Dairy Supply Management Proposal

Sometimes when agricultural surpluses mount, people come up with supply management schemes. That's happening with dairy (which already has a voluntary dairy herd buyout program going), via Agweb:

"The Initiative would have three functions:

• It would set national production levels consistent with national usage
• Each cooperative would be assigned a production base level consistent with their share of national production
• CMI would set target prices at levels that would enable their members to profitably produce milk".

I'm a bit sceptical of these ideas--people tried them before the New deal and the "free rider" problem was too big. But it might work for dairy, at least for a while, if coops can control their members.