§627 Dairy Forward Pricing Pilot Program

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture must set up a temporary pilot program within 90 days after November 29, 1999 that lets milk producers and cooperatives voluntarily sign forward price contracts with milk handlers. Money paid by handlers and prices received by producers under those contracts will count as meeting the federal minimum milk price rules and the rule about total payments by each handler. The program only applies to federally regulated milk that is not Class I (not meant for fluid use) and that moves in interstate or foreign commerce or directly affects that commerce. Milk handlers may allocate other milk receipts to meet their Class I needs without having to track each source separately. The program ends on December 31, 2004, and no contract made under it may last past that date. The Secretary must study how these forward contracts affect the prices paid to producers. The Secretary can use the information-gathering powers in section 608d, keeping information confidential as required, and must report the study results to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives by April 30, 2002.