An as-yet unpublished notice setting a national public hearing to consider proposed amendments to Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMO) has been released.
The document containing the hearing notice, posted by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), will officially be published in the Federal Register, July 24.
Upon publication, a USDA AMS website with all hearing information will also go live. The site will contain information on hearing logistics, guidelines for how the hearing will be conducted and will include links to hearing exhibits.
The hearing will convene on Aug. 23, 9 a.m. (Eastern time), in Carmel, Indiana.
After Aug. 23, the hearing will continue as scheduled until it is adjourned by the presiding administrative law judge. The hearing will be in recess and will not convene on Sept. 4, 2023, for the Labor Day holiday, nor on Sept. 21-22, 2023.
If necessary, in addition to the dates listed, the schedule for the next session will be announced at the time of adjournment. Such reconvening date and time will also be posted on the hearing website.
Dairy farmers may testify in person at any time during the hearing, or virtually via Zoom on Fridays. Starting Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, and each Friday thereafter during the hearing, beginning at 12 p.m. (Eastern time), 10 time slots will be available for dairy farmers to testify virtually. Dairy farmers must pre-register to testify virtually.
The USDA AMS document contains 22 proposals to be considered during the hearing process, as well as information regarding hearing testimony and submission of hearing exhibits.
