Advocacy
The Pennsylvania Association of Milk Dealers advocates for issues that impact our members and the dairy industry, including pricing and premiums. We advocate legislatively at the state level and work closely with the Pennsylvania Milk Board.
Membership in PAMD has always played a vital role in Ritchey’s Dairy success. We greatly value the insights into industry trends that PAMD provides, as they help us anticipate and adapt to changes that impact our business.
Additionally, we appreciate the networking opportunities and the ability to collaborate with other processing plants to advocate collectively for our shared interests on both current and emerging state and federal policies.” Andrew Ritchey, President - Ritchey’s Dairy
May 6th - 2025
Over Order Premium Legislation (SB 689) was introduced in the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and unanimously passed out of the committee. Awaits a full vote in the Pennsylvania Senate
January, 2025
USDA Issues Final Federal Milk Marketing Order Rulings
The Pennsylvania Milk Board (PMB) commissioned Ken Bailey Dairy Consulting to conduct a study to determine the impact of eliminating Pennsylvania’s minimum milk pricing system. I am attaching the study report “Economic Impact of Elimination of Pennsylvania’s Minimum Milk Pricing System.
The study concluded that eliminating minimum milk prices would result in a significant economic impact to the dairy industry. While fluid milk consumption may see a slight increase, the overall economic impact would not be good for Dairy:
Short- to medium-term 1.3% increase in fluid milk consumption
Decrease in farm milk prices.
Bankruptcy for 57% of fluid milk processors with 66% loss of fluid milk processing volume
$182 million loss to dairy farmers
$717 million loss to milk processors
$2.8 billion reduction in state-wide economic activity
$683 million in lost wages
10,047 jobs lost