Senate Looks To Address Milk Pricing, Future

"In 2020, record negative producer price differentials occurred which were not just abnormal in magnitude, they were unpredictable and greatly contributed to farm milk price volatility," said Cornell University economist Christopher Wolf speaking during a Senate Ag subcommittee hearing last week on milk pricing and possible area of improvement and reform.

Wolf noted those price differentials were cause by a myriad of factors. So when considering improvements to federal milk marketing orders.

"The entire supply chain from farmers to processors must be healthy for a prosperous dairy industry. The current set of markets and institutions that we have has evolved around the existing federal milk marketing order system. And the ripple effects of reform should be carefully considered to balance the interests of all involved parties including equity as well as economic efficiency."

He believes that changes over time in production and consumption aspects are leading in part to eventual reforms in the federal milk marketing orders.

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