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Understanding Federal Milk Marketing Orders Objectives, Functions, & Shortfalls

Jack Myers

Summary

The Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs) serve as the definitive pricing mechanism that governs milk prices received by dairy farmers in the United States. In 2022, approximately 75 percent of the entire U.S. milk production was marketed through the FMMOs. However, many dairy industry stakeholders have argued that the current FMMO system is not conducive to today's dairy market conditions, as the number of dairy farms has decreased dramatically over the last decade, combined with the decrease in the utilization of Class I fluid milk. Further, many dairy industry groups claim that FMMOs are an incredibly complex set of policies and subsequently hard to understand. As such, in 2023, industry stakeholders made the push to amend the FMMOs. The objective of this Extension program was to inform dairy farmers, industry stakeholders, and Extension agents about the operation, shortfalls, and proposed amendments to the FMMOs. Learning outcomes for each of these groups included increasing farmer and dairy foods processor knowledge of the FMMOs, engaging policymakers in more informed dialogue, and developing informational materials to aid in the understanding of the FMMOs. Materials to achieve these outcomes included the preparation of written, in-person, and audiovisual materials. The delivery of prepared materials was conducted in undergraduate and graduate classes at the University of Arkansas. To test the effectiveness of these materials, participants were asked to rate their understanding of the FMMOs before and after exposure to the material. Preliminary results indicate that most participants knew a little to a moderate amount more than before exposure to written and in-person materials.

Details

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