Milk pricing is complex, but the producer price differential (PPD) is also frustrating. First, most producers don’t understand how it is calculated. Second, a negative PPD, which happens a lot, looks like a milk check deduction (it isn’t actually).

Debate will begin in earnest this year on updating and improving Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs). The process is a bit like having your molars removed. You know you need painful surgery, but you can always put it off for another year. But too many years have already gone by.