A basing point is a geographical site used to establish minimum fluid milk prices for federal milk marketing orders. Generally, minimum fluid farm milk prices increase according to the distance from the basing point. When federal milk marketing orders began in the 1930s,

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire ( ; lit. "clear water") is a city in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Eau Claire and Chippewa County, Wisconsin, Chippewa counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat, seat of Eau Claire County. It is the List of citie ...

was viewed as the principal surplus milk production region in the nation and hence served as the basing point for most milk priced under federal milk marketing orders. Generally, the further a region is from the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a northern subregion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed upon, the region is usually defined to include the states of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wi ...

, the higher that region's minimum price for fluid farm milk. Some have argued that there currently are other surplus production regions in the country (e.g., in the northeast and southwest) which should serve as basing points. An attempt by USDA to establish a pricing structure using multiple basing points was thwarted by legislation in 1999.P.L. 106-113, Sec. 1000(a)(8), which enacted H.R. 3428

References

* Agriculture in the United States {{Agri-stub