A public hearing is scheduled for next week for the proposed federal milk marketing order for California dairy. Sabrina Hill has more.
The USDA hearing will give officials the opportunity to hear evidence on the proposal to change the handling of milk in California. The proposed marketing area would include the entire state of California. USDA received four proposals from interested parties, some that include certain milk pricing and pooling provisions not found in current Federal milk orders.
Anne Alonzo, Administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, tells House Agriculture Committee about the next step in the process that might bring California dairy producers into the federal milk marketing order system.
The proposals use the same dairy product classification system already used by other states throughout the Federal milk marketing order system. Additional features would recognize California quota premium and fluid milk fortification values. The proposals would not modify any existing Federal milk marketing orders, but a preliminary economic impact analysis showed that adding California into the federal system could have an impact on other states – because our dairy production is so high. California is the top producing dairy state in the nation.
The hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday, September 22 starting at 9am at the Veterans Memorial District Building in Clovis.