Provides data to estimate U.S. milk production, milk cows, amounts and value of feed fed to milk cows, and production of manufactured dairy products in all States. Data are also used by USDA in milk and milk products price formulas.
This is a request for an emergency approval of a revision of the NASS milk and milk products information collection. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Interim Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, July 3, 2007. That rule established a Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program. In preparation for this new ruling, NASS submitted an emergency review request in May 2007 to get approval of the new mandatory constraint that was added to all of the affected questionnaires. The Interim Final Rule was given an expiration date of 12 months. The Interim Final Rule had an extended comment period, which closed on December 3, 2007. In January 2008, NASS received a regular 3 year approval for the Milk and Dairy Products docket (0535-0020). Since the closing of the comment period AMS has had time to review both the comments and the Final Rule. AMS has deemed it necessary to make some fine tuning changes to the questionnaires to clarify a few points that were missed when they submitted the questionnaires for the previous approval process. These substantive changes serve to add clarity to the questionnaires and help to insure the intent of the Final Rule is adhered too.
The Dairy Product Prices Annual Validation Worksheet was approved for use in the previous OMB approval process. After it had been used for one cycle, NASS received input from some of our Field Offices with suggestions for changes that would improve the usefulness of the questionnaire. The annual validation was designed to have three primary purposes; first, it is used as a tool in establishing the firms that need to reply to the four weekly surveys. Secondly, it is used as a training instrument to instruct respondents on which items to include or exclude in the various questions when calculating their responses, and lastly to record each respondents answers as to their ability to report dairy product prices consistent with the needs of AMS. In the event that there should be an audit of the Dairy Product Price program, AMS needed to have proper documentation that the data was reported in a consistent and accurate manner.
Screening questions were added to the front page of the Dairy Product Prices Annual Validation Worksheet. These questions were added to streamline the questionnaire along with reduce the amount of time (burden) it takes for the respondent to complete the questionnaire.
There have been no changes to the survey or sampling methodology or procedures previously approved. The minor adjustments made to the Dairy Product Prices Program that AMS is managing, have been approved and are scheduled to be released to the public in mid June, 2008. NASS requests the Emergency approval of this collection with the questionnaire changes by June 10, 2008, so that we are collecting data that are consistent with the new ruling being published by AMS.
US Code:
7 USC 2204
Name of Law: Duties of Secretary
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form 090245 Milk Production - Voluntary
0020-Milk-08-emerg-SSB.doc
Non-Response