Lyons

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Plaintiffs Straus Family Creamery, Inc. and Horizon Organic Holding Company, certified organic milk processors in Northern California, filed this action against defendant Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (“Secretary”), alleging that the milk pricing and stabilization program created by the Milk Stabilization Act, California Food and Agriculture Code sections 62061, et seq., and the Gonsalves Milk Pooling Act of 1967, California Food and Agriculture Code sections 62700, et seq., (collectively, the “Pooling Plan”), as applied to plaintiffs violates their equal protection and substantive due process rights. Plaintiffs also allege that the procedure for resolving plaintiffs’ proposed amendment to the Pooling Plan violates their procedural due process rights. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, which were heard on July 30, 2003.

THE MILK REGULATORY SCHEME

Since 1935, the milk industry in California has been regulated pursuant to the Milk Stabilization Act. Prior to 1967, the Secretary set minimum prices for raw milk depending on…