Q: What is National Dairy Month?
A: National Dairy Month is celebrated in June to show milk's nutritional benefits and recognize the hard work of dairy farmers. Dairy products' popularity took off in 1993, when the California Milk Processor Board began their "Got Milk?" campaign. Since then, the slogan has gone national with celebrities promoting the many health benefits provided by dairy while wearing the signature milk mustache. According to the National Dairy Council, dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt are critical to managing weight, reducing the risk for high blood pressure, osteoporosis and certain cancers, repairing muscle tissue and maintaining healthy skin. Keeping the nation healthy is no small task for dairy farmers though. Shipping and transportation costs have continued to rise, chipping away at their profits. Dairy farmers work around the clock because of milk's very perishable nature. Milk is pumped directly from the cow's udder by sterilized machines into special refrigerated stainless-steel tanks to keep the raw milk at or below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Milk is then transported to dairy processing plants at least on a daily basis.
Q: Is there any truth behind the Environmental Protection Agency trying to tax dairy farmers?
A: Producers should be watchful of what could eventually come down the pipe from the Environmental Protection Agency. If the EPA were to move forward to regulate greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act, livestock that pass gas could be considered an emissions source like a smokestack. That's because of how the Clean Air Act defines an emissions source. If that were to happen, the dairy industry in the United States may well collapse under its weight. I recently met with Nancy Sutley, the Chair of the Council of Environmental Equality, and she seemed to understand how unreasonable it is to require livestock producers to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from their livestock. She told me that the Environmental Protection Agency would not want to regulate livestock and would likely try to find a way to avoid doing so in any greenhouse gas regulations it might devise, but I would rather the Environmental Protection Agency not get to that point in the first place. I would advise anyone to contact the Environmental Protection Agency and make their voice heard. An idea like this shouldn't even be considered. Otherwise everyone, including the bureaucrats who may think milk comes from the grocery store, will find a gaping hole in the refrigerated section during their next grocery trip.
Q: What is your favorite dairy product?
A: I have never met a scoop of ice cream that I didn't like. I enjoy all types and flavors of ice cream. Mostly though I just eat plain vanilla with chocolate sauce. While I'm working in Washington, I generally have a cup of yogurt and some fruit for lunch in between meetings. This month, I'll be sure to order any hamburgers I eat with cheese!