Session 3 Synopsis

      Session #3 was the economic session and was held in Modesto, CA, primarily at the Western United Dairymen's office.  We started out the first day meeting with Annie AcMoody, from Western United, where we went over the California pricing system and how pooling and the different classes all contribute to our "mailbox price".  We also heard from Dr. William Schiek, from Dairy Institute of California on what the outlook for both global and local markets are for the coming months.  Following this we went to dinner at Surla's Restaurant where we talked with guest, Ray Souza, about what the milk pooling system did for producers compared to what had been the norm prior to pooling in California.

     The second day we were at the WUD office again.  We had a busy day of speakers but all with great information.  We heard from Mike Francesconi, from CDFA, about the function and duties of the Dairy Marketing Branch within the CDFA.  Following Mike, we heard from Venetta Reed, also from CDFA.  She talked about the Manufacturing Cost Studies which they do, and how they play into the pricing formulas.  Next, Amber Rankin talked to us about the California Hearing process which is how anything is changed regarding pricing and pooling regulations and formulas.  She then gave us a nice overview on the California vs. Federal systems.  We went over pricing and marketing as well as pooling regulations and special circumstances like producer-handlers.  We then had a nice lunch at the WUD office and heard from Mike Francesconi again, about the Cost of Production studies which was very interesting to me as a great set of benchmarks with which to see how our dairy is doing on the cost side of things.  Then after Mike, we heard from John Lee from the CDFA Milk Pooling Branch.  John gave us an overview of what the Milk Pooling Branch does.  Next was John Bressett who talked to us about the Producer Security Assurance Team.  They deal with making sure that we as producers, are not being taken advantage of by processors, trucking costs, etc.  Lastly we heard from Don Shippelhoute who gave a very detailed discussion on milk pooling in California.  We met at the Firkin and Fox pub for dinner and followed up with a Modesto Nuts baseball game.

    The third day of the session was also at the WUD office.  We began the day hearing from Mike Marsh about Western United Dairymen and all that they do for us as producers, along with their involvement in recent and current issues affecting the dairy industry.  Then we met with Eric Erba, from California Dairies.  He went over the challenges beyond the farm such as transporting the milk, balancing supply and demand, and plant capacity and production base.  To end the session, we heard from Tiffany LaMendola, from Blimling and Associates, Inc.  She gave us a very in depth look at hedging and risk management through use of the futures markets on the milk side.

    This third session was overall very informative.  Every speaker gave a great presentation and they were all extremely willing to answer our questions.  I really enjoyed getting into great discussions with all of them and was very engaged with this whole session.  I feel I really gained a lot from learning how milk in California is actually priced, and why it is this way.  The topics relating to the future of the industry were very interesting;  talking about what problems there are and possible solutions to be found to overcome those as an industry.  Each session continues to be very challenging and engaging, I am very much looking forward to the final two!