Thirty years ago, American dairy farmers recognized a growth opportunity beyond our borders. With funding from the dairy checkoff program, a new organization was formed: The U.S. Dairy Export Council.  

Turning 30 is a significant milestone, and for USDEC it marks three decades of growing U.S. dairy globally. 

U.S. dairy exports have soared from $656 million in 1995 to $8.32 billion in 2024—a remarkable 1,168% rise. Today, close to 20 percent of the milk produced in the U.S. is sold beyond our borders in the form of cheese, milk powder, whey protein and other products and ingredients.

U.S. dairy has gone from a minor player in exports to a leading global supplier. And as USDEC President and CEO Krysta Harden expresses in the following video, a renaissance is underway in the U.S. dairy industry, positioning it to be able to become the No. 1 global exporter of dairy products. 

Through innovation, collaboration and a dedication to delivering quality nutrition, U.S. dairy will continue to grow markets abroad. This includes helping the rest of the world understand the benefits of dairy in the diet.

In Indonesia, where the country’s president has prioritized dairy in school meals, USDEC and U.S. academic partners are working with Indonesian farmers to help meet the growing nutritional needs, while also demonstrating the U.S. capability to supply additional dairy products as demand increases.

Collaboration is at the heart of USDEC’s efforts.

For three decades, USDEC has championed U.S. dairy in trade negotiations, worked to expand access to international markets, and assisted members in navigating trade rules and standards across numerous countries. USDEC is committed to fair trade, expanded global opportunities, science-based standards and sustainable production that enables the food system to produce more with fewer resources.

Strategic partnerships with educational institutions, allied organizations, and farmer/processor associations, both domestically and abroad, further strengthen and elevate U.S. dairy worldwide.

Consider, for example, the partnership USDEC and the National Milk Producers Federation have formed over the years with Mexican dairy organizations to support the long-term success of each other’s dairy industries. This past May, they renewed their mutual commitment to facilitate trade with a joint work plan designed to foster growth and resilience in the U.S. and Mexican dairy farming and manufacturing communities.

Attendees from this year’s U.S.-Mexico Binational Dairy Summit.

Another example of collaboration is USDEC’s active role in international trade shows, retail promotions, culinary training workshops and seminars. By sponsoring booths at trade shows (where USDEC members can share booth space) or setting up meeting spaces at seminars, USDEC helps members engage directly with prospective customers.

USDEC members and staff pose outside the USDEC booth at the Food Tech Summit & Expo in Mexico City.

These types of activities are occurring all around the world, but we wanted to show a few examples from Mexico to help explain the tremendous growth that has occurred there over the years, making it the No. 1 destination for American dairy products sold abroad.

Innovation is another cornerstone. A good example is the U.S. Center for Dairy Excellence in Singapore, which USDEC launched five years ago to connect U.S. suppliers with Southeast Asian customers. Featuring a demo kitchen and sensory lab, the Center empowers food and beverage professionals to create innovative products using U.S. dairy ingredients and cheeses.

A state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen is one of the features fostering innovation at the U.S. Center for Dairy Excellence in Singapore.  

The outlook for U.S. dairy exports is bright.

The United States is in an enviable position as the supplier most capable of increasing production to meet demand growth. Dairy has a tremendous health and wellness story to tell that aligns with global nutritional requirements. Plus, U.S. dairy has an unparalleled stewardship story that addresses today’s food production challenges.

In the beginning

It’s been a very productive 30 years! Particularly when you consider that getting USDEC off the ground in the first place was such a challenge.

In marking our 30th anniversary, we offer special recognition to the many people involved in making USDEC a reality.

Skepticism about the industry’s export capabilities and market potential was widespread in the early 1990s—as was fear of massive imports from New Zealand and Europe if the U.S. were to open its market during the Uruguay Round and other negotiations.

It wasn’t clear that export markets could provide access to large, new customer bases, but a handful of dairy companies, including co-ops, and certain key farmer leaders saw it differently. They believed that exports would eventually become a key component of long-term industry growth despite it being largely uncharted territory. Visionary dairy stakeholders saw both the need and the opportunity but were searching for the best way forward.

The National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB) kicked off its modest export program around 1990, supported by then-CEO Cynthia Carson and run by Tom Suber, who would later become USDEC’s first president and CEO. In addition, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service had been making available export promotion funds to farmer organizations, adding further incentive to develop a farmer-led U.S. dairy export instrument.

Peter Vitaliano, National Milk Producers Federation economist, crunched the numbers to deliver a clear-eyed look at global dairy demand growth and the potential for the United States to supply the world’s dairy needs. Taking a page from farmer/processor programs showing success in other farm sectors—such as beef, poultry and soybeans—interest gelled around a stand-alone farmer/processor program focused solely on export growth.

But even then, getting such an organization off the ground would be a colossal undertaking. Critical support from farmer leaders helped propel the concept forward, including Elwood Kirkpatrick (USDEC’s first chairman), Tom Camerlo (USDEC’s second chairman), and Herman Brubaker (eventual chairman of Dairy Management Inc.) at United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA), and Ivan Strickler (former NDB chairman) and Bob Giacomini (chairman at the time) at NDB, as well as leadership of both organizations, including UDIA chief Tom Gallagher and NDB CEO Carson.

It also required strong backing from a critical mass of U.S. dairy processors, co-ops and traders. A cross-section of U.S. dairy stakeholders answered the call, coming together in what was then a unique blend of farmer funding and processor business growth goals. Among those original supporters were Associated Milk Producers Inc., Darigold, Kraft Foods, Land O’Lakes, Leprino Foods, M.E. Franks, Mid-America Dairymen, Raskas Foods, Schreiber Foods, T.C. Jacoby & Co., Wells Dairy and others. Former USDA Secretary Richard Lyng also played a big role, chairing a committee that helped hammer out all the details among the different stakeholders.

It was only after all those forces came together that USDEC was born. When UDIA and NDB merged to form Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) in 1995, DMI continued its support. DMI and the dairy check-off remain USDEC’s largest source of funding today.

Our sincere appreciation goes out to U.S. dairy farmers, whose commitment and investment in the checkoff make our work possible. Through the years, USDEC—and the industry at large—has benefited from the support of highly engaged member organizations, including dairy processors, trading companies and allied industry, now numbering 134.

Let’s raise our milk glass to the journey so far—and to the next 30 years of an even more substantial global U.S. dairy presence.

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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.