The Dairy Industry Advisory Committee held its final meeting this week, reversing a previous decision to recommend adopting the California Milk Solids Standards. Instead, the committee unanimously voted to ask Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to explore the issue further and review the impact that the fortification standards would have if they were applied to all U.S. fluid milk.
Although the committee tweaked its recommendation for the secretary to review further the Federal Milk Marketing Order system, the remainder of its recommendations as adopted in its December meeting remained the same. The committee used most of the two-day meeting to review and discuss its final report.
Several key proposals were adopted by unanimous or near unanimous vote at the committee's December meeting. They include replacing the price support program and the export incentive program with an enhanced safety-net for dairy farmers, improving risk management products, adopting farm savings account and phasing out ethanol subsidies. After finding common ground on the California standards issue, the committee's only remaining controversial position is its endorsement of a "growth management" program by a close 9-8 tally.
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