Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act of 2023

Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act of 2023

This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to hold national hearings to review Federal Milk Marketing Orders. (USDA uses these orders to establish a minimum price for various classes of milk.) The hearings must include the review of proposals from producers and the dairy industry on the price of Class I skim milk.

The bill also requires manufacturers to report cost and yield information for all dairy products processed in the same facility or facilities to USDA's Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program. Further, every two years, USDA must publish a report containing the information obtained under these new requirements.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1756 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1756

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to initiate hearings to review 
Federal milk marketing orders relating to pricing of Class I skim milk, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2023

  Mr. Langworthy (for himself, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Kelly of Mississippi, 
Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Meuser, Mr. Williams 
of New York, Mr. Stewart, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, and Ms. Tenney) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to initiate hearings to review 
Federal milk marketing orders relating to pricing of Class I skim milk, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. NOTICE AND HEARINGS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide 
notice of, and initiate, national hearings to review Federal milk 
marketing orders under section 8c(3) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act 
(7 U.S.C. 608c(3)), reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural 
Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, which shall include review and 
consideration of views and proposals of producers and the dairy 
industry on the Class I skim milk price, including the ``higher of'' 
Class I skim milk formula described in subsection (b) and any other 
views and proposals on the Class I skim milk price, and such other 
matters as the Secretary of Agriculture considers appropriate.
    (b) ``Higher of'' Class I Skim Milk Formula Described.--The 
``higher of'' Class I skim milk formula referred to in subsection (a) 
is the formula under which, for purposes of determining prices for milk 
of the highest use classification, the Class I skim milk price per 
hundredweight specified in section 1000.50(b) of title 7, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), is equal to the sum 
obtained by adding--
            (1) the adjusted Class I differential specified in section 
        1000.52 of that title (or successor regulations);
            (2) the adjustment to Class I prices specified in sections 
        1005.51(b), 1006.51(b), and 1007.51(b) of that title (or 
        successor regulations); and
            (3) the higher of--
                    (A) the advanced pricing factor computed under 
                section 1000.50(q)(1) of that title (or successor 
                regulations); and
                    (B) the advanced pricing factor computed under 
                section 1000.50(q)(2) of that title (or successor 
                regulations).

SEC. 3. MANDATORY REPORTING OF DAIRY PRODUCT PROCESSING COSTS.

    Section 273 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 
1637b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``and'' at 
                the end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) for each manufacturer required to report 
                under subparagraph (A) for any product, require that 
                manufacturer to report cost and yield information, as 
                determined by the Secretary, for all products processed 
                in the same facility or facilities; and
                    ``(D) require any manufacturer of such other dairy 
                products as determined by the Secretary to report cost 
                and yield information in the same manner as under 
                subparagraph (C), for the purposes of providing 
                information for the regulatory or administrative 
                establishment of pricing rules.''; and
            (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Dairy product processing costs.--Not later than 2 
        years after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every 
        2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall publish a report 
        containing the information obtained under subparagraphs (C) and 
        (D) of subsection (b)(1).''.
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