Episode 39 - Where Does U.S. Dairy Want To Win Worldwide?

Learn About The Top Global Markets Targeted by the U.S. Dairy Export Council. 

DMI’s Scott Wallin explores how your dairy checkoff resources are driving global demand for U.S. dairy with Becky Nyman, a fourth-generation California dairy farmer and chair of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), and Rick Ortman, USDEC’s Senior VP of Strategic Insights.

Rick highlights USDEC’s mission to make U.S. dairy exports the supplier of choice worldwide—backed by rigorous market research and strategic insights while Becky shares the importance of uniting farmers, processors, and manufacturers under one global voice.

With nearly 20% of all U.S. milk production already feeding international markets, they make it clear why exports are critical to sustaining dairy businesses and attracting the next generation to the farm.

From boosting dairy demand in Mexico to building strong ties in Southeast Asia through USDEC’s Center for Dairy Excellence in Singapore, the conversation reveals how mission trips, health research, and hands-on partnerships are strengthening trust in U.S. dairy across the globe.

Tune in to find out!

Host & Guest:

• Host: Scott Wallin, Vice President of Farmer Communications & Media Relations, Dairy Management Inc.
• Guest: Becky Nyman, California dairy farmer and Chair, U.S. Dairy Export Council
• Guest: Rick Ortman, Senior Vice President of Strategic Insights, U.S. Dairy Export Council

Transcript (AI-Generated, please ignore typos)

Your Dairy Checkoff Podcast   0:00  

Scott, welcome to your Dairy Checkoff podcast from Dairy Management Inc, where dairy checkoff leaders and farmers share real stories strategies and insights that grow sales and build trust for us dairy let's get started.

Scott Wallin   0:18  

I'm Scott Wallin with Dairy Management Incorporated, and we've got another great topic for you today, the world of us dairy exports. And with me are two experts who are going to dive into this conversation about how we are driving more sales us produced dairy in the global marketplace. I've got Becky Nyman with me. She is a California dairy farmer and chair of the US Dairy Export Council, and Rick Ortman, he is Senior Vice President of strategic insights for the US dairy Export Council. Becky, tell us a little bit about your dairy farm and life in California.

Becky Nyman  0:52  

Thanks, Scott. It's so great to be here with you. Well, I'm fourth generation on our dairy farm in California. I haven't spent my entire career on the dairy though I was about spent about 10 years working for a consumer data company, worked with them in Texas and then in San Francisco, and it wasn't until 2011 that I decided to come back home to the farm, working with my brother and working on the farm I grew up on, so that our home dairy is 1200 jerseys, and it's really just a privilege to have had the opportunity to come back contribute to the legacy that my family has built and work alongside family.

Scott Wallin   1:40  

Rick, how about some background on you and your role with the US Dairy Export Council?

Rick Ortman  1:44  

Sure. Thanks, Scott, I lead strategic insights here at USDEC, my team provides insights and expertise on international markets across the Federation. We lead market research around the globe to identify export opportunities that includes large market studies like the International pizza cheese study we just completed. We also develop proprietary tools for members with detailed tracking and forecasts of international trade and end use applications of cheese, milk protein, whey protein and high value milk fractions. We But importantly, we also partner directly with dairy exporters to support their unique business intelligence needs and use their input to drive our insights agenda. So in addition to exports leadership for the Federation, we also lead the creation of the US tech strategic plan, our annual operating plan, our export market strategy. I've been in this role coming up on three years now, after 20 years of insights marketing and strategy roles at international consumer packaged good and food service companies and thank you so much for the opportunity today. Well,

Scott Wallin   2:50  

absolutely, I want to continue the conversation with you. Know, for some farmers who may not understand what US Dairy Export Council or USDEC does, can you just share a little bit more about maybe some of the memberships, a little bit more about submission and how it benefits dairy

Rick Ortman  3:05  

farmers? I'll start by paraphrasing our vision and mission, kind of in my own words here. But we work to make us dairy the global supplier of choice and the benchmark for quality, innovation and sustainable nutrition. We also expand commercial opportunities and competitive access to international markets, with the end goal to support a thriving us dairy sector. You know, about 1/5 of us dairy production is exported, and our members are the companies who export all that US dairy to other countries around the world. That includes dairy processors, trading companies, and then what we call our allied members, those are companies whose activities support dairy exports, like shipping. For example, here in the US, we have ready access to high quality nutrition from dairy produced right here in our own country. But that's not the case everywhere in the world. US, dairy exports are critical to help nourish a growing global population. By the way, 96% of that global population lives outside of the US, so that's where the big growth opportunities are. Through our trade policy, our market access and sustainability teams, we enhance the US, dairy's industry's ability to compete and win in exports, our marketing teams drive demand and elevate preference and build confidence for us. Dairy internationally, and we're really the go to resource on us. Dairy exports lots

Scott Wallin   4:30  

of great information. Or the one stat that just continues to blow me away is that 96% of the world is outside our borders. I know sometimes we have such a focus just on the United States, but it really does speak to the to the opportunities that are there for our industry. You know, Becky, I want to come to you now. You were elected chair not too long ago of us deck, and I know you didn't do this because you don't have enough to do as a dairy farmer. But can you talk a little bit about the inspiration for taking on this role? But what was it about it that was so appealing? To you,

Becky Nyman  5:00  

my interest in it. You know, really nobody else does what US tech does. It is which is just a unique opportunity. As Rick said, it brings together the farmer voice, alongside processors and manufacturers allied industries to be one unified voice, strong voice globally and also us. DEC is recognized by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the USDA as the cooperator for our entire industry. So for bringing together all of these components into one organization is just really interesting and fascinating, but it also important. I truly believe that exports are important to every farmer in the United States, regardless of if it's something they think about every day, regardless of if a drop of milk, their milk goes outside of our borders. Like Rick said, 96% of consumers live outside of the US borders, and it's really important for us to be able to access those markets and those consumers in order for our industry to grow.

Scott Wallin   6:24  

So with your role as chair, what's a day in the life look like for you? What are some of those responsibilities that you try to tackle

Becky Nyman  6:31  

Day in the Life can vary greatly. In my mind, I kind of break it up. I have days when I'm on the road with us, deck doing that work. And then I have days when I'm back on the farm and at home, and I can focus on what I need to do there. But when I am with us deck on the road, i Those days are packed full, day to night with meetings. Sometimes I'm meeting with staff, whether it's US based staff or in market staff, sometimes meeting with potential or current buyers of us dairy with the focus or intention of strengthening the reputation of UA dairy and US dairy farmers, sometimes meeting with allied partners and talking about what we might have in common, what we can do together to defend and promote our industry as a whole. So just one example. Last weekend happened to me in Madison, Wisconsin. I was attending the seventh annual by national meeting with a Mexican delegation, and their delegation was made up of leadership from various dairy organizations in Mexico, and with Mexico being our number one market for dairy exports, it's really important to engage with them and continue that relationship. Now, Mexico has seen pretty significant growth in consumption over the last 10 or so years, and during that time, we've been able to maintain about 30% share of the market. So that is a perfect example of how when a local industry, a local market, flourishes, we can grow and flourish right alongside them. And although they have had a lot of growth, they also face some headwinds, particularly when it comes to health and nutrition perceptions in their market. So we had actually last week, Barbara O'Brien, the DMI CEO, and Marilyn Hershey, the chair of DMI, attend, and they did a fantastic presentation on all the work DMI is doing with health and nutrition research for dairy and the Mexico delegation was just enthralled. They were so excited to hear about the work that's been done, thinking about how they can use it in their market to grow and if we can share these pre competitive research insights, and they grow. That just helps us to grow as well. So that was just one day in the life. There are many other days that are very different, but thankfully, when I come home and I can focus on what I need to do on the dairy, there's really a fantastic staff that does all the heavy lifting, and we as dairy farmers really should be proud to be represented by such such smart, professional and really passionate people full day in the

Scott Wallin   9:59  

life, as you described. On that particular day. So you know, you've got this front row seat to all these strategies and successes and insights. How do you share all that information back out with your farming peers?

Becky Nyman   10:10  

There are a number of ways that are sold and planned. One thing I do speak with the chairs, the board chairs weekly. So that's a touch point that happens every week with the Chair of DMI, with the Chair of UDIA, and the chair of NDB. So that's a chance to talk about things that are going on in USDEC. Also, there is an export committee on the DMI board that it's made up of 18 farmers, and we meet every DMI meeting, either before the meeting or during the meeting, and that's a chance for farmers to hear directly from us, tech staff. They we talk about what has happened, the activities that have happened, and future plans. So that's a great chance for farmers to provide input and also to gather information and learn about what is happening at USDEC. There are also a number of farmers that sit on the USDEC board, the annual meeting, various committee meetings throughout the year, and another touch point between farmers and myself in the USDEC team. So those are just some of the scheduled and planned times that we that we talk and communicate. But there are 1000s of unplanned conversations as well.

Scott Wallin   11:45  

Yeah, and again, exports is one of those subjects. I think every dairy farmer in the country would agree it's a good thing, and we're glad we had these strategies in place. So thanks for all you do with your role as chair. You know Rick, since us Dec was founded, we certainly have grown our global footprint. Can you talk a little bit about just how widespread that is and how do the operations work in various countries

Rick Ortman   12:09  

USDEC really does have a global reach. We have representatives on the ground in the major export markets around the world, Mexico and Central America, South America, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Vietnam, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan. Each of these offices is staffed with market experts with intimate knowledge of their respective markets, competition, customers, consumer preferences, regulatory issues, etc. All are really our showcase International Office has to be the center for dairy excellence in Singapore. This office covers Singapore, of course, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, really, all of Southeast Asia and partners closely with our office in Vietnam. The Center for Dairy Excellence in Singapore is really a first of its kind, education, training and collaboration hub. It's a meeting space for USDEC member companies and customers. Has a full sensory lab demonstration kitchen, and of course, our great USDEC representatives for the region. But it really serves as a bridge, connecting us dairy suppliers with Southeast Asian customers. You

Scott Wallin   13:19  

know, obviously you want to keep going right? You want to keep exploring new markets when you come upon a marketplace, can you talk a little bit more about some of the decisions that come into play, like, how do you know when a market is right for USDEC?

Rick Ortman   13:35  

yeah, sure. Thanks. Thanks for the question I mentioned earlier that my team leads the creation of the USDEC export market strategy. But this is really the result of collaboration across our whole organization, the USDEC export market strategy categorizes export markets and regions and countries according to their market potential. It includes analysis of us, cheese and ingredient exports, destinations, segmented by market attractiveness, and we use criteria like total market size, growth, forecast the our share. What's the US share? What's our competitive position? Are we number 1234, trade agreements, restrictions, tariffs, all of these things come together for us to be able to categorize markets as as what we call growth, growth markets, established markets, emerging markets, some established but non focused markets, and then, of course, limited trade markets. So the USDEC market strategy includes also detailed share growth, competitive position data across all the export categories for 18 distinct markets. So that's one piece of work that we do. But I also mentioned that my team consults directly with our members on their specific business needs. So I'm going to throw out a number here, which we're real proud of. We had 112 separate. Consulting engagements with USDEC members last year and strategic insights, those are all great opportunities to really understand how our members view international markets. USDEC also has advisory groups made up of member companies who discuss where they see opportunities and challenges for export growth. So we have advisory groups for ingredients marketing cheese and consumer products, marketing sustainability and Multilateral Affairs, market access and Regulatory Affairs and Trade policies, trade policies. So all of these things come together to really help guide the focus of our organization.

Scott Wallin   15:35  

Becky, when you hear Rick describe all these opportunities around the world, I mean, at the end of the day, we're looking for new homes for all your production you and your peers around the country that get up every day and milk cows with your farmer lens on how important is that to find these new destinations for your milk

Becky Nyman   15:53  

in order to keep farming, in order to keep our businesses sustained, attractive for the next generation to come back to at the end of the day, we need to earn a reasonable price for our milk. And if we think about just basic economics, our price is driven by supply and demand. And I think some listeners probably have heard that there has been recent significant investment in the US in new production capacity for dairy to the tune of over $10 billion of new production. I do recognize that this might not all be incremental. There could be some older, less efficient plants closing, but there will certainly be growth in US production. So in order for our milk price to be sustained, we need demand or sales growth to happen at that same trajectory as our supply. And then, you know, the question comes, Well, where do we grow demand? And look, I think there's a lot of opportunity in the US. There's a ton of nutrition research, a ton of innovation. I mean, I love to cook, and I don't know how to make anything taste good without a dairy product in it. So I think there's opportunity with culinary but if we look at the numbers and per capita consumption, the US is already way above a lot of other countries. So US per capita consumption, we consume over 600 pounds of dairy a year. So if we convert that to the way the rest of the world looks at metrics, that's about 300 kilograms. There are Central American countries like Guatemala and Panama, they consume 40 to 50 kilograms a year. Even Mexico, which I talked about, our largest export market, they consume about half, less than half, I think, than what we consume in a year. There's Asian countries like China and the Philippines, they consume 30 kilograms. Again, this is comparing to our 300 kilograms even Indonesia, it's the world's fourth largest population, right behind the United States, and they consume less than 20 so just the great difference in consumption in these other countries, I think, really, to me, truly illustrates a vast opportunity to gain some traction, to gain demand and sales outside of our borders.

Scott Wallin   18:52  

Yeah, there's no question. There's definitely a lot more to get. You know, in some of the conversations I've had with our teammates who work with the pizza partners internationally, you're finding in some of these countries, they eat pizza once or twice a year. I don't know how you can survive on one or two pizzas a year, but that's this one little anecdote that definitely speaks to the opportunities. You know, Rick, when you go into some of these marketplaces, what are the perceptions you find that they have about us, dairy and our farmers? What are they interested in learning? What are they curious about?

Rick Ortman   19:21  

Well, USDEC strategic insights actually measures what we call our brand health, for us dairy among both international corporate dairy buyers and consumers in international markets. And we we compare ourselves, or compare perceptions of us dairy to perceptions of dairy from other countries of origin, and it really varies by market. I'll give you a couple of examples from our dairy buyer study, for example, in Southeast Asia, the US really stands out for our quality and safety. In Japan, we shine for our technical expertise and support. In Mexico. Now, the US stands out for our commitment to the market, the wide variety and the value that we have to offer across our consumer and buyer studies. The US is recognized really as a technical leader with high quality products, and also as a leader in modern farming technologies, and that's pretty much, really across the world

Scott Wallin   20:20  

now, Rick, one of the key tactics that USDEC does is you've been conducting these mission trips to these countries for quite some time, where you and your colleagues go into these these different countries, and you also bring dairy farmers with you. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of these mission trips?

Rick Ortman   20:39  

Absolutely, you know everything we do is on behalf of us, dairy farmers, and it's important for farmers to understand the dynamics of exports. I know this from my own experience. It's one thing to read about another country and how they use dairy, what products they produce, what they import export, what's their population growth, their demographics, but it's quite another to shop in their grocery stores. Meet with importers, see their ports and infrastructure. You know, I like to say that the world has about 200 countries, and 95% of them are potential export markets. Farmer missions really help create an understanding of the dynamics of exports and what a critical role they play in nourishing the people of the world. In fact, I think Becky and I first met on a farmer mission of couple years ago. So no, but they're so

Scott Wallin   21:26  

important. Didn't agree with you more, Becky, what's here some of your experiences that you've had with these mission trips when you're in another country, what are they asking you about?

Becky Nyman   21:36  

There is a thirst to know about the farm. It's really funny. I have to I'm constantly reminded that this isn't everyday life for people around the world. There's an excitement, a curiosity about farms and farming, where farmers are always received very warmly in markets across the world. In my experience, they love seeing our pictures. They love hearing about what we do every day. And I also think it's really important for them to see us, to meet us. You know, a lot of people around the world think of us dairy being big and industrial, but when they get to see a face and put a person behind that, I think it really strengthens relationships and reputation, and it puts that human element behind our industry. When they get to meet us, talk to us, and you know, hear about what we do every day. Is

Scott Wallin   22:45  

there one trip that's been especially memorable for you? Well,

Becky Nyman   22:49  

that's a hard question, but because there's they're all so unique and interesting in their own ways, and so different. But seeing the Center for Dairy Excellence in Singapore was pretty amazing, what farmers have been able to build in that region, and really being a hub for the region, and you know, doing their innovation over there with the kitchen and the sensory room, that's just amazing, what they've built over there. Yeah, I've had a chance

Scott Wallin   23:29  

to read about that. It is impressive. Very exciting. Becky, what's what's wrap up the conversation with one final question for you as chair, do you have specific goals, or an outline of what you want to achieve during your tenure that you can share with us.

Becky Nyman   23:44  

Well, in the in a big picture, the most important thing to me is really to serve farmers, to serve dairy farmers and the industry overall. That means being the best representative I can when we are in other markets, when I am the face of the dairy farmer. Just being a good representative, it also means being fiscally responsible, viewing the organization and the activities it does through a lens of efficiency looking for duplication, and just making sure that farmer dollars are being spent wisely. And really continuing momentum, the organization has had really fantastic farmer leaders that I respect so much, and to be able to continue the work and continue the progress forward, it's really an honor for me to serve in that way. So that's kind of big picture. I guess if you ask me. A specific goal. You know, when I came on to DMI and USDEC, I learned about the goal of the next 5% that was a number of years ago, but we had been stagnant at about 15% of US dairy being exported. And the goal was to get that next 5% to get to 20 and we almost did it in 22 we got up to about 18% but I guess if I could see that 20% while I am involved in the organization, I guess that would just be the icing on the cake. Think

Scott Wallin   25:38  

that's definitely a goal. All dairy farmers can rally around Rick and Becky. I really enjoyed today's conversation, and want to thank you again for making time for us.

Becky Nyman   25:46  

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Your Dairy Checkoff Podcast   25:51  

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