By Sherry Bunting, published in Farmshine, Feb. 4, 2022

LANCASTER, Pa. – “The optimum level of tension is not zero,” said Dr. Marin Bozic. While he is an assistant professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, it his independent work that he spoke of during a 90-minute reveal of bold ideas for the future of milk pricing.

Bozic was the keynote speaker for the 2022 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit in Lancaster this week. His first public presentation of what he has been working on for months fueled questions and applause from the over 300 attending dairy producers and industry members.

He laid out three “pillars” of milk pricing reform: milk check transparency, fairness in contracting, and Federal Milk Marketing Order modifications.

The first is something he has already begun bringing to fruition. Receiving milk checks from producers in some parts of the country, so far, his goal is to start publishing a Milk Check Transparency Report that would allow producers in a region, or nationally, to see how they are paid — to make milk checks more comparable, and work toward a way for producers to plug in their volume and components and be able to see how decisions affect their price.

He urged dairy producers to consider providing milk checks for this purpose with the goal to cover all regions and buyers. Only Bozic and his assistant see the milk checks, and they are destroyed once the data is entered.

“Making milk checks more comparable brings accountability,” said Bozic. “Transparency is empowering. It gives perspective, and we can have those meaningful conversations.”

While acknowledging that the conversations could get “loud,” and this could get “messy” for a while, he said again, “The optimum level of tension is not zero.”

This new Milk Check Transparency Report will be a way to introduce accountability and competitiveness into the system, said Bozic.

On the milk contracting side, he laid out several ways that producers can have a more level playing field. Key among them is that milk buyers should not be allowed to limit a farm’s production and require exclusivity at the same time.

“Those are two separate lanes, and when they cross, we have traffic accidents,” said Bozic. In other words, a milk buyer or co-op should not require a patron farm to sell only to them while at the same time having a two-tiered pricing scheme — putting limits on how much they will buy at a non-penalty price.

Bozic talked about tweaking the FMMO system to “reinvigorate” fluid milk. He had ideas for a processor premium — raising the price of fluid milk with a premium that, for example, processors can earn back through innovation of packaging and promotion that improves fluid milk marketing.

He also discussed having an open debate about how to price Class I differently for more stability. So much important ground was covered. Look for details in a future Farmshine.

Part One published in Farmshine, Feb. 11, 2022

Check back for Part Two

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