CDFA Suspends Quota Administration Fee for One Year

The California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) yesterday announced a one-year suspension of the Quota Program administration assessment, effective September 1, 2023. An excerpt of the notice letter from Kathy Diaz-Cretu, Director of the CDFA Marketing Services Divisions, states:
 
The California Food and Agricultural Code (FAC) section 62757 provides that should a federal milk marketing order be established in California; the Secretary of Food and Agriculture is authorized to establish a stand-alone quota program. It allows for the program to be funded by an assessment on milk produced in the state (FAC 62757; QIP Article 9). The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Quota Administration Program administers such quota program pursuant to the QIP. 
 
FAC section 62757 and Article 9 of QIP provide for a quota program administration assessment to cover the cost of administering the QIP. Since November 1, 2018, the rate has been set at $0.0030 per hundredweight. That rate has generated more reserves than needed to administer the QIP; accordingly, at its meeting on July 31, 2023, the Producer Review Board (PRB or Board), as an advisory body to the CDFA, voted to recommend to the CDFA that the assessment rate be suspended for 1-year effective September 1, 2023.
 
Read the entire letter here and the official order here.