Dairy Industry: Information on Marketing Channels and Prices for Fluid Milk

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed aspects of milk marketing and pricing in the United States, focusing on the: (1) entities that handle the fluid market from the time it leaves the farm to the time it is sold to the consumer, including regional variations; (2) Bureau of Labor Statistics' price indexes at farm, processor, and retail levels of milk, processed dairy products, and cheese for December 1990 through September 1997; (3) Agricultural Marketing Service's data for dairy cooperatives' announced Class 1 prices and retail milk prices for 28 cities for January 1991 through September 1997; and (4) results of the Economic Research Service's study of changes in retail prices for dairy products and eight other food groups.