First of all, California producers are in the middle of a referendum period that started on October 11 and ends on January 9, 2025. This referendum is asking producers to vote yes or no on a proposal to change the quota premium from its current $1.70 per cwt. less any applicable Regional Quota Adjuster to $1.00 per cwt. without a Regional Quota Adjuster. With the lowering of the quota premium, the current producer assessment applicable to all Grade A milk production in California would be reduced from its current 34.8 cents per cwt. to approximately 21-22 cents per cwt. The proposal also has some clarifying language on what a producer hardship is and a minor clarification on who a producer is. You can read the official announcement here.
In order for the referendum to pass, 51% of the eligible producers in California must vote. Then either 65% of the voting producers who produced 51% of the milk produced in California in the designated month (August 2024 is the month for this referendum) must vote yes, or 51% of the eligible producers who produce 65% of the milk produced in California in August 2024 must vote yes.
If you are a producer, you should have received a ballot about a month ago. The department has said that they will not open returned ballots or announce how many ballots they have received before the voting period finishes. We will not know until after January 9, 2025, whether enough producers have voted to have a valid referendum. If you have any questions about your particular ballot or if you want to confirm if CDFA has received it, you can contact David Ko at the QAP administration office at 916-900-5012.
The second significant news is that CDFA announced this week that the STOP QIP petition for a referendum to terminate the QIP program has qualified to be considered. You can read the petition here. You can read CDFA’s determination here.
The determination letter does identify that there are 787 eligible producers in California. 197 of them signed the termination petition. This petition next goes to the Producer Review Board for their consideration. It is up to the PRB to decide what to do next. They could decide to recommend another referendum, or they could do something else. Ultimately, the Secretary is the person with the authority to decide what to do next. CDFA indicated that a PRB meeting would be called in the next few weeks, but that the STOP QIP petition has no impact on the referendum that is going on right now.
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs
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