Jason Hartschuh, Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Ohio State University Extension
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service has announced details about the hearing that will begin on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. The purpose of this hearing is to discuss 22 different proposals that would amend milk prices in the 11 Federal Milk Marketing Orders. A total of 40 proposals were submitted for consideration. The full hearing announcement can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/07/24/2023-15496/milk-in-the-northeast-and-other-marketing-areas-notice-of-hearing-on-proposed-amendments-to
Testimony will be heard by subject area in the order they are listed:
- Milk composition
- Surveyed commodity prices
- Class III and Class IV formula factors
- Base Class I skim milk price
- Class I and Class II differentials
- AMS proposal
The public hearing will be held at the 502 East Event Centre, 502 East Carmel Drive, Carmel, IN. Each proposal will be presented and testified on with each witness having 60 minutes to present their proposals.
Dairy farmers may testify in person at any time during the hearing, or virtually via Zoom on Fridays. Starting Friday, September 1, 2023, and each Friday thereafter during the hearing, beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET, ten (10) time slots will be available for dairy farmers to testify virtually. Dairy farmers must pre-register to testify virtually, as outlined in the instructions provided on the Hearing website. Each registered dairy farmer will be allocated up to 15 minutes to present testimony. Additional time may be requested. There will be no time limit on cross-examination. The hearing will continue until the presiding judge determines it is complete. At that time, USDA will issue their recommended decision with an open comment period to follow on those recommendations. If the process progresses as expected, it should be completed by July 2024.
The full proposals, hearing recordings, and additional information on participating can be found at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/moa/dairy/hearings/national-fmmo-pricing-hearing