California Dairies Inc., Visalia, Calif., said yesterday that the findings of a five-month long study it commissioned (along with Dairy Farmers of America and Land O Lakes) indicate that a properly written federal milk marketing order for California would provide a regulatory structure that would potentially result in higher farm gate prices, which would benefit California dairy farm families.

The three cooperatives, representing approximately 80% of the milk produced in California, collectively funded the comprehensive modeling study to examine the issues and benefits of replacing the California state milk marketing order with a federal milk marketing order.

The study was conducted by Mark Stephenson, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Chuck Nicholson of Penn State University. After a thorough review of the study results including possible consequences and opportunities, it was agreed upon by the three cooperatives to continue working toward a change in the regulatory structure.