In these unprecedented times, we launched a media campaign with a similar name, “Here For You.” The campaign reminds Wisconsinites that farmers are still working to provide milk and other nutritious and delicious dairy products to communities during this challenging time. We kicked off the campaign by sharing multiple TV spots featuring milk, dairy and our farmers on television stations across the state. We also developed and are airing 30-second videos across our social and digital channels, connected TVs (e.g., Roku) and YouTube ads. “Here For You” is designed to build trust in dairy products and dairy farmers, and targets consumers flocking to media sites to get news of the COVID-19 crisis.

Ninety-four percent of American consumers have milk in their refrigerators. They showed their support for dairy products recently when they cleaned out many of the grocery dairy cases at the first news of a pandemic.

DFW, your marketing and promotion experts and a checkoff organization, cannot lobby for the dairy industry. We can – and will – tell the inspiring story of dairy farmers’ devotion to their consumers.

DFW’s most critical job right now is to do what it can to help keep the state dairy industry above water until COVID-19 abates. With the restaurant and food service crash, 70 percent of the food service volume disappeared, and that’s about half the volume of dairy sales in Wisconsin.

As the voice of state’s dairy farmers, DFW has spent the past few weeks talking to retail, government and industry leaders, including the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA), Wisconsin Grocers Association, and Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin, among the many.

We shared your concerns that processors must be able to take your milk, there must be a market for the dairy products and grocers need to continue to receive and sell a steady flow of dairy products.

We discussed solutions. For example, could the federal government use stimulus money to buy millions of pounds of cheese, milk, and other dairy products and send them to food pantries and other programs to serve the 7.1 million unemployed Americans and their families?

By the end of last week, Secretary-designee Randy Romanski of the state’s Department of Agriculture, WCMA, and other Wisconsin agriculture industry partners endorsed the idea and sent letters to Secretary Sonny Purdue of the United States Department of Agriculture.

DFW and our partners will continue to support farmers with resources, including an up-to-date COVID-19 safety guide on our website.

View the “Here For You” video. Learn more about your dairy checkoff by signing up for the farmer newsletter at WisconsinDairy.org.

About Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin: Funded by Wisconsin dairy farmers, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin is a non-profit organization that focuses on marketing and promoting Wisconsin’s world-class dairy products. Follow us on Facebook.