CORALVILLE, Iowa — The National Farmers Organization is promoting its Cooperative Marketing Initiative, a nongovernmental approach, to help improve general milk price levels across the country.
According to Dairy Division Director Bradly Rach, the initiative could become an extension of Cooperatives Working Together, or CWT, and continue to be administered by National Milk Producers Federation.
Rach said the initiative would perform three functions. It would set national production levels consistent with national usage ; assign each cooperative a production level consistent with their share of usage; and set target prices at appropriate values, enabling members to produce milk profitably.
CWT would determine how much milk would need to be marketed to set the target price.
Each cooperative, when given its “Full Value Production Level” would assign a portion of it to each of its members and pay target prices to producers, less expenses.
Volumes over the “Full Value Production Level” would be accepted, but at a different rate of compensation.
Disputes and challenges would be handled by CWT.
“We believe our proposal is unique from others, because it calls for no government involvement,” Rach said.
National Farmers is a group marketing, price negotiating and risk management organization.
