U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announced it will end dairy checkoff funding for Environmental, Social, and Governance activities.
Under the Dairy Production Stabilization Act, checkoff funds are authorized for promotion, research, and nutrition education that strengthen markets for U.S. dairy. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, established through the checkoff, has pursued ESG initiatives, including greenhouse-gas and net-zero targets. USDA’s action ends checkoff support for those ESG-related projects.
This action also directs the Agricultural Marketing Service to ensure no research and promotion funds in other commodity checkoffs advance ESG mandates. American producers substantially fund these checkoff programs through mandatory assessments.
“American dairy producers, cattle ranchers, and farmers pay checkoff assessments so those dollars can build demand for their products – not bankroll radical climate agendas that raise costs and constrain production,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a federal lawsuit in June against the USDA and the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board on behalf of three Wisconsin dairy farmers including one in Calumet County seeking an end to funding for ESG programs through the dairy checkoff.
