USDA Make Allowance Decisions Approved without Change, Effective Feb. 1

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last Friday that the make allowance amendments used in calculating Class III and Class IV products were approved in a producer referendum in all 10 Federal Milk Marketing Orders. This approval, by two-thirds of the affected producers and cooperatives, implements without further changes the make allowances announced by USDA six weeks ago.

The make allowances, announced on November 20, 2006, and included in the interim final rule on December 29, 2006, are $0.1682 per pound for cheese, $0.1202 per pound for butter, $0.1570 per pound for nonfat dry milk, and $0.1956 per pound for dry whey.

The make allowances will go into effect February 1, 2007, after the required 30 days notice following the announcement of the producer referendum.

To read IDFA's earlier statement on the make allowances proposed on November 20, 2006, click here.

To read USDA's Federal Register notice regarding the controversial decisions, click here.

For more information on this announcement, contact Bob Yonkers, IDFA chief economist, at byonkers@idfa.org or 202-220-3511.

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Posted January 2, 2007