California Dept. of Ag orders long-term change on milk pricing

Milk prices paid to California dairy farmers, specifically the portions related to dry whey, will continue to be calculated based on a state milk pricing formula that's been in use since last August. The California Department of Food and Agriculture ordered a permanent change to the dry-whey scale used to determine the whey-factor value in the state pricing formula for Class 4b milk, which relates to milk used to manufacture cheese and its byproduct whey. The decision comes after CDFA held a hearing in April to consider changes to the dry-whey scale. The department held a similar hearing last June, after which it implemented a temporary change to the dry-whey scale that was to be in place for one year, expiring in August. The current decision makes that temporary scale a permanent part of the formula, effective in June. In her letter to stakeholders, CDFA Secretary Karen Ross said she still believes modifying the state's milk pricing formula is not an adequate way "to address long-term structural challenges facing the dairy industry," but that the department "must continue to respond to changing conditions in our industry by using the only tools available through the current milk pricing system." "Once dairy product markets improve, this adjustment will provide a needed increase in revenue to producers to promote a stable milk supply," she said. Ross further noted that strong global milk production, high inventories of dairy products and decreased dairy-product sales to key importing countries have dropped milk prices and eroded incomes for producers in California and across the nation