House Ag Chairman Joins Calls for Interim Make Allowance Decision

The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee joined other congressional and industry voices last week urging USDA to issue an interim decision to update milk pricing formulas for make allowances. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) agreed with IDFA and others in the industry, saying the issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible using currently available data.

IDFA commends Chairman Goodlatte for recognizing the importance of accurate make allowances to the health of dairy processors and manufacturing dairy farmer cooperatives, and appreciates his efforts to press USDA for a swift decision.

In his letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, Goodlatte stressed the urgent need for updated formulas, noting that while energy and other manufacturing costs continue to escalate for dairy processors, the make allowances have remained unchanged for the past six years.

Goodlatte acknowledged USDA's plan to reconvene the January hearing to gather new information that Cornell University is compiling on make allowances. He encouraged USDA to use the data currently available and suggested making additional changes later, if necessary, when more data becomes available. To read the letter, click here.

IDFA is continuing its significant outreach efforts on this issue with Capitol Hill, federal agencies and the national and trade media. Reports on these efforts will be included in future issues of News Update.

Posted July 17, 2006