Empire State Today

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a leading champion for New York’s dairy farmers, announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will hold a hearingon federal milk pricing system reform. The current milk pricing system puts many farmers at risk of inadequate pay, which is especially harmful as costs rise and competition intensifies. The scheduled hearing, which Gillibrand called on USDA to hold, will allow producers and industry leaders to consider proposals to reform and modernize Class I skim milk pricing and help create a system that works for New York’s small and mid-sized dairy farmers.

“I am grateful that USDA heeded my call to hold hearings on dairy pricing,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Our current system is out of date and works against the interests of New York’s farmers. These hearings are a critical first step to build a better system that works for both industry and producers.”

The hearings are a direct result of Gillibrand’s longstanding advocacy on behalf of New York’s farmers. In 2021, she held a Senate Agriculture Subcommittee hearing on modernizing milk pricing and the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system and introduced the Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act, legislation to require the Secretary of Agriculture to initiate hearings to review the FMMO system.

Hearings are expected to begin on August 23rd, 2023.

More information on USDA’s Action Plan on Proposed Amendments can be found here.

Original source can be found here.