The delegates to the California Dairy Campaign and California Farmers Union Annual Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15 adopted policy to address the ongoing dairy crisis caused by extremely low milk prices. The policy states that the U.S. dairy industry is facing a severe crisis with historically low milk prices that do not cover production costs, leading to a significant decline in the number of dairy farms—over 87,200 since 1995. A recent increase in make allowances (the amount dairy farmers pay dairy processors to process milk) has exacerbated the situation, further reducing farmers’ income. To address these challenges, delegates passed a call to action to Congress for:

- A farmer-led, incentive-based milk production plan to align supply with market demand.

- A transparent pricing formula for producers with incentives to balance milk production with profitable market demand.

- Investigation of potential market manipulation at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) as US prices paid fall below global prices.

- Comprehensive reform of the Federal Milk Marketing Order system.

- Revision of Class pricing formulas to accurately reflect the value of dairy products and other key policies.

The meeting was hosted in Merced and included a luncheon and remarks from guest speaker, Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Esmeralda Soria.