State’s three major dairy cooperatives will work to change regulatory structure and begin to draft federal order language.
VISALIA, Calif. — The findings of a five-month long study commissioned by California Dairies, Inc. (CDI), Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA), and Land O’Lakes, Inc. (LOL) indicate that a properly written federal milk marketing order for California would provide a regulatory structure that would potentially result in higher farm gate prices, which would benefit California dairy farm families.
The three cooperatives, representing approximately 80% of the milk produced in California, collectively funded the comprehensive modeling study to examine the issues and benefits of replacing the California state milk marketing order with a federal milk marketing order.
The study was conducted by Dr. Mark Stephenson, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dr. Chuck Nicholson of Penn State University.
After a thorough review of the study results including possible consequences and opportunities, it was agreed upon by the three cooperatives to continue working toward a change in the regulatory structure. Staff from the three cooperatives will begin to draft federal order language to initiate the process.
CDI, DFA, and LOL also will be holding a series of explanatory sessions for its members to share the results and receive input on how best to move forward on possible implementation.
Source: AgWeb