The new proposal for the Federal Milk Marketing Order will be submitted this month.
The National Milk Producers Federation says that after more than 150 meetings with dairy farmer members and co-op technical experts, along with consultation with the American Farm Bureau and other state and regional dairy associations, they are ready to send in the most significant update since 2000.
NMPF says they feel confident in the proposal after a unanimous vote by the board of directors.
Here’s what the proposal includes:
- A return to the “higher of” Class I mover that’s fairer to farmers.
- Updated milk component factors for protein, other solids, and nonfat solids in the Class III and IV skim milk price formulas.
- Specific make allowance adjustment numbers for the four products contained in Class III and IV pricing formulas – cheese, dry whey, butter, and nonfat dry milk.
- Updated Class I differential prices that reflect changes in the cost of delivering bulk milk to processing plants.
NMPF says the process of a USDA FMMO hearing and referendum vote by producers will take time, but they’ve come a long way already.
