Geoff Vanden Heuvel
FMMO Hearing Report Week 10
Early in this full week at the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing, National Milk Producers Federation witnesses wrapped up...
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Economic News
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Dec 1
- 5 min
My Testimony at the Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing
It was a privilege to testify for Milk Producers Council at the FMMO hearing this week. In addition to fully supporting the package...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Dec 1
- 3 min
FMMO Hearing Restarts
After a six-week break, the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing resumed in Carmel, Indiana this week. When the hearing had recessed...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Oct 13
- 3 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Report -- Week 8
The proposal to update and raise Class I differentials in all 3,100 counties of the continental United States by National Milk...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Oct 6
- 3 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Report -- Week 7
There are five “issues” encompassing 21 proposals that make up the substance of the “call” of this hearing into Federal Milk Marketing...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Sep 29
- 3 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Report -- Week 6
When I tuned in to the hearing at 5 a.m. Pacific time on Monday morning, I heard a different voice come through my earbuds.
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Sep 22
- 4 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Report -- Week 5
The Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing in Carmel, Indiana only met three days this week because the venue where the hearing is...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Sep 15
- 2 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Report
Week four of the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing in Carmel, Indiana was mostly about the make allowance. The following proposals...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Sep 8
- 3 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Progress Report
This was the third week of the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing in Carmel, Indiana. The week started out with rebuttal testimony on...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Sep 1
- 5 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Gets Going
There was a lot of hard work put in this week at the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing in Carmel, Indiana.
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Aug 25
- 2 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Gets Started
How would you report on the first mile of a 26-mile marathon where the race results will not be known until months after the race is...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Aug 17
- 6 min
FMMO Issues for Consideration at 2023 FMMO Hearing
By Geoff Vanden Heuvel Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs Issue #1 Milk Composition There are proposals from National Milk...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Jul 7
- 2 min
A First for Dairy Margin Coverage
The Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Program is the basic safety net USDA provides for America’s dairy farmers. It is structured to...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- May 5
- 3 min
Finally, an FMMO Petition from the National Milk Producers Federation
When California joined the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) program in November of 2018, it was widely believed that an update of...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Oct 28, 2022
- 2 min
National Milk Producers Federation Agrees on a Path Forward for Updating FMMO
This past week National Milk Producers Federation, which represents most of the dairy farmer-owned cooperatives in the country...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Jul 8, 2022
- 5 min
MPC Provides Testimony on Dairy Safety Net Programs, FMMOs at Farm Bill Listening Session
Yesterday, Representative Jim Costa (D-16) hosted a listening session...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Mar 11, 2022
- 1 min
Federal Milk Marketing Order Impact on the California Milk Price
The Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) started in California on November 1, 2018, which means we have been operating under the FMMO...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Feb 18, 2022
- 6 min
The Logic Behind Federal Milk Marketing Order Pricing
There seems to be an uptick in complaining about Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs), with a fair amount of calling for “reform” of...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Feb 11, 2022
- 4 min
Who Wants to Think About Risk Management, Now?
It’s always a bit tricky as a dairyman trying to figure out how to manage risk – particularly on the milk income side. The current...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Dec 10, 2021
- 1 min
Next Week: Sign Up for 2022 Dairy Margin Program
USDA announced some improvements in the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, which is the dairy safety net program that provides...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Sep 10, 2021
- 1 min
Update on USDA's Class I Pandemic Assistance Program
Three weeks ago, I wrote about Agriculture Secretary Vilsack’s announcement of a USDA compensation program designed to provide money...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Sep 10, 2021
- 2 min
The Dairy Growth Management Plan: An Interesting Note From the Past
Back when Syp Vander Dussen was MPC’s Board Chairman and Rob Vandenheuvel was our General Manager, Milk Producers Council spent...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Aug 20, 2021
- 3 min
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Makes a Disappointing Announcement
When the pandemic hit in the Spring of 2020, nationwide stay-at-home orders greatly impacted the dairy industry along with huge sectors...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Aug 6, 2021
- 3 min
What is the Correlation Between CME Cash Prices and Prices that Set FMMO Milk Prices?
USDA requires all U.S. dairy manufacturing plants who produce more than 1 million pounds per year of butter, nonfat dry milk, block...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Jun 25, 2021
- 1 min
USDA Creating Program to Reimburse Producers: Secretary Tom Vilsack
Last week I wrote about additional pandemic aid USDA will be providing dairy farmers, including an idea that payments should be targeted...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Jun 18, 2021
- 3 min
USDA Announces Pandemic Aid for Dairy Farmers – and a Suggestion
On June 15, 2021, USDA announced its intention “to address a number of gaps and disparities in previous rounds of aid” with remaining...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- May 7, 2021
- 4 min
Class I Controversy Update
When USDA last performed a major overhaul of the FMMO classified milk pricing formula in the year 2000, it created separate formulas for...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Apr 23, 2021
- 5 min
Water & Milk Policy News
It’s dry. There has not been much moisture this past winter and surface water deliveries to the Central Valley this summer will be small...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Apr 16, 2021
- 2 min
USDA Ends Farmers to Families Food Box
The USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program started in May of 2020 as an emergency COVID-19 response program to get food to people in...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Mar 26, 2021
- 3 min
Action Needed to Close the USDA-stimulated Gap Between Class III & IV Milk Prices
Whether intentional – or more likely unintentional – USDA’s operation of the pandemic-inspired Farmers to Families Food Box program...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Jan 22, 2021
- 3 min
Food Box Follies
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise…USDA awards less than 25% of the announced $1.5 billion Food Box Program purchases. The dairy industry...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Jan 8, 2021
- 3 min
Food Box Round 5: Is USDA Again Picking Winners and Losers?
On January 4, in a surprise move, USDA announced another round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. This program...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Dec 30, 2020
- 2 min
Other Stuff in the COVID Bill
Sarina did a good job of outlining what we know about the dairy-specific provisions of the recently passed and signed COVID Relief Bill...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Dec 18, 2020
- 2 min
The Bulk Butter Bulge Continues to Depress Milk Prices
Is there a correlation between butter inventories and butter prices? It would seem obvious that there is.
We know that our government...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Dec 4, 2020
- 5 min
Dairy Tidbits
Bulk butter inventories surged when the pandemic hit in March. The reason was obvious. Restaurants and institutional food service...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Oct 16, 2020
- 5 min
What to make of this irrational world?
2020 has been crazy for everybody, but for dairy farmers who have the responsibility to feed, milk and care for their animals every day...
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
- Jun 26, 2020
- 5 min
Volatility in the new world of the California Federal Order
It may seem obvious, but it bears repeating that the price of milk a dairyman receives is based on the value of the products...
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