Release Date: February 14, 2005
(Washington, D.C.) A joint letter sent February 11 from the nation's leading dairy producer and processor organizations to the new Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to quickly publish a decision on the critical “producer-handler” issue impacting dairy operations in western states.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) called on USDA to issue a decision based on hearings that ran intermittently from September 2003 to January 2004 concerning Federal Order regulations in the Arizona-Las Vegas and Pacific Northwest marketing areas.
The major focus of the hearing was a proposal to end the regulatory exemption for producer-handlers from pooling and pricing provisions of the two milk marketing areas. IDFA and NMPF told Secretary Johanns that testimony and exhibits presented at that hearing demonstrated the need for USDA to ensure equitable treatment of all dairy producers and processors in a Federal Milk Marketing Area.
“The industry has waited more than one year since the hearing record closed, and more than 17 months since the first day of this hearing. It is time for USDA to immediately publish a decision,” the letter states. “Both dairy producers and processors of milk and dairy products need clarity on the regulations which will govern their activities going forward, as investment decisions awaiting the outcome of this process have been delayed too long already."
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