WASHINGTON — USDA is restricting how the dairy checkoff can spend farmers’ money on environmental initiatives following a lawsuit filed by three Wisconsin dairy producers.
The department has directed the dairy checkoff to end funding for projects that seek environmental, social and governance commitments from producers and other businesses. USDA will review existing contracts to determine which activities must be changed or stopped.
The Wisconsin farmers sued in June, arguing that mandatory checkoff payments were supporting sustainability efforts they opposed. The dairy checkoff collects money from producers to fund promotion, research and consumer information.
USDA issued a similar directive to other commodity checkoff programs. The new rules took effect Sept. 17.