It took more than two years, but the update of the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) formulas is going to be implemented on June 1, 2025.

This past week USDA released a draft of the final rule for modifying the milk pricing formulas in the Federal Milk Marketing Order program.

Back when California operated under a State Milk Marketing Order, milk price hearings were a regular occurrence. I can remember...

With a smile, The Honorable Judge Jill Clifton ended the Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing (FMMO) on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at...

The National Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing that started back in late summer resumed for week 11 on Tuesday. Most of the...

Early in this full week at the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing, National Milk Producers Federation witnesses wrapped up...

It was a privilege to testify for Milk Producers Council at the FMMO hearing this week. In addition to fully supporting the package...

After a six-week break, the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing resumed in Carmel, Indiana this week. When the hearing had recessed...

The proposal to update and raise Class I differentials in all 3,100 counties of the continental United States by National Milk...

There are five “issues” encompassing 21 proposals that make up the substance of the “call” of this hearing into Federal Milk Marketing...

When I tuned in to the hearing at 5 a.m. Pacific time on Monday morning, I heard a different voice come through my earbuds.

The Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing in Carmel, Indiana only met three days this week because the venue where the hearing is...

Week four of the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing in Carmel, Indiana was mostly about the make allowance. The following proposals...

This was the third week of the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing in Carmel, Indiana. The week started out with rebuttal testimony on...

There was a lot of hard work put in this week at the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing in Carmel, Indiana.

How would you report on the first mile of a 26-mile marathon where the race results will not be known until months after the race is...

By Geoff Vanden Heuvel Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs Issue #1 Milk Composition There are proposals from National Milk...

The Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Program is the basic safety net USDA provides for America’s dairy farmers. It is structured to...

When California joined the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) program in November of 2018, it was widely believed that an update of...

This past week National Milk Producers Federation, which represents most of the dairy farmer-owned cooperatives in the country...

Yesterday, Representative Jim Costa (D-16) hosted a listening session...

The Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) started in California on November 1, 2018, which means we have been operating under the FMMO...

There seems to be an uptick in complaining about Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs), with a fair amount of calling for “reform” of...

It’s always a bit tricky as a dairyman trying to figure out how to manage risk – particularly on the milk income side. The current...

USDA announced some improvements in the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, which is the dairy safety net program that provides...

Three weeks ago, I wrote about Agriculture Secretary Vilsack’s announcement of a USDA compensation program designed to provide money...

Back when Syp Vander Dussen was MPC’s Board Chairman and Rob Vandenheuvel was our General Manager, Milk Producers Council spent...

When the pandemic hit in the Spring of 2020, nationwide stay-at-home orders greatly impacted the dairy industry along with huge sectors...

USDA requires all U.S. dairy manufacturing plants who produce more than 1 million pounds per year of butter, nonfat dry milk, block...

Last week I wrote about additional pandemic aid USDA will be providing dairy farmers, including an idea that payments should be targeted...

On June 15, 2021, USDA announced its intention “to address a number of gaps and disparities in previous rounds of aid” with remaining...

When USDA last performed a major overhaul of the FMMO classified milk pricing formula in the year 2000, it created separate formulas for...

It’s dry. There has not been much moisture this past winter and surface water deliveries to the Central Valley this summer will be small...

The USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program started in May of 2020 as an emergency COVID-19 response program to get food to people in...

Whether intentional – or more likely unintentional – USDA’s operation of the pandemic-inspired Farmers to Families Food Box program...

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise…USDA awards less than 25% of the announced $1.5 billion Food Box Program purchases. The dairy industry...

On January 4, in a surprise move, USDA announced another round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. This program...

Sarina did a good job of outlining what we know about the dairy-specific provisions of the recently passed and signed COVID Relief Bill...

Is there a correlation between butter inventories and butter prices? It would seem obvious that there is. We know that our government...

Bulk butter inventories surged when the pandemic hit in March. The reason was obvious. Restaurants and institutional food service...

2020 has been crazy for everybody, but for dairy farmers who have the responsibility to feed, milk and care for their animals every day...

It may seem obvious, but it bears repeating that the price of milk a dairyman receives is based on the value of the products...