How will the U.S. dairy industry look under deregulation? How has California become the nation's leading dairy producer? Why have consumers preferred the real thing over artificial dairy products? This book will help readers make sense of the American dairy business, whose complexities and eccentricities so often seem to defy understanding. On the brink of far-reaching changes in federal dairy policy, it gives a much-needed account of how market forces and government intervention drive the most regulated and complicated agricultural industry in the United States. The first comprehensive book on the topic,Marketing and Pricing of Milk and Dairy Products in the U.S. considers every aspect of this complicated puzzle. Looking at dairy products from milk and yogurt to butter, cheese, and ice cream, it explains supply and demand, dairy cooperatives, federal milk marketing orders and price supports, local and state regulations, and international trade. Finally, in a clear and compelling manner, the author proposes reforms that would benefit the dairy industry, especially a move toward less regulation.

"Nearly 50 years ago a few progressive dairy farmers in Michigan organized the first cow-testing association in the United States. They wanted to improve the profitableness of their herds. They hired a tester to weigh and test the milk of each cow and keep a record of her food cost and income. They wanted that information so the could cull the low producers from their herds and feed the rest more economically. In the first 4 years of their pioneer effort these Michigan dairy farmers doubled the average profit per sow. since then thousands of other dairy farmers have followed their example with equally striking results. The cow-testing movement grew and eventually expanded into the present-day dairy-herd-improvement-association program. Members of these associations now use their records not only to test the cows but to prove the bulls. The improvement they have brought about in their herds is one of the outstanding 'success' stories in agriculture. No herd is so good that it cannot be made better by effective culling, good feeding, and the use of production-tested breeding stock. Breeding records and records of production, feed cost, and income are essential for carrying on such an improvement program. Membership in a dairy-herd improvement association is one of the best and most economical ways for any dairy farmer to obtain the necessary records."--Page ii.

These reports cover the supply, demand, and price situation every week on a regional, national, and international basis for milk, butter, cheese, and dry and fluid products.

Food safety regulators face a daunting task: crafting food safety performance standards and systems that continue in the tradition of using the best available science to protect the health of the American public, while working within an increasingly antiquated and fragmented regulatory framework. Current food safety standards have been set over a period of years and under diverse circumstances, based on a host of scientific, legal, and practical constraints. Scientific Criteria to Ensure Safe Food lays the groundwork for creating new regulations that are consistent, reliable, and ensure the best protection for the health of American consumers. This book addresses the biggest concerns in food safetyâ€"including microbial disease surveillance plans, tools for establishing food safety criteria, and issues specific to meat, dairy, poultry, seafood, and produce. It provides a candid analysis of the problems with the current system, and outlines the major components of the task at hand: creating workable, streamlined food safety standards and practices.