On Feb. 4 the moratorium on the sale of synthetic bovine growthhormone (bGH or bST) will be lifted, allowing farmers to inject the hormone into their cows to increase commercial milk production. "A large number of California producers are reporting that they will not use bST because of possible negative public reaction," says Leslie "Bees" Butler, a UC Davis extension specialist in agricultural economics. According to Butler, dairy farmers are concerned that increased milk production, coupled with a possible decrease in consumption, would hurt milk prices. David Campbell, economic and public-policy analyst for the UC Davis-based UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, says that if bST is widely adopted, additional government purchases of excess milk due to bST-induced increases will cost taxpayers as well as dairy producers. Once purchases exceed 7 billion pounds (6.5 billion surplus pounds were produced in 1991), dairy producers will be charged an assessment to underwrite the government's costs. Butler and Campbell are contributing authors to "The Dairy Debate: Consequences of Bovine Growth Hormone and Rotational Grazing Technologies," published recently by UC SAREP.