Much of the dairy policy debate over the past 18 months has revolved around public hearings and calls for changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Order, and while we agree that structural changes to the FMMO are necessary, we know that FMMO reform alone will not provide today’s dairy farmers and processors with the protections and assurances they need today.
Considering that currently only 70 percent of U.S. milk is subject to FMMOs and 68 billion pounds of milk are not covered by the order and its protections, it is time to ensure that all dairy farmers have the same confidence and assurance as dairy farmers in the FMMO system.
When processors are pooled, farmers are assured of third-party verification of milk volume and composition, as well as timely payments twice a month. When processors are removed from the pool, farmers are no longer subject to the oversight of FMMO and the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, and therefore no longer have the assurance of certainty of these practices.
We believe the best way to provide timely payments and accurate testing protections is to codify these measures into legislative text in the next Farm Bill. Enshrining these fundamental practices in the Farm Bill would prevent extended milk payments and provide farmers and processors with third-party verification of milk weight and composition.
Without these protections, farmers outside of FMMOs could find payments extended beyond 30 days to 60 or 90 days, preventing a steady cash flow, and farmers would not have access to relief if there were discrepancies in the verification of test results.
We believe these regulations should be fundamental for all dairy farmers.
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Mandating timely payment and third-party weight verification provides a structure of mutual trust and transparency between processors and farmers that should be maintained for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Unlike many of the issues raised during the FMMO hearings and discussions, we believe these are provisions that the entire dairy industry should support. We are simply asking that the protections currently given to dairy farmers and processors through the FMMO be extended into the Farm Bill so that all dairy farmers are protected with basic guarantees.
We understand that debate on the Agriculture Bill is ongoing with an uncertain completion date, but we believe it is essential that this issue is presented to key decision makers to ensure dairy farmers are protected.
By working together, we can continue to provide basic business certainty for dairy farms and the families that depend on them.
If you are interested in joining this important effort, please contact us at TTrotter@voiceofmilk.com.
Tim Trotter is CEO of the Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative. Based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, EdgeIt was established in 2010 as a dairy business milk sales cooperative, and is now one of the largest cooperatives in Japan in terms of milk volume handled.
