Comments on the Class I Definition Proposed Rule
NMPF submitted these comments in response to the recommended decision (published 71 FR 28590, May 17, 2006) regarding Milk in the Northeast and Other Marketing Areas, etc. (Docket no. AO-14-A73, et al.; DA-03-10) In support of these comments, NMPF requested that the Secretary take official notice of Food and Drug Administration Docket No. 00P-0685, regarding “Milk and Cream Products, and Yogurt Products, etc.”, including the advance notice of proposed rulemaking (68 Fed. Reg. 39873) and the original petition referenced in that notice and found at the FDA website.
Overview and Description of the Federal Order System
Overview: Although often described as a complex program, the Federal Milk Marketing Order system is simply a way to ensure that dairy farmers are paid relatively uniform prices for their product. The Federal Order program, in essence, establishes a minimum wage for each and every dairy producer within a given geographic region – although the level of that wage does vary according to the supply and demand market forces that farmers have to contend with on a regular basis.
Because of the uniquely perishable nature of fluid milk, and the fact that milk flows from cows to consumers on a daily basis, the marketing system for the product must be sensitive to the needs of both farmers and consumers. Federal Orders are used to stabilize the process of buying and selling of fluid milk, so that farmers, processors and consumers can have a safe, reliable and affordable supply of milk.
Description: A Federal Milk Marketing Order is a regulation, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which requires the buyer, or handler, of fluid milk to perform certain functions. Fluid milk handlers must pay dairy farmers a certain minimum price for their milk, depending on how that milk is used. Milk going into bottled form is valued at the highest level; milk used for soft goods such as ice cream and yogurt is assessed an intermediate value; and milk used for hard goods like cheese, butter and skim milk powder is valued at the lowest level. A Federal Order also requires that payments to farmers within that particular area be pooled, so that even though one farmer’s product may be bottled, and another’s made into cheese, they each are paid the same uniform price, called the blend price.
The 31 regions of the U.S. regulated by a Federal Milk Marketing Order were reduced to 11 regions as of Jan. 1, 2000. About 70% of all of the milk produced in the U.S. is regulated under a Federal Milk Marketing Order. Those regions of the country that aren’t subject to a Federal Order may have a state milk marketing order (i.e. California), or they may be unregulated.
Click here for more information on the Federal Milk Marketing Order program.
USDA Federal Order Information - This is the main page at USDA for dairy programs.
Milk Market Administrators
