NMPF Supports Mandatory Dairy Pricing Reporting Measure Approved By House, Senate Agriculture Committees

NMPF Supports Mandatory Dairy Pricing Reporting Measure Approved By House, Senate Agriculture Committees

In late July, the House Agriculture Committee approved the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010, H.R. 5852, while the Senate Agriculture Committee approved an identical piece of legislation, S. 3656, in early August. The bills reauthorize mandatory price reporting programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for five years. Most importantly for the dairy sector, the bills include language authorizing mandatory weekly electronic reporting for dairy products.

NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak welcomed the passage of the bills because “NMPF has been working since 2000 to improve the open, transparent discovery of dairy prices, but we’ve been frustrated by the stumbling blocks that have prevented the implementation of mandatory reporting. These bills make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the USDA will have to do what it takes to establish dairy price reporting.”

NMPF helped include mandatory price reporting language in the 2008 Farm Bill. But that measure was contingent on available funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the USDA has never had adequate funding to implement price reporting. These new bills will ensure that the USDA collects and reports pricing data that is currently surveyed.

The bills contain the follow specifications:

  • Amending section 273 of the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946 to require the Secretary to establish an electronic reporting system for dairy.
  • Directing the Secretary to publish the information reported through the electronic reporting system by 3:00 PM ET, each Wednesday.
  • Requiring the Secretary to implement the electronic reporting system for dairy not later than one year following enactment of this Act.

The full House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate, must still approve the respective Mandatory Price Reporting bills before they can become law. The bills represent an important improvement in the transparency of the dairy industry.