In a letter to subscribers dated April 21, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is requesting comments regarding existing reporting guidelines and market coverage of all Dairy Market News reporting programs. AMS has administered DMN for more than 70 years.

In its letter, AMS states:

Comments should clearly include the commenter’s position on current product specifications, product coverage, or reporting guidelines. Any justification for proposed changes and relevant information to support those views should be included. Due to recent industry requests, AMS is particularly interested in adding and/or adjusting market coverage for selected dairy products. Three key areas of interest are:

• adding market coverage of skim milk powder (SMP)
• including resale prices in market price series
• evaluating lactose mesh size in market price series

AMS analyzes and reviews the market information then publishes reports providing commentary, market highs, lows, and mostly ranges. Because market information published by AMS is used by industry participants in making informed business decisions, it is imperative that the criteria used and products reported on by DMN are representative of current market conditions. This review will assure DMN reports remain relevant to dairy market participants. Any comment relating to any aspect of market reporting will be considered.

A list of individual reports and the general working guidelines are on the DMN website along with the most recent DMN reports.

Send comments by May 23, 2014 to Joseph Gaynor or Butch Speth.

Joseph Gaynor Director, Dairy Market News
1400 Independence Ave., SW, 0231-2977
Washington, DC 20250-0225
Phone: (202) 720-9351
Fax: (202) 720-4844
DMN@ams.usda.gov

Butch Speth, National Supervisor, Dairy Market News.
2920 Marketplace Drive, STE 202
Fitchburg, WI 53719-5337
Phone: (608) 278-4152
Fax: (608) 278-4141
DMN@ams.usda.gov