Dairy & Poultry

Milk Licensing & Regulation

The Missouri Division of Weights and Measures administers the Unfair Milk Sales Practices Act, which prohibits selling milk below cost. The law prevents processors and distributors from unfairly diverting trade from a competitor or creating a monopoly by advertising or selling wholesale or retail milk products for less than the processor’s or distributor’s cost. Each July, the Device and Commodity Inspection Program licenses all milk processors and distributors doing business in Missouri. The license fee for processors is no more than one-half cent per hundredweight. Milk license fees for distributors are set each year at a hearing held the first Monday in May. The current fee for a milk distributor’s license is $25.00.

The Unfair Milk Sales Practices Act is contained in the Revised Missouri Statutes, sections 416.410 through 416.560. Rules and regulations relating to this program can be found in the Code of State Regulations - 2 CSR 90-38.010 through 2 CSR 90-38.050.