News
Lawsuit challenges use of dairy checkoff funds
Three Wisconsin farmers are suing over the use of dairy checkoff funds.
Attorney Rebecca Furdek with Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty tells Brownfield the dairy checkoff is forcing farmers to fund private third-party organizations pushing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs. “At the heart of our lawsuit, it is saying that not only is this a compelled subsidy of private speech, but thumbing that topic is unrelated to the purpose of the dairy checkoff program that Congress set forth several decades ago.”
Furdek says the Dairy Promotion Stabilization Act of 1983 says checkoff dollars are only supposed to be used for plans or projects to advertise and promote the sale and consumption of dairy products and related research. “These ESG-related initiatives pushing climate change as a top priority of the industry, our clients believe are not part of that.”
The lawsuit was filed late Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Green Bay on behalf of farmers Abby Swan from Westfield, Christopher Baird from Ferryville, and Adam Foust from Chilton. The plaintiffs are not seeking to eliminate the dairy checkoff, but are asking the court to prohibit the use of checkoff funds to support the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and related sustainability programs, including the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative, Pathways to Dairy Net Zero, and FARM Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES).
AUDIO: Attorney Rebecca Furdek with Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty discusses the new lawsuit challenging the use of dairy checkoff funds for non-promotional purposes with Brownfield’s Larry Lee.
DemokRATs stealing from US Taxpayers as usual.