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DFA CEO: dairy sustainability work can continue despite USDA directive

The CEO of Dairy Farmers of America says he has mixed feelings about the USDA’s directive preventing checkoff dollars from funding certain climate and sustainability initiatives. 

Dennis Rodenbaugh says farmers need a way to measure their environmental impact. 

“We need to be able to capture the value coming out of those reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, to be able to market the value through carbon credits and contribute to their bottom line in revenue,” he says. “I didn’t read in USDA’s recent letter where there’s an effort to stop that.”

Rodenbaugh, who also chairs the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, says environmental governance framework has been used to preserve dairy milk’s identity as alternatives have come to market. 

In his remarks at the Ag Outlook Forum, sponsored by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City and Agri-Pulse, Rodenbaugh said he’s not panicked because there are other avenues for sustainability work in the dairy industry to continue.