The USDA is halting all dairy checkoff funding for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) projects, including greenhouse-gas and net-zero initiatives.
Secretary Brook Rollins says the restrictions will return research and promotion programs to their core mission of expanding markets. “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,” Rollins says. “We will not allow producer dollars to underwrite mandates that put American agriculture at a disadvantage.”
The 1983 Dairy Production Stabilization Act authorizes checkoff funds specifically for promotion, research, and nutrition education to strengthen U.S. dairy markets. However, the checkoff-funded Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy recently pursued extensive ESG initiatives. The USDA’s new directive ends support for these projects. It also instructs the Agricultural Marketing Service to block ESG mandates across all other commodity checkoff programs.
Mandatory assessments on American producers heavily fund these programs. Rollins adds, “Those funds must serve their statutory purpose of strengthening markets for agriculture – not advance misguided external ESG agendas that can raise costs or potentially constrain production.”
Industry reactions are mixed. The American Dairy Coalition praised the move, noting the FARM Environmental Stewardship program felt increasingly mandatory for producers. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty also supported the restriction. They called the prior ESG spending an unconstitutional practice that forced family farms to fund ideological demands.
Conversely, Dairy Farmers of America President and CEO Dennis Rodenbaugh criticized the USDA’s decision. He argued the dairy industry must focus on sustainability to stay competitive in global and retail markets.
Dairy Management, Inc. handles the national dairy checkoff funds. The National Milk Producers Federation manages the FARM ES (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management-Environmental Stewardship) program.
