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Milk price hearing surprises economist

An agricultural economist says the USDA’s hearing on federal milk marketing orders began with some unexpected twists.

Daniel Munch with the American Farm Bureau Federation tells Brownfield since the hearing began Wednesday, it’s moved along slower than he expected. “I didn’t realize USDA would be going through and providing testimony, and entering data sets, going over each of the data sets that stakeholders requested one-by-one into the record and that other groups would have the ability to cross-examine.”

Munch says much of the hearing so far has included attorney questions centered around component milk pricing, and potential changes to four of the federal orders. “That’s taken up the bulk of the time so far. We’ve also seen some objections take place on the first day from organizations that did not have their proposals included within the scope of the hearing.”

Testimony is expected to last nearly 14 weeks and will allow farmers to testify in person or on Fridays through an online connection.