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USDA Stays the Course on Changes to Southeast and Appalachian Orders

On September 21, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a "partial final decision" resulting from a February 2004 hearing in Atlanta regarding a variety of proposed changes to the Southeast and Appalachian Milk Marketing Orders. This decision mirrors the department's "partial recommended decision" that was issued in May; after reviewing public comments on its recommended decision, USDA made no changes.

In its announcement, the department outlined the following decisions:

  • USDA did not adopt the proposal to merge the Southeast and Appalachian order areas. USDA also decided not to create a new marketing area, which would have consisted of the westernmost areas currently regulated under the Southeast marketing area.

  • USDA adopted a recommendation that all counties and cities in Virginia that are not currently regulated by a federal order now be included in the Appalachian marketing area. This will expand the Appalachian order to include 25 more counties and 15 additional cities.

  • USDA adopted a proposal that increases the current maximum rate of assessment permitted under the transportation credit provisions in both the Appalachian and Southeast marketing areas by 3 cents per hundredweight of milk. Another amendment provides market administrators with the authority to adjust the criteria used to determine the milk of a dairy farmer that is eligible for transportation credits.

  • USDA adopted a proposal that eliminates the ability to simultaneously pool the same milk in the Appalachian or Southeast federal order and a state-operated order that has market-wide pooling.

This is a "partial final decision" only, since USDA indicated that a related recommendation — regarding the producer-handler provisions of the Appalachian and Southeast marketing areas — will be addressed in a separate decision.

USDA's changes must now be approved by affected producers in the Southeast and Appalachian Milk Marketing Orders in order to take effect. If the amended orders are approved, USDA will release a final rule implementing the changes. For more information, click here to visit USDA's website. Members can also contact the IDFA economic policy group at 202/737-4332.

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Posted September 26, 2005