§627 Dairy forward pricing pilot program

Summary

Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to set up a temporary pilot program within 90 days after November 29, 1999. Under the program, milk producers and their cooperatives may choose to sign forward price contracts with milk handlers (agreements that fix milk prices ahead of time). Payments and prices under those contracts count as meeting the federal minimum price rules in paragraphs (B) and (F) of subsection (5) of section 608c and the total-payment rule in paragraph (C) of that subsection. The program covers only federally regulated milk that is not Class I or meant for fluid use and that is in, or affects, interstate or foreign commerce. To avoid tracking every gallon, a handler may allocate other milk receipts to meet Class I needs without segregating milk tied to forward contracts. The Secretary’s authority to run the pilot ends on December 31, 2004, and no contract made under the program may go past that date. The Secretary must study how forward contracting affects milk prices paid to producers and may use the powers in section 608d while following its confidentiality rules. A report on the study must be sent to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the House Committee on Agriculture not later than April 30, 2002.