The National Milk Producers Federation submitted to USDA its proposal for modernizing the Federal Milk Marketing Order, or FMMO, system. Upon acceptance, USDA will have a few weeks to review the plan and decide whether and how to move forward with a federal order hearing to review the plan.
Earlier this morning, American Farm Bureau urged USDA to accept the petition for the FMMO hearing, saying it is long overdue. AFBF President Zippy Duvall not only calls on USDA to hold a hearing on FMMO reform but also asks the Department to go further than a recent NMPF petition by asking for mandatory, audited surveys of dairy processors to be used when determining the make allowances factored into dairy pricing.
NMPF says they are proud of the Dairy Co-ops who cover 85 percent of U.S. milk, adding that while not every dairy cooperative is an NMPF member, the strength of its membership covers two-thirds of the U.S. milk supply, which enables us to solidly speak for dairy farmers in federal policy debates.
