Laurie Fisher tells Brownfield their recent pricing forum at World Dairy Expo provided an open discussion on the issues.

“What do we do with the federal orders?” she asks.  “Are they too antiquated, are they too old, should we not have federal orders, should we just work contractually with processors?  They did not seem to agree to that.”

Fisher says most farmers during the event wanted a say in the process.

“During a federal order hearing process cooperatives typically block vote for their members, and they just feel that they want a secure vote, a private individual vote,” she says.

Fisher says farmers seem to value USDA oversight and she expects reform of the system to be broken into smaller segments.

The American Farm Bureau Federation will continue the milk pricing discussion this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri.  Brownfield’s Larry Lee will be there.