Michigan Laws 290.707 – Accreditation of association; requirements
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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 290.707
- Agricultural commodity: means all perishable fruits and vegetables as defined by the department. See Michigan Laws 290.702
- Association: means a cooperative association of producers or a division thereof, or a federation of cooperative associations of producers, engaged in the marketing, bargaining, shipping, or processing of an agricultural commodity on behalf of its members who are producers of the agricultural commodity. See Michigan Laws 290.702
- bargaining: means the mutual obligation of a handler and an accredited association or their designated representatives to meet at reasonable times and confer and negotiate in good faith. See Michigan Laws 290.713
- Department: means the department of agriculture and rural development. See Michigan Laws 290.702
- Member: means a producer who has entered into a contract with an association appointing the association as his or her exclusive agent in negotiations with handlers with respect to the marketing of an agricultural commodity. See Michigan Laws 290.702
- Producer: means any person who produces or causes to be produced in any 1 marketing period within the previous 2 marketing periods any agricultural commodity in a quantity beyond his or her own family use and having a minimum value at first point of sale as determined by the department for that agricultural commodity, and who is able, during the marketing period, to transfer to a handler or an association a merchantable title to the agricultural commodity or provide management, labor, machinery, facilities, or any other production input, with the assumption of risk, for the production of the agricultural commodity under a written or oral contract. See Michigan Laws 290.702
An association shall be accredited upon determination by the department that the association meets all of the following:
(a) The association meets the requirements of the Capper-Volstead act, 7 USC 291 to 292.
(b) The association has submitted a copy of its bylaws, which shall provide all of the following:
(i) Each member of the association shall have 1 vote in all votes of the membership of the association.
(ii) Officers or directors shall be elected by a majority of the members voting or by delegates representing a majority of the membership.
(iii) All elections shall be by secret ballot.
(c) The association has marketing and bargaining contracts for the current or next marketing period with more than 50% of the producers of an agricultural commodity who are in the bargaining unit and these contracts cover more than 50% of the quantity of that commodity produced by producers in the bargaining unit. The department may determine the quantity produced by the bargaining unit using information on production in prior marketing periods, current market information, and projections on production during the current marketing period. The department shall exclude from that quantity any quantity of the agricultural commodity contracted by producers with producer owned and controlled processing cooperatives and any quantity produced by handlers. An association whose main purpose is bargaining but which processes a surplus into a form which is not the subject of bargaining is not a processing cooperative. The contracts with members shall specify the agricultural commodity and that the members have appointed the association as their exclusive agent in negotiations with handlers for prices and other terms of trade with respect to the sale and marketing of the agricultural commodity and obligate them to dispose of their production or holdings of the agricultural commodity through or at the direction of the association.
(d) The association has established and authorized a marketing and bargaining committee to negotiate with handlers for the agricultural commodity. The committee shall be composed of members elected by the members in a secret ballot election. The production of the agricultural commodity shall comprise a significant portion of the total farming operation of each committee member. Members who have any quantity of the commodity contracted with a producer owned and controlled processing cooperative are not eligible to serve on a marketing and bargaining committee for such commodity.