§4508 Cooperative Association Representation

Summary

When the Secretary must decide to approve or disapprove producers, the Secretary will treat a cooperative association’s approval or disapproval as the vote of the producers who are members of, or under contract with, that cooperative if the cooperative is genuinely marketing milk or milk products. If a cooperative chooses to vote for its members, it must send each affected producer the referendum question, say how it plans to vote, give instructions for how a producer can cast an individual ballot within the time the Secretary sets, and include an official ballot. That notice must be sent at least 30 days before the referendum. The Secretary will count the ballots and adjust the cooperative’s vote to match any individual producer votes.