Voss

This case tests the validity of an amendment to certain milk marketing plans issued by the director of the Department of Food and Agriculture on July 14, 1989, effective August 1, 1989. Appellants Golden Cheese Company of California, Integrated Protein Technology, and Leprino Foods Company filed a petition for writ of mandate to invalidate the amendment. The trial court declined to grant the writ, and they appeal.

This court has recently decided a case entitled Golden Cheese Co. v. Parnell (E006841, herein Parnell) in which Golden Cheese Company challenged the validity of a prior order of the director dated December 19, 1988, effective January 1, 1989. In that decision, this court reversed the trial court’s granting of a writ of mandate.

This case presents several closely related legal issues in a different factual context. We therefore adopt some portions of the prior opinion and we consider whether the director’s new factual determinations have any evidentiary support.

The Statutory Scheme

Milk is a product that has long been regulated by statute. (Food & Agr. Code, § 61301 et seq. “As has often been reiterated, the purpose of the Milk Stabilization Act is to…