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Show USDA to poll dairy farmers on monthly milk price orders WASHINGTON, D.C.-The D.C.-The U.S. Department of Agriculture will poll dairy farmers who supply milk under 14 federal milk marketing orders to determine if they approve ap-prove a USDA decision that would provide for earlier announcements of monthly Class II milk prices under , the orders. Edward T. - Coughlin, dairy official with USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, said the new announcement procedure is based on the record of a public hearing in February at Denver, Colo. Under the administrative ad-ministrative procedures to change the provisions of milk marketing order, USDA first holds a public hearing, then proposes a "recommended decision." After receiving comments, USDA issues a "final decision," which cannot become effective unless it is approved by two-thirds two-thirds of the dairy farmers far-mers affected by it, Coughlin said. He said USDA will poll dairy farmers in 13 of the orders through their cooperative associations but the market administrator ad-ministrator will individually in-dividually poll those under the Eastern Ohio-Western Ohio-Western Pennsylvania order. - Coughlin said the change is similar to one approved by dairy farmers far-mers in September 1981 for 29 other milk marketing orders. Milk processors and dairy farmers, he said, want to know earlier than they have in the past the price milk handlers will pay for milk used to make Class II products, such as cottage cheese. The 14 orders affected this time are: Upper Florida, Tampa Bay, Southeastern Florida, Ohio Valley, Eastern Ohio-Western Pennsylvania, Penn-sylvania, Southern Michigan, Oregon-Washington, Oregon-Washington, Puget Sound, Inland Empire, Eastern Colorado, Western Colorado, Southwestern South-western Idaho-Eastern Oregon, Great Basin and Lake Mead. The. final decision provides that milk handlers be notified of Class II prices by the 15th day of the prior month. This would give processors a preliminary cost of the milk to be used for those Class II dairy products during the month of manufacture. "Handlers would then learn the final price no later than the fifth day after the month in which the milk was processed and under the proposal this final price could not be less than the Class III prices, or in some cases, the basic formula price for that same month," Coughlin said. The previous action in the 29 milk orders, following a public hearing and approval of changes by the affected dairy farmers, was forced by an order of the U.S. Court of Appeal in the District of Columbia. |