Co-sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the bill would require dairy processors to disclose production prices.
More transparency may be coming to the dairy industry.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is co-sponsoring the Fair Milk Pricing for Farmers Act with Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York.
The proposed legislation would require processors to report the cost of production every two years.
This legislation came shortly after the milk industry asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct hearings and update the “make allowance” for processors. The “make allowance” rule is a credit given to milk producers that accounts for the costs of processing raw milk into finished dairy products.
The update, which was finalized in November of 2024, was the first update in 15 years according to Catherine de Ronde, VP of economics and legislative affairs at Agri-Mark Inc.
However, the data used to determine the “make allowance” can be inaccurate because cost reporting by processors is voluntary rather than a requirement.
“I want to have trust in what those numbers are and know that they are based on sound numbers and data,” de Ronde said.
If the proposal passes, the bi-annual records won’t mean the USDA will do routine updates. Rather, de Ronde says that the availability of data should mean that regulation changes occur in smaller but more frequent increments.
“We want the regulation to reflect the reality of the marketplace, and this bill will help us do that,” said de Ronde.
There isn’t a clear timeline for the proposed legislation, but advocates hope to see it become part of the ongoing farm bill in Washington, DC.
The bill does have support from dairy farmers, such as Heath Miller, a sixth-generation farmer at Green Valle Farm. Even though there is no guarantee Miller will see more dollars in his pocket, he said, “at least it will be transparent, it will be mandatory. And we will all be on the same page.”
Still, Miller hopes to see more changes in the industry, especially for those milking the cows.
“You know, we’ve seen a little bit of increase in milk price, but it just hasn’t been enough,” Miller said. “Inflation has taken its toll on dairy farms.”
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