Retail-sales as reported by Chicago-based market research firm IRI over the past three months show that consumers have reacted to the coronavirus crisis first by stocking up on dairy, then by continuing to buy milk and other products at disproportionately high levels.

In celebration of National Dairy Month, Rosemont, Ill.-based Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) and state and regional checkoff teams around the country will be showcasing dairy’s resilience and community impact during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a May 19 Zoom discussion — the latest in FORTUNE’s Most Powerful Women “conversations with” series — Beth Ford, CEO of Arden Hills, Minn.-based cooperative Land O’Lakes Inc., stressed that employees need to come first during the current coronavirus crisis.

Leading U.S. dairy associations jointly urged Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to use all tools at his disposal to “ensure high-quality, nutritious U.S. dairy products are made available to our international neighbors in need.”

Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), released a statement on May 14 on the Recourse Loan Program for Commercial Processors of Dairy Products in the HEROES Act legislation.

As the European Union (EU) is poised to begin government-financed intervention purchases of skim milk powder (SMP) and butter, dairy farmers and processors in key dairy-producing countries around the world are calling on the EU to avoid the market-distorting practices that have significantly harmed them and the broader global dairy market in the past.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), both based in Arlington, Va., said they applaud the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for firmly rebuking the European Union’s (EU) protectionist dairy trade policies in its annual U.S. Special 301 Report, released on April 29.

The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA) announced the release of its latest “COVID-19 Impact” report.

Following an April 3 letter to congressional leadership urging targeted financial aid be provided through the next coronavirus relief package to workers in the critical food industry, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and other food industry associations sent a letter to President Donald Trump homing in on a key recommendation.