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!
