Exports Rebound. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

One of the big stories in the dairy marketplace over the past two years has been the dramatic rebound in U.S. dairy exports. From a deep valley caused by global economic recession in 2009, U.S. dairy exports have made a strong recovery. The idea of consistently working to build a sustainable U.S. dairy export presence in the global marketplace got it’s start with the founding of USDEC, the U.S. Dairy Export Council. Tom Suber leads USDEC.

SUBER: U.S. Dairy Export Council was formed by farmers back in 1995 to try to figure out, did we have a role in the world market, could we meet their needs, was it going to become a home for our increasing production?

Today, the answers to those questions are clear, and the results speak for themselves. Just 16-years after USDEC was founded, U.S. dairy export volume represents more than 13-percent of total U.S. milk production.

SUBER: When you look at how much volume we’re exporting today, and the path that it’s been on.--that when you look back over the last few years - every three new pounds of product that we produce, two of those pounds are heading into overseas markets.

With the help of dairy farmer checkoff dollars, Suber says USDEC has gained ground in a number of markets including Korea, where early efforts could now reach even higher with the new U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

SUBER: When we started in Korea, 1995, we shipped about 30 million dollars worth of product into that market. When you look now where we are likely to end up at the end of 2011, we’re likely to be close to 220 or 230 million dollars worth of product, seven fold or so increase in shipments. And this is before a free trade agreement. So we have, even with fairly substantial barriers in our path, the industry working with USDEC, working with our government has built already a very substantial business. And therefore, we’re very excited about the upside that comes when the FTA is fully implemented.

Korea is one of the top markets for U.S. dairy exports, along with Japan, Mexico and the Middle East. Nearly one thousand dairy farmers and industry representatives gathered last week in San Diego, CA for the joint annual meeting, an opportunity to review 2011 results of farmer-funded dairy promotions.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.