Agricultural economist Dr. John Newton will join the staff of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), July 1, as Senior Director of Economic Research.
Newton currently is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Agricultural Commodity Markets, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Newton will be working with NMPF’s current economics staff, including Peter Vitaliano, Vice President of Economic Policy and Market Research, and Dustin Baker, Economic Analyst.
Newton has more than a decade of experience in dairy policy, and has played a major role in the past year in helping USDA implement the new federal Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MMP-Dairy) through his work with the Dairy Markets and Policy collaboration among Midwestern economists.
“John understands both the art and the science of helping farmers manage the risks of price volatility,” said Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF. “His skills at data analysis will help our members understand where milk and feed prices are going, and more importantly, how they can use tools like the MPP to their advantage.”
“His experience with the Federal Milk Marketing Order system, where he worked in a regional market administrator’s office, gives John an in-depth understanding of the importance of this program to farmers and cooperatives for the orderly marketing of milk,” Mulhern added.
“I am looking forward to drawing on my experience in government and academia to help America’s dairy farmers confront the economic challenges they are facing, and working with them on ways to prosper in the future,” said Newton.
A native of Louisville, Ky., Newton received a Ph.D. in agricultural economics, a M.A. in macroeconomics, and a M.S. in agricultural economics, all from The Ohio State University. He has been at the University of Illinois since 2014.
From 2004 to 2014, Newton worked for the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service on issues relating to risk management and federal farm income support programs. While serving in this role, Newton served both as a 2013 fellow on the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and as a researcher for the USDA Office of the Chief Economist, providing policy insight for the Agricultural Act of 2014.
NMPF, based in Arlington, Va., develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of more than 32,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. Visit www.nmpf.org for more information.