The rationale for compensating dairy cooperatives for the costs incurred in balancing milk supply for the fluid market is examined. A reserve-balancing pool is proposed to facilitate deducting supply-balancing service credit from a marketwide producer pool and making payment to cooperatives for...

This study develops a method to devise pricing plans for dairy cooperatives to recover costs of handling seasonal milk deliveries from producers and the cost of satisfying handlers' cyclical fluid demand. Based on analyses of hauling and manufacturing costs, charges against producers and...

Southern dairy farmers' perception of their cooperative's or proprietary handler's performance, level of satisfaction with the milk handler, and reasons for staying with the handler, or for shifting handlers, were evaluated. The data were from a 1989 mail survey of Southern dairy farmers. The...

Cost data are summarized for 14 plants manufacturing cheese, butter, and powder and average costs are presented for each product. Average cost curves are estimated for each plant. The scale of plant for least-cost operations is identified for plants of each product type. Plant capacity...