National Dairy Promotion Leader Cites Opportunities to Build Sales

U.S. dairy producers have a great opportunity to convert billions of pounds of consumer demand into increased sales, thus finding a home for increasing dairy production, according to Tom Gallagher, chief executive officer of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which manages the national dairy checkoff program.

Worldwide demand for dairy products will exceed supply for the long term, and the United States is poised to be the dominant player in filling this gap, Gallagher said, speaking at the 2007 NDB/UDIA/NMPF Joint Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla. "Some studies put that number of demand over supply at up to 15 billion pounds," he said, in remarks that identified an optimistic future for dairy producers if the industry responds to consumer needs.

To take advantage of these opportunities "to give consumers what they want, when and how they want it, we need to transition from a production-driven environment to a consumer-driven environment," Gallagher said.

The board was established by the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983. It is authorized to design programs to strengthen the dairy industry’s position in domestic and foreign markets. The national program is financed by a mandatory 15-cent per hundredweight assessment on milk produced in the contiguous 48 states and marketed commercially by dairy farmers. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service monitors the operation of the board. AMS encourages all eligible individuals to participate in its committee and board activities. It is USDA’s policy that membership on industry-governed boards and committees accurately reflect the diversity of individuals served by the programs. (continued . . .)