Amendments to the Federal Milk Marketing Order are almost complete. However, before they are voted on, a few revisions were necessary.
According to USDA AMS Deputy Administrator, Dana Coale, “Changes to the implementation period on our milk composition changes. We changed a few of the Class 2 differentials that we had proposed initially. We made some modifications to the make allowance for non-fat dry milk, in particular, and we incorporated a marketing cost factor into those make allowances as well.”
As far as next steps go, Coale says those coming up are actually the most important.
“This is where the dairy farmers get an opportunity to vote on each individual federal order, as it has been amended through this final decision. We will provide the ballot and information on how to vote to all producers and cooperatives. They must submit to and return their ballot by December 31st. Once all of the approvals are determined, then USDA will issue a final rule and in that final rule, it will indicate that the orders are amended with the particular order language required as set forth in the final decision, and it will have an implementation date specified,” he adds.
Once finalized, the decision will also be published in the Federal Register.
