State’s Milk Rules Survive Court Challenge

California’s milk content and pricing rules withstood a U.S. Supreme Court challenge by an Arizona dairy farm that charged that the program discriminates against out-of-state companies. The justices, without comment, rejected an appeal by Shamrock Farms Co., which sought to overturn a lower court opinion upholding the program. The high court decision leaves intact the rules governing milk sales in the nation’s largest dairy state. California has among the most complex set of milk regulations in the country. Among other things, the state requires a higher percentage of milk solids, which provide nutrients such as calcium and protein, than do federal regulations. Shamrock Farms said that means out-of-state producers must develop different versions of their products to sell in California in at least some seasons. The San Francisco-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state, pointing to a 1996 federal law authorizing the California system.