(NewsDakota.com/NAFB) – The American Farm Bureau Federation urges the Department of Agriculture to accept the National Milk Producers Federation Federal Milk Marketing Order petition.

AFBF says the petition provides a long-overdue comprehensive Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing to ensure that consumers can access fresh milk and dairy products while protecting dairy farmers from potentially harmful market conditions. AFBF President Zippy Duvall calls on USDA to hold a hearing on FMMO reform and asks the department to go further than a recent NMPF petition by asking for mandatory, audited surveys of dairy processors to be used when determining the make allowances factored into dairy pricing.

The letter indicates USDA’s authority to conduct a mandatory audit under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act. This change and the need for additional reforms were part of a farmer consensus formed at the AFBF-hosted FMMO Forum held in Kansas City, Missouri, last October. NMPF filed its petition on May 1, and USDA must respond to the petition within 30 days.