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May 5, 2026 BrownfieldAgNews reports: Four separate lawsuits have been filed, claiming the federal milk marketing orders unfairly harm organic dairy producers. Organic farmers and cooperatives want an exemption from the federal milk marketing order program, and some farmer members are seeking damages from the government. Adam Warthesen with Organic Valley tells Brownfield they have tried to show the federal government how the federal milk marketing orders bring additional challenges and expenses to organic producers. "Those formula changes created a compounding effect on the amount of resources that organic dairy pours into the pooling, that then is moved and transferred to conventional producers. If you look at it since 2006, that's over 400-million dollars." Warthesen says organic milk is a distinct commodity with a very different pricing model, and the cooperative spends tens of millions of dollars every year and receives no benefit from the federal orders. He says the recent changes to the federal milk marketing orders have cost organic dairies even more money. Fourth-generation dairy farmer Remington Perkins milks 250 Jerseys and was West Virginia's first organic dairy producer, and is one of seven farmers in the class action lawsuit. "We'd like to be reimbursed for the money that we paid in, and that would be the ideal situation. I mean, we've testified, we've petitioned, we've attended hearings, and the litigation is our last option. We've exhausted everything else." Perkins says this is not about putting conventional producers against organic producers, but is about having the government consistently recognize organic as a separate pool of milk. "And the fact that we're not getting any benefit from the FMMOs. All they're doing is taking from us, so we're really looking just for the exemption and compensation for the money we've paid in over the last six years." The Coalition for Organic Dairy Exemption (CODE) includes Organic Valley, Aurora Organic Dairy, and Horizon Organic Dairy. The cooperatives have filed three separate lawsuits in the Western Wisconsin District Court and in the Colorado District Court. The seven-farmer class action is filed in Washington, D.C.'s Court of Federal Claims. Werthesen says the farmers' class action suit only seeks six years' worth of damages because that is all the statute of limitations allows. Tweet |
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