The document is over 300 pages long and was released Monday afternoon.  Some of the recommendations from USDA include adjusting milk composition factors, including protein from 3.1% to 3.3%, other solids from 5.9% to 6.0%, and nonfat solids from 9.0% to 9.3%. USDA’s Ag Marketing Service also proposes removing 500-pound barrel cheese prices from the Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program survey and just use the 40 pound cheddar block price to determine the monthly average cheese price in the formulas. AMS also proposed raising the Class III and Class IV make allowances for cheese, butter, nonfat dry milk, dry whey, and butterfat recovery.

Many dairy stakeholders are still reviewing the USDA proposals before commenting, including American Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Farm Bureau, and the American Dairy Coalition. One thing stakeholders are looking at very closely is the question of which farmers will get to vote on the final package. Laurie Fischer with the American Dairy Coalition is concerned, because the rule would bar producers from voting unless their milk is pooled in the federal order. Some estimates put more than 30% of milk outside of the marketing pool, and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative CEO Tim Trotter told Brownfield most of that 30% is in Federal Order #30, which covers most of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Trotter issued a brief statement Monday saying, “We will need a few days to analyze today’s report thoroughly, but what we can say is we appreciate the thorough and dedicated work the AMS team did in curating all the testimony, written responses and market analysis done to get us where we are today.”  Trotter says USDA’s proposed changes does include an innovative proposal by Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative in the growing sector of Extended Shelf Life (ESL) fluid milk.

National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Gregg Doud issued a statement Monday saying, “Based on our initial reading, NMPF is heartened that much of what we proposed after more than two years of policy development, and another year of testimony and explanation, is reflected in USDA’s recommended Federal Milk Marketing Order modernization plan.   Crafting an effective milk-pricing system for farmers is complex and requires a careful balance. USDA’s plan acknowledges that complexity and, while not matching our proposal in every detail, looks largely in keeping with the comprehensive approach painstakingly determined by the work of dairy farmers and their cooperatives over the past three years. We look forward to examining this proposal topic-by-topic, gathering input regarding the various needs of our members nationwide, and adding their insights as this process moves toward a vote of producers.”

Now that USDA has released its recommendations, the next phase of the process will include feedback from stakeholders and eventually, a farmer vote on whether to accept the USDA proposal.

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