California Producers Approve Federal Milk Marketing Order

California dairy producers have voted to approve a Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) for the state of California. The California FMMO was proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and received producer approval by at least a two-thirds vote.

 

The California FMMO will adopt the same dairy product classification and pricing provisions used in other FMMO systems. Producer quotas will be administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). A FMMO requires handlers of milk within a state to pay minimum class prices according to how the milk is used. For complete details of the California FMMO, see the Federal Register notice for the referendum vote. An economic impact analysis of the marketing order is also available for review. 

 

California organic producers are not exempted from the FMMO. Organic producers are exempted from some federal marketing orders and research and promotion programs. The exemptions do not include the FMMO.

 

For more information on the California FMMO, please see the AMS California FMMO website. Please contact Erin Taylor at AMS’s Order Formulation and Enforcement Division with questions at erin.taylor@ams.usda.gov or (202) 720-7311.