Milk in the Chicago Regional and Other Marketing Areas; Notice of Hearing on Proposed Amendments to Tentative Marketing Agreements and Orders

الملخص

This hearing is being held to consider proposals to amend five Federal milk marketing orders. The proposals would establish a multiple component pricing plan for pricing producer milk under the orders. Producer milk utilized in Class II and Class III would be priced to handlers on the basis of three components. The components priced would be butterfat, protein and solids-not-fat other than protein. Under some of the proposals, producer prices or protein prices would be adjusted for quality attributes of milk, such as somatic cell content. The hearing was requested by a dairy trade association and several cooperative associations that represent a substantial number of dairy farmers who supply these markets. A number of other dairy cooperative associations and dairy organizations submitted proposals to be considered at the hearing. The proponents maintain that the proposed payment plans would give producers a direct economic incentive to produce the components valued by the marketplace.