September 10 was the deadline for ballots cast in the latest referendum on California’s Quota Implementation Program (QIP). That vote by California’s Grade A dairy producers was on the issue of whether or not to continue what’s commonly referred to as the state’s “milk quota” program.

QIP dictates a uniform deduct of 39 cents per cwt. from the milk incomes of all Grade A milk producers in the state. That money is returned to producers who posses “quota” at the rate of $1.70 per hundreweight.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture administers the QIP program and conducts periodic referenda. Trouble is: nearly two months after conclusion of that single issue (yes or no) referendum involving 400 to 500 producers, CDFA officials are unable to announce results. We print comments on this situation by Craig Gordon, a dairy producer and hay dealer based in Chino, California. Gordon has been a ringleader in efforts to eliminate QIP by producers’ referenda.

“I am sorry to report that CDFA has not announced the results of the Referendum to Terminate the QIP. In fact, they do not even know how many ballots they sent out nor do they know how many ballots. I am sure the results will be like the other two Referendums we have had. You lost, you only had 51% to the QIP supports, who had 49% and the other one was we had 55% to 45%, and you needed 65% to win. How many were not valid somewhere between 22 and 58 ballots, but we cannot see the ballots or they won’t tell us who were the bad ballots. It is the most corrupt process under the most corrupt leadership of Gavin Newsome and his Attorney General’s office led by Rob Bontra.

“As soon as I hear what the results are, I will let you know.”

This article was originally printed in the November 2025 issue of The Milkweed. Please visit their website to see the full issue and support them.