Farm Groups Call out Failure of USDA to Release Federally Mandated Dairy Checkoff Reports
June 20, 2023
The Honorable Thomas J. Vilsack
Secretary
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Secretary Vilsack:
We write to express our disappointment in the failure of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to publish annual reports to Congress on the National Dairy
Promotion and Research Program and the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion
Program for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022. We respectfully request their immediate
release.
The same legislation that authorizes the dairy checkoff program also requires USDA to
report annually to Congress “describing activities conducted, accounting for the receipt
and disbursement of all funds, and including an independent analysis of the effectiveness
of the program.”
Our review of USDA public sources indicates USDA has failed to submit such reports
since 2019, denying dairy farmers access to years of critical insight into the efficacy of
the checkoff programs they are required to pay into.
Since USDA’s last annual report, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Program
has collected nearly $1 billion in mandatory checkoff fees from dairy farmers. During the
same time period, more than 6,000 dairy operations went out of business, and remaining
dairy farmers continued to face economic hardship and an unprecedented farm stress
crisis.
With this in mind, we strongly believe the dairy checkoff program must undergo careful
and routine analysis and inspection, as required by federal law. We request the
publication of the reports or an update on their status by July 7, 2023. On behalf of
America’s dairy farmers, we urge you to fulfill this statutory obligation and publish these
outstanding reports.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
