Regulators are investigating whether the dairy cooperative that controls a third of the nation’s milk supply engaged in price manipulation.
Monica Coleman of Dairy Farmers of America, or DFA says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is looking into the group’s trading of cheese futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A number of Vermont farmers are members of DFA.
Coleman said the investigation isn’t new. She said the group has cooperated with the CFTC on the matter since 2004. The Wall Street Journal reports that the CFTC is preparing to bring charges against DFA.
The DFA was formed in 1998 through the consolidation of four cooperatives. It markets nearly 62 billion pounds of milk for more than 19,000 dairy farmer members.