Milk is truly an American staple food. Producing, marketing and pricing are just some of the aspects of milk that make news. The California milk industry as given us such cultural icons as "Got milk" and "Great milk comes from happy cows." Today, the California Milk Advisory Board announced that it is introducing the "Real California Milk" seal, which certifies that dairy products bearing the seal are made exclusively with California milk, according to a press release published on Business Wire and picked up widely in the media.
Coincidentally, also today, the Los Angeles Times ran a story about the milk pricing formula, which it proclaimed in its headline "grates on state's cheese makers," pun intended, of course.
"Cheese makers claim that the current formula, changed four years ago when dairies were struggling with low milk prices, could drive smaller plants out of business because it raises the cost of making cheese in a competitive market where it is hard to recoup the added expense," according to the article.
For comment, writer Jerry Hirsch went to UC Davis ag economist Leslie Butler.
"This is your basic fight over who gets the change that's left on the table," the Times quoted Butler.
Butler predicted the next phase of the pricing issue: "We will have a hearing and everyone will argue and the CDFA will decide. There is no guessing which way it will go."
On the production side, a major research project is being undertaken in Tulare and Kings county aimed at gaining an better understanding about what is happening to groundwater beneath dairies. A media advisory is being distributed this week. UCCE is inviting the media to a dairy in Hanford on Sept. 13 to get details about the research project.
The rest of this week I will be at the Society for Environmental Journalists conference in Palo Alto. Look for ANR-related developments from the SEJ conference here in the coming days.