Looking Ahead
by James Robson, Chief Executive Officer

July marks the beginning of our budget year at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and an opportune time to share with Wisconsin dairy producers strategies to continue the work of promoting Wisconsin dairy products and to ultimately increase demand for Wisconsin's raw milk in 2003. A reflection of the current downturn in milk production, WMMB has a smaller budget this year which – like your farming operations, means managing the cost of our inputs while still aiming for high production levels.

With a smaller budget we need to work both harder and smarter. The board of directors has reviewed all program areas, made budget cuts across the board and has challenged the staff to come up with ways to make more of an impact in the marketplace with less available money.

Since most of Wisconsin-produced raw milk goes into cheesemaking, the board is devoting 75% of the FY03 budget to the marketing, promotion and support of cheese-related programs. Of the total $24.9 million budget, $17 million is directed at cheese marketing.

A large portion of that budget will continue to be used to promote Wisconsin Cheese in supermarkets and through restaurant operators across the country. In both retail and foodservice channels, however, our activities will change from short-term, promotion-oriented marketing, to a long-term approach of building the Wisconsin cheese image beyond its current excellent standing.

We will continue to support the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (CDR) at UW-Madison with $1.5 million in Cheese Business allocations. CDR continues to be one of the world's great research facilities for the dairy industry. With this funding, CDR develops new products and applications, works with cheese companies on dairy safety and quality and maintains the nation's only Master Cheesemaker® Program. CDR plays a key role in keeping Wisconsin at the very forefront of cheesemaking here and around the world, which assures that our milk will have a market.

The 2003 WMMB budget reflects the realities of an evolving Wisconsin raw milk base, but you will see a continued commitment from your WMMB board and staff to do more with the marketing and industry support programs by leveraging the involvement (and dollars) of allied groups and organizations.

The Local Market Business area, for example, works closely with the national fluid milk promotion programs supported by Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) and the national/MilkPEP fluid program supported by dairy processors to maximize the use of check-off dollars.

In FY03, $5.2 million has been earmarked for Local Markets. Of that amount, $1,836,000 funds the Dairy Council of Wisconsin for product communication and nutrition education. This year, DCW will work more closely with schools to assure that the key milk nutrition messages will be heard by the people who need to hear them most – kids. DCW will also continue its work with WMMB to see that more schools have the tools to establish successful school milk vending choices for kids. The Local Market budget also includes holiday promotions, the annual June Dairy Month activities and sports-related promotions, such as dairy producers' sponsorship of WIAA athletic tournaments and Wisconsin's Badger State Games.

In addition, the budget supports the continuation of the "Wisconsin Dairy Impact" campaign, an effort to reach consumers about the dairy industry's economic importance to everyone in Wisconsin. Many, many people have lost touch with what's happening on our farms and have lost sight of just how important the dairy industry is to our state in terms of jobs and the quality of life we enjoy. The WMMB board of directors continues to strongly support this initiative. We need our communities' support in keeping cows in Wisconsin so dairy producers can grow if they choose so cheese plants and processing facilities can operate at full capacity, so that this great industry can continue to evolve and – yes – grow.

As we begin this new fiscal year, I can assure all dairy producers that their investment in WMMB is managed carefully and responsibly, with a strong emphasis on results, and a return on investment to Wisconsin dairy producers, to dairy manufacturers and marketers, and to the residents of our communities and towns who depend on the dairy business here in Wisconsin.

James Robson, the Chief Executive Officer of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, holds an MBA in management and comes to WMMB from TRG Consulting of Katy, Texas, a company which works with dairies, food processors, wholesalers and retailers in strategic planning, new product development, promotions and sales training. He is a former vice president of sales, marketing and transportation for Darigold, Inc. of Seattle, WA, the largest dairy cooperative in the Pacific Northwest. He also has marketing management experience with Morningstar Foods, The Southland Corporation Dairy Group, Frito-Lay, Inc. and Lipton, as well as serving on the boards of directors of both state and national dairy marketing and promotion organizations.