The Producer Review Board (PRB) will hold a meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday December 17, 2024, at the Stanislaus County Ag Commissioner’s Office, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Modesto.
While the week before Christmas is not a very convenient time to hold a PRB meeting, the timeline requirements in the petition procedure regulation require a meeting within 60 days of the certification of a petition for a referendum (see QIP petition procedures here). On November 4, the California Department of Food and Agriculture certified the validity of a petition submitted by STOP QIP for a referendum to terminate the QIP program, and therefore a PRB meeting must be held in that timeframe.
It is important to note what the QIP regulation actually requires and does not require. Here is the direct quote from the regulation:
Section 1103. Upon receipt of a petition signed by at least 25 percent of market milk producers regarding the amendment or termination of this Plan, the Secretary shall convene the Producer Review Board to review the merits of the petition and make a recommendation to the Secretary.
Holding a PRB meeting is the only required outcome of a petition. There is no requirement in the regulation of the PRB as to what it must recommend when it holds that meeting.
In addition to dealing with the STOP QIP petition, there are other items that the PRB will be considering such as updates on the board nomination process (see here), the current referendum voting process (see here), a staffing update, a recommendation to adjust the current QIP assessments, and then five more hardship cases. See the entire agenda here.
This meeting will have telephone access for those that cannot attend in person. See the agenda for details. Meanwhile, the deadline for producers to submit their ballots for the referendum that is currently occurring is January 9, 2025.
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs
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