US Dairy on Supply Chain Crisis and Young Consumers Boost Organic

**California Governor Gavin Newsom has informed regional water districts that it is moving forward with a plan to increase flows from San Joaquin River tributaries.

The California Natural Resources Agency and the state Environmental Protection Agency recently informed water districts that the state was walking away from negotiations on voluntary agreements to help regulate river flows.

The decision could create more water uncertainty for farmers.

**The current supply chain crisis could cause “irreparable harm” to agriculture.

That’s according to Leprino Foods President Mike Durkin who told the House Ag Committee, this export crisis could irreparably harm American agriculture as customers around the world question the U.S. dairy industry’s reliability as a supplier.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council and National Milk Producers Federation voiced strong support for Durkin’s call for U.S. government action to more effectively tackle the shipping crisis and its effects on dairy farmers and manufacturers.

**With younger consumers driving growth, the organic produce sector will likely experience 5% to 10% growth in sales dollars in 2022.

That’s according to Mike Mauti, managing partner of Canada-based Execulytics Consulting who tells www.thepacker.com that growth will largely be driven by those under 25 increasing their purchasing power.

Steve Lutz of Category Partners, says increased product availability and the narrowing price gap between organic and conventional is also driving the market.

www.thepacker.com/news/organic/organic-produce-market-grow-10-2022?mkt