N.Y. Agriculture & Markets Law § 258-k: Declaration of policy

§ 258-k. Declaration of policy. For the purpose of implementing the

provisions of section two hundred fifty-eight-k through section two

hundred fifty-eight-n of this article, it is hereby declared that the

dairy industry is a paramount agricultural industry of this state and

the normal processes of producing and marketing milk have become an

enterprise of vast economic importance to the state and of vital

interest to the consuming public which ought to be safeguarded and

protected in the public interest; that it is the policy of this state to

promote, foster and encourage the intelligent and orderly marketing of

milk through producer owned and controlled cooperative associations and

to promote, foster and encourage as an incident of such marketing, the

maintenance, by such associations, jointly or in cooperation with other

cooperative associations of programs designed, by means of advertising,

publicity, education or otherwise, to promote increased demand for and

consumption of milk and dairy products; that unfair, unjust and

destructive demoralizing trade practices have been and are likely to be

carried on in the production, sale, processing and distribution of milk

and that it is a matter of public interest and for the public welfare

for the state to promote the orderly exchange of commodities and in

cooperation with the federal government or other states in the

regulation of interstate commerce, to take such steps as are necessary

and advisable to protect the dairy industry and insure an adequate

supply of milk for the inhabitants of this state; that for such purpose

public interest requires, as necessity therefor has arisen or may arise,

the fixing of prices of milk to be paid to producers and associations of

producers where there has been or is a disruption of orderly marketing

of milk in any marketing area by reason of surpluses or by reason of

unfair, unjust or destructive trade practices, that in order to make

such price-fixing effective it is necessary that the benefits of the

fluid market and the burden of, and the expense of, handling of

surpluses, be shared equally by all producers of milk for the marketing

area and to this end that dealers not handling their proportionate share

of the surplus shall as part of the price of their milk make payments to

a fund to equalize the prices of milk to producers and to share the cost

of handling surplus so as to remove one of the principal causes of price

demoralization.