Dear USDEC Members, 

U.S. dairy exports are on track to gain in both value and volume in 2017. The final numbers won't be tallied until next month. But this much is certain: We are on our way to our goal and destination of "The Next 5%."

Year-end numbers will not break records (up 16 percent by value and 5 percent by volume after three quarters). But they should encourage you, as they do me.

When I began this new job in February, you warmly welcomed and educated me. We immediately got to work, tackling some of your biggest challenges, including an upheaval in U.S. trade policy, aggressive moves by the EU and the constantly changing regulations and nontariff trade barriers that can tie your export business in knots.

Bottom-line success ultimately goes to you, the member companies of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. You make the sales. We facilitate them, with strong support from our parent organization, Dairy Management Inc., and the farmer-funded checkoff program, as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. 

Put another way, USDEC tills and prepares the fields so you can plant the seeds and harvest the crops. Success requires perseverance and patience, with many small steps along the way.

As a year-end exercise, USDEC senior staff chronicled the most important steps their departments took for you in 2017. The result is a nine-page list we compiled into a single, detailed document available here.

Below is my CEO ranking and summary of the nine most significant USDEC accomplishments of 2017:

1) Conceived a member-approved road map we call "The Next 5%" with a collective goal of expanding exports to the equivalent of 20 percent of the U.S. milk supply, while at the same time increasing export value.

Importance: Only by approaching export markets in a collective, collaborative manner can we create the growth needed to maintain a healthy, strong U.S. dairy supply chain.

2) Reduced barriers to trade in China via the plant registration Memorandum of Understanding and China's unilateral reduction in cheese tariffs.

Importance: Gaining broader access to the world's largest dairy buyer is critical to U.S. dairy export growth plans.

3) Ensured that dairy priorities—maintaining Mexican market access and improving access to Canada—were front and center in NAFTA modernization talks.

Importance: With so much talk focused on the auto sector and manufacturing, ag industry needs, including dairy, can slip through the cracks. USDEC made sure they didn't.

4) Solidified the U.S. dairy relationship with Mexico through the March industry outreach mission and 2nd Annual U.S.-Mexico Dairy Alliance meeting.

Importance: Resolves concerns over the U.S. commitment to Mexico, our No. 1 dairy export market, and fortifies the foundation supporting more than two decades of mutually beneficial growth.

5) Preserved the right to use common cheese names in Japan and the United States and ensured that Mexico was well prepared to maintain a strong stance in support of common names during its trade negotiations with the EU.

Importance: Fighting the EU's aggressive campaign to monopolize food names and preserving a level playing field are essential to U.S. dairy export competitiveness.

6) Substantially amplified industry and consumer outreach through ramped-up communications.

Importance: Shining a spotlight on dairy trade's impact on U.S. jobs and business fills a pro-trade gap in the national discourse and builds grassroots support for dairy trade priorities.

7) Bolstered demand for U.S. dairy in key export markets through initiatives like the U.S. Dairy Business & Innovation Conference in South Korea and the Middle East retail cheese mission.

Importance: Lays the groundwork for dairy consumption gains by educating overseas end-users and consumers, and paves the way for U.S. export growth by deepening supplier-buyer relationships and emphasizing the U.S. desire to build partnerships.

8) Reinforced dairy's vital role in addressing global nutritional needs through initiatives like the Borlaug Dialogue.

Importance: Underpins dairy's nutritional proposition, maintaining a strong foundation for global dairy demand growth.

9) Averted trade disruption in Peru by convincing the Peruvian government to abandon pursuit of legislation that would have banned SMP use in reconstituted milk and instead pursue an alternate approach.

Importance: Represents enhanced USDEC efforts to proactively head off market access disruptions before they become entrenched barriers to trade.

At USDEC, we are proud of these nine accomplishments but not satisfied. They are only a start in our determined march with you to The Next 5%.

Tom Vilsack is USDEC's president and CEO and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary. 

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The U.S. Dairy Export Council fosters collaborative industry partnerships with processors, trading companies and others to enhance global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients. USDEC is primarily supported by Dairy Management Inc. through the dairy farmer checkoff. The password-protected article above is intended for USDEC member organizations only and should not be shared with anyone outside your organization.