Outnumbered by the large food retailers and agribusiness dairy interests, several family-owned producer-handler farms from the Arizona-Las Vegas and Pacific Northwest milk order areas have mounted an effort to oppose the proposed amendments.

Based on statistics provided by USDA, the number of producer-handlers has declined from 6 to 2 in the Arizona-Las Vegas order and from 52 to 8 in the Pacific Northwest order between 1980 and 2003. Still, the remaining producer-handler dairy farmers have organized and testified in an effort to defeat the proposed order changes and sustain their operations.

These independent Producer-Handler dairy farms include:

Mallorie's Dairy; Silverton, Oregon - Established in 1954

Edaleen Dairy; Lynden , Washington - Established in the 1930's

Smith Brothers Farms; Kent , Washington - Established in 1920

Sarah Farms; Yuma , Arizona - Established 1994