Key Takeaways:

Texas illustrates the assumptions underlying the 2025 FMMO reform; Idaho exposes their limitations. The Southwest order blend (roughly 27 percent Class I, 32 percent Class III and 31 percent Class IV) exposes Texas producers to every lever USDA adjusted, with a near-neutral projected impact of about 7 cents per hundredweight. Idaho, Utah and Nevada sit outside the federal order system altogether, so none of the reform differentials, allowances or mover changes reach Idaho producers directly. Instead, Idaho producers are paid through private, Class III-referenced contracts with no transparency requirement. Even “regulated” milk is only conditionally regulated. Depooling allows handlers to choose each month whether...