After Wisconsin Lawsuit, USDA Tightens Rules On Dairy Marketing Funds
New directive blocks checkoff dollars from backing net-zero and climate neutrality efforts.
Glass of milk.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says industry-funded research and promotion programs cannot fund initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving environmental sustainability.
The announcement comes after three Wisconsin dairy farmers filed a lawsuit in June challenging the federal dairy checkoff for using farmers’ money to fund so-called “Environmental, Social and Governance” initiatives. The farmers were represented by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, or WILL.
The dairy checkoff requires American farmers to pay a fee on the milk they produce to fund industry marketing and research efforts, including popular ads like the “Got Milk?” campaign.
Similar checkoff programs exist through USDA for other agricultural industries including beef, pork, eggs and potatoes.
In a letter to the National Dairy Research and Promotion Board, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday that the Trump administration is “aligning checkoff programs with its policy positions.”
“Effective immediately, all projects funded by the dairy checkoff program must focus on long-term value creation for future generations and not activities advancing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks, net-zero or climate neutrality initiatives,” Rollins wrote.
Rollins issued the same directive in a memo to all federal checkoff programs.
USDA’s announcement comes at the same time they were due to respond to the WILL lawsuit, according to the group’s deputy counsel Rebecca Furdek.
The lawsuit alleged that the checkoff was forcing producers to fund sustainability initiatives they don’t support and that ultimately created a larger regulatory burden on their farms.
Furdek said Congress directed USDA to create the checkoff to fund “advertising and promotion of milk sales and consumption.”
“It seems like USDA wants to get back to that original purpose,” she said.
Since the agency’s announcement, Furdek said WILL has agreed to pause the lawsuit while USDA implements the new restrictions for checkoff spending.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Dairy Management Inc., the nonprofit managing the dairy checkoff program, said the organization will “fully support” USDA’s directive and ensure “all activities remain aligned with statutory authorities and administration policy.”
“We will work closely with USDA to review our projects and to take necessary steps to modify or terminate contracts and activities as needed while maintaining our commitment to our authorized promotion, research and consumer information functions,” the statement said.
George Crave, founder of Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese in Waterloo, is one of the Wisconsin representatives on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board. He declined to comment on USDA’s announcement. But Crave said the checkoff program plays an important role not only in highlighting the nutritional benefits of dairy products, but also by explaining how farmers care for their cows and their crops to the non-farming public.
“Making sure the public understands what we’re doing, and we feel that that’s part of our promotion,” Crave said.
USDA restricts spending on dairy marketing after lawsuit from Wisconsin producers was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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