The federal programme that maintains a minimum farm price for milk used in the manufacture of dairy products. The CCC indirectly assures a minimum price for milk by purchasing any cheddar cheese, nonfat dry milk, and butter offered to it by dairy processors at stated prices. These purchase prices are set high enough to enable dairy processors to pay farmers at least the support price for the milk they use in manufacturing these products. The support price was $10.20 per hundred pounds of milk (cwt.) in 1997, it declined to $10.05/cwt in 1998, and $9.90/cwt in 1999. Under provisions of the FAIR Act of 1996, the dairy price support programme is scheduled to terminate on December 31, 1999.