How the Checkoff Is Making ‘Every Drop Count’

I have the good fortune of speaking with farmers from across the country each and every day. These discussions help me understand what is happening on the farm and key concerns of farmers from all geographies and farm sizes.

Here is a sample of the concerns I’ve heard the most the past three months:

1. Increase in cost of goods and the impact on margin
2. Supply chain disruptions and difficulty in obtaining parts and services
3. Labor availability and cost
4. Availability of milk in certain outlets, like airports and hotels
5. Price, price and price
6. Labeling alternative beverages and food as dairy, an issue that has been at FDA for some time
7. The vast amount of funding being poured into lab-grown and plant-based foods

These and other price, policy, regulatory and competitor marketing and funding are top of mind to dairy farmers, and logically so. However, these concerns, as important as they are, are outside the scope of the checkoff program as designed by dairy farmers for dairy farmers.

When dairy farmers created the checkoff as a self-help program in 1983, they wisely specified two points:

1. The checkoff’s mission is to increase world-wide demand for dairy products and to find homes for ever-increasing production. It was NOT created to be held accountable for on-farm price or margin, things that have a wide range of variables impacting them, and even more today given global supply and demand impacts that really didn’t exist in 1983.
2. The checkoff cannot be engaged in or fund lobbying activities. Annually, both independent auditors as well as USDA assure that the promotion-lobbying line is NEVER crossed.

What is the role of your checkoff and how has it performed?

Since the program began in 1983, dairy farmers’ investment in the checkoff has led to some positive results amid ever-increasing production as this chart shows.

The chart below shows the increase in milk production and your dairy checkoff’s ability to find homes for that production to the tune of 1.1 trillion pounds of milk.

To measure the results of your dairy checkoff, farmers established with USDA an annual analysis conducted by a third party every year. And the results continue to show a positive return on investment for dairy farmers in this program.

The question often arises about this ROI, and the fact price hasn’t increased by that amount. Again, the role of the checkoff is not about on-farm price. The report was set up to evaluate the return on investment of incremental demand and sales for dairy farmers as seen in the above.

In addition, here are other ways that your dairy checkoff is working to make every drop count:

1. The checkoff established the U.S. Dairy Export Council in 1995 and has seen the share of production heading into international markets grow from less than 2% to approximately 17%. This is your dairy checkoff making every drop count
2. The checkoff believed in funding sustainability in 2008 to position us with the facts that corrects misinformation on dairy farming and its impact on the environment. It’s also given us the ability to speak to consumers about the most significant issue on their minds as they make purchasing decisions – the environment. This is your dairy checkoff making every drop count.
3. When the entire health community thought fat was the enemy of good nutrition, it was your dairy checkoff that invested in research to show this wasn’t true and led to a resurgence of full-fat dairy products with consumers. This is your dairy checkoff making every drop count.
4. It was your dairy checkoff in 2009 and into today that has seen the resurgence of cheese in pizza chains amount to several billion pounds since the program began, both domestically and internationally. This is your dairy checkoff making every drop count.
5. It’s your dairy checkoff that brought the industry together to collaborate through the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy in the areas of sustainability, food safety, and communications. This is your dairy checkoff making every drop count.
6. It was your dairy checkoff that created Newtrient to work toward monetizing manure to the benefit of dairy farmers. This is your dairy checkoff making every drop count.
7. It was your dairy checkoff who created the GENYOUth foundation that generated more than $130 million over 10 years from non-dairy companies and organizations to further the school feeding program and increase dairy sales as well as reinforce the role of dairy in the diet. This is your dairy checkoff making every drop count.

I recognize the enormous pressure on dairy farmers, particularly over the past five years. It’s hard to watch these pressures and know they are largely outside of the remit of the dairy checkoff. However, those issues shouldn’t be confused with the role and results of this farmer-created program.

Remember, without your dairy checkoff making every drop count, the opportunity for us to effectively be your voice when your milk leaves your farm is greatly lessened.

To learn more about your national dairy checkoff, visit www.USDairy.com or send a request to join our Facebook group. To reach us directly, send an email to TalkToTheCheckoff@dairy.org.