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On April 6, the Arlington, Va.-based National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) submitted a request for assistance to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

In a new podcast from the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, both based in Green Bay, Wis., John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, discusses the unprecedented disruption to the dairy supply chain due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of Northeast Dairy Foods Association Inc., North Syracuse, N.Y., as well as dairy producers and others in the food supply chain, have been greatly impacted by the coronavirus, putting the nation’s dairy farmers and milk processors business’ in great financial jeopardy.

In an April 3 letter, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and 15 other food and beverage industry groups urged leaders in Congress to provide targeted financial aid to workers in the critical industries as they work to care for, feed and protect Americans through the coronavirus outbreak.

Groups representing dairy cooperatives and farmers in the Midwest today urged the federal government to provide direct assistance to farmers and to expedite the purchase of additional dairy foods amid unprecedented disruptions in supply and demand due to the COVID-19 national emergency.

The coronavirus pandemic has food and beverage companies rethinking some everyday efforts.

Kansas City, Kan.-based Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) said Dean Foods Co., Dallas, accepted a revised bid from DFA on March 31 for a “large portion” of Dean Foods’ assets.

Hart Dairy, the largest single-source producer of 100% free-range, grass-fed milk in America, announced a new partnership with Island Ventures, a supplier of specialty eggs.

In their March 26 “COVID-19 Impact, Consumer Spending Tracker for MULOC Retailers US, UK, France, Italy, NZ” report — the latest in a series of weekly reports — Chicago-based market research firm IRI and partner Boston Consulting Group show that U.S. retail dairy purchases were up 57.8% during the week ending March 15, 2020, in comparison to the same time period in 2019.

As of March 30, at least 27 U.S. states had issued stay-at-home orders, and many “nonessential” businesses had closed. But food and beverage manufacturers, including dairy processors, continue to operate as part of a subset of industries deemed essential to continued critical infrastructure viability.