Voluntary Data or No Home for Your Milk?

After a Wisconsin dairy farmer’s recent post on X went viral, American Dairy Coalition (ADC) is asking dairy farmers for additional input to understand the levels of proprietary information being solicited and if this is a ‘default’ requirement under the appearance of ‘voluntary’ compliance.

The recent viral post on social media highlights how a farmer is being told, under pressure, to turn over detailed, personal farm-level data as a condition of selling milk.

Shared here this week by Wall Street Apes, this farmer describes receiving a letter from her milk processor stating that its “sustainable agriculture policy” is being updated, followed by a call requiring extensive proprietary operational farm data from her dairy farm.

The farmer said the letter frames participation as “industry-led” and “voluntary,” saying it recognizes the sustainable practices farmers already do. But the farmer attests the reality is very different: “It’s voluntary if you want to sell your milk. If you don’t participate, the milk processing plant won’t be able to take your milk — because the companies above them, buyers like Nestlé, Danone, and other global food companies, will not allow it.”

Some of the data required for one year of operational activity, include:

·     Herd size and milk production

·     Feed and ration details

·     Energy use: natural gas, diesel, propane, biodiesel, and electricity.

Typically this type of information is used to calculate carbon footprint and other sustainability metrics tied to net-zero and Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) goals. U.S. dairy farmers’ national check-off program uses this proprietary data for a so-called ‘voluntary’ program called U.S. Dairy’s Net Zero Initiative. The Wisconsin farmer’s post summed it up bluntly: “Yep. Voluntary. Totally.”

Why This Matters

The American Dairy Coalition (ADC) has been contacted by members who have also received proprietary data ‘requests.’ Some include provision of field and cropping maps, utility bills and lists of purchased inputs, even labels. We are currently tracking such farm data collection requests tied to ESG and Scope 3 emissions that may provide revenue for entities within the supply chain while the farmers who are required to provide this valuable information to a gatekeeper have seen no direct monetary value for providing it and, instead, may find they no longer have a home for their milk if they refuse.

World-wide milk companies and cooperatives increasingly require detailed farm data to meet corporate sustainability pledges made to global investors, NGOs, and multinational food companies. However, it appears dairy farmers at the bottom link in the supply chain have had no real input into what data is collected, how it is used, how it is protected, and how they are compensated for providing it.

ADC CEO Laurie Fischer said:

“Some milk buyers seem to be pressuring farmers to hand over detailed operational data — from cropping maps to utility bills — under the guise of sustainability. ADC believes farm-level data should be treated with the same legal protections as medical or financial records.”

Guardrails are necessary

There must be common-sense guardrails to protect U.S. sovereignty in terms of market access for U.S. dairy farmers, and farmer ownership and control of their own data.

What ADC Is Doing

ADC has launched:

— An anonymous Farmer Data Survey to document how widespread these demands are and what they cost farmers. Do the survey here

— A confidential intake line for farmers to share experiences directly:

 1.920.288.2322

“Our message is simple,” Fischer said. “Farm security is national security, so farmer data must be treated as a national security asset, not controlled by global ‘sustainability’ rules.”

Your Call to Action!

ADC wants to hear from you.

???? Take the anonymous Farmer Data Survey, click here

???? Call us at 1.920.288.2322

???? Or Email us, click here

Silence allows these systems to harden. Transparency gives farmers a voice.