Editing Dairy (section)

==Structure of the industry==
[[File:Wawa Dairy Farms.JPG|thumb|[[Wawa Dairy Farms]] in [[Pennsylvania]]]]
While most countries produce their own milk products, the structure of the dairy industry varies in different parts of the world. In major milk-producing countries most milk is distributed through whole sale markets. In Ireland and Australia, for example, farmers' co-operatives own many of the large-scale processors, while in the United States many farmers and processors do business through individual contracts. In the United States, the country's 196 [[farmers' cooperatives]] sold 86% of milk in the U.S. in 2002, with five cooperatives accounting for half that. This was down from 2,300 cooperatives in the 1940s.<ref name="rurdev">{{cite book
 | url=http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/cir116.pdf
 | chapter=Cooperatives in the Dairy Industry
 | publisher=United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development
 | title=Cooperative Information, Report 1, Section 16
 | date=September 2005
 | url-status=dead
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012183148/http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/cir116.pdf
 | archive-date=12 October 2010
 }}</ref> In developing countries, the past practice of farmers marketing milk in their own neighbourhoods is changing rapidly. Notable developments include considerable foreign investment in the dairy industry and a growing role for dairy cooperatives. Output of milk is growing rapidly in such countries and presents a major source of income growth for many farmers.<ref>FAO, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170525161438/ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0521e/i0521e00.pdf Milk for Health and Wealth], FAO, Rome, 2009</ref>

As in many other branches of the food industry, dairy processing in the major dairy producing countries has become increasingly concentrated, with fewer but larger and more efficient plants operated by fewer workers. This is notably the case in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In 2009, charges of [[antitrust]] violations have been made against major dairy industry players in the United States, which critics call "Big Milk".<ref name="npr">[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112002639 Independent Farmers Feel Squeezed By Milk Cartel] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311211135/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112002639 |date=11 March 2011 }} by John Burnett.  All Things Considered, National Public Radio. 20 August 2009.</ref>  Another round of [[price fixing]] charges was settled in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/06/07/judge-approves-settlement-northeast-dairy-farmers/gDtYBPE6tu5DwW9K3oelIK/story.html|title=Judge approves $50m settlement to Northeast dairy farmers|website=Bostonglobe.com|date=8 June 2016|author=Lisa Rathke|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819011602/https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/06/07/judge-approves-settlement-northeast-dairy-farmers/gDtYBPE6tu5DwW9K3oelIK/story.html|archive-date=19 August 2016}}</ref>

[[Government intervention]] in milk markets was common in the 20th century. A limited antitrust exemption was created for U.S. dairy cooperatives by the [[Capper–Volstead Act]] of 1922. In the 1930s, some U.S. states adopted price controls, and Federal Milk Marketing Orders started under the [[Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937|Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act]] of 1937 and continue in the 2000s. The Federal Milk Price Support Program began in 1949.<ref name="rurdev" /> The [[Northeast Dairy Compact]] regulated wholesale milk prices in New England from 1997 to 2001.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.dairycompact.org/prices.htm
 |title       = Monthly Compact, Federal Order #1, and Over-Order Prices for Class I Milk Since the Compact Regulation Took Effect in July of 1997
 |publisher   = Northeast Dairy Compact Commission
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090703182704/http://www.dairycompact.org/prices.htm
 |archive-date = 3 July 2009
 |access-date = 15 September 2009
}}</ref>

Plants producing liquid milk and products with short [[shelf life]], such as [[yogurt]]s, [[cream]]s and [[soft cheese]]s, tend to be located on the outskirts of urban centres close to consumer markets. Plants manufacturing items with longer shelf life, such as butter, milk powders, cheese and whey powders, tend to be situated in rural areas closer to the milk supply. Most large processing plants tend to specialise in a limited range of products. Exceptionally, however, large plants producing a wide range of products are still common in Eastern Europe, a holdover from the former centralised, supply-driven concept of the market under Communist governments.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Field|first1=Thomas|last2=Taylor|first2=Robert|title=Scientific farm animal production: an introduction to animal science|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ|isbn=978-8120343986}}<!--|access-date=13 April 2015--></ref>

As processing plants grow fewer and larger, they tend to acquire bigger, more automated and more efficient equipment. While this technological tendency keeps manufacturing costs lower, the need for long-distance transportation often increases the [[environmental impact]].<ref>[http://www.agrifood-forum.net/publications/guide ''Cleaner Production Assessment in Dairy Processing''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214113504/http://www.agrifood-forum.net/publications/guide/ |date=14 February 2009 }}, by COWI Consulting Engineers and Planners, United Nations Environment Programme Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics, Denmark Miljøstyrelsen. Published by UNEP/Earthprint, 2000 ({{ISBN|9789280718423}}). Text at Agrifood Forum – Publications – Downloads – Sector Guides – Index.</ref>

Milk production is irregular, depending on cow biology. Producers must adjust the mix of milk which is sold in liquid form vs. processed foods (such as butter and cheese) depending on changing supply and demand.<ref name="rurdev" />

===Milk supply contracts===
In the [[European Union]], milk supply contracts are regulated by Article 148 of [[European Union Regulation|Regulation]] 1308/2013 – ''Establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007'', which permits member states to create a requirement for the supply of milk from a farmer to a raw milk processor to be backed by a written contract, or to ensure that the first purchaser of milk to make a written offer to the farmer, although in this case the farmer may not be required to enter into a contract.<ref>European Union, [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2013:347:FULL Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418030052/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2013:347:FULL |date=18 April 2021 }}, Article 148 published 20 December 2013, accessed 25 September 2020</ref>

Thirteen EU [[Member state of the European Union|member states]] including [[France#Agriculture|France]] and [[Agriculture in Spain|Spain]] have introduced laws on compulsory or mandatory written milk contracts (MWC's) between farmers and processors. The [[Scottish Government]] published an analysis of the dairy supply chain and the application of mandatory written contracts across the European Union in 2019, to evaluate the impact of the contracts where they have been adopted.<ref>Scottish Government, [https://www.gov.scot/publications/impact-mandatory-written-dairy-contracts-european-countries-potential-application-scotland/pages/2/ Dairy contracts in European countries: research] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029053920/http://www.gov.scot/publications/impact-mandatory-written-dairy-contracts-european-countries-potential-application-scotland/pages/2/ |date=29 October 2020 }}, published 19 November 2019, accessed 7 October 2020</ref> In the UK, a voluntary code of best practice on contractual relationships in the dairy sector was agreed by industry during 2012: this set out minimum standards of good practice for contracts between producers and purchasers.<ref name=cr>DEFRA, [https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/ Contractual relationships in the UK dairy industry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919084424/https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/ |date=19 September 2020 }}, published 24 June 2020, accessed 7 October 2020</ref> During 2020 the [[UK government]] has undertaken a consultation exercise to determine which contractual measures, if any, would improve the resilience of the dairy industry for the future.<ref>DEFRA, [https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/supporting_documents/dairyconsultationdoc.pdf Consultation: Contractual relationships in the UK dairy industry, June 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924013002/https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/supporting_documents/dairyconsultationdoc.pdf |date=24 September 2020 }}, accessed 7 October 2020, p. 6</ref>

The [[Australian government]] has also introduced a mandatory dairy code of conduct.<ref name=cr />