DTC Hill Event Focuses on Need for Commodity Checkoff Dialogue and Reform

WASHINGTON, DC – Mounting legal challenges to agricultural promotion programs were the focus of a July 22^nd roundtable discussion sponsored by the Dairy Trade Coalition (DTC). The ‘Legal Challenges to Agricultural Promotion Programs’ roundtable for Congressional staff and other interested parties was held in the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee hearing room and broadcast on C-SPAN.

The DTC also led a delegation of dairy leaders from California, Wisconsin, New York and Vermont who met with senior officials at the White House, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to voice concerns demonstrating the need for a careful, deliberate approach to implementing the 2002 farm bill’s controversial new dairy import assessment. The DTC also met with individual Members of Congress and Congressional staff to voice similar concerns. DTC Executive Director Mario Castillo said, "If the import assessment is not implemented in a thoughtful and inclusive manner, many producers believe the dairy checkoff program will be exposed to serious new legal challenges similar to the recent federal court ruling which found the beef checkoff to be a violation of farmers’ First Amendment rights to free speech."

The DTC roundtable featured a broad spectrum of participants involved in the checkoff program debate. Panelists included Dr. Enrique Figueroa, former USDA Deputy Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, the agency responsible for administering commodity checkoffs; Chandler Keys III, Vice President for Public Policy, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, representing beef interests affected by the recent South Dakota federal court ruling against the beef checkoff program; Jodi Niehoff, Government Relations Rep. of the National Farmers Union, whose 300,000 producer members have called for a major review of all agricultural checkoff programs; Laura Phelps, President, American Mushroom Institute, representing mushroom interests affected by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court United Foods v. United States decision against the mushroom program; Eric Schippers, Executive Director, Center for Individual Freedom, the group supporting recent producer lawsuits against the dairy and beef promotion programs; and attorneys Ben Yale and Erik Jaffe, representing plaintiffs in the dairy and beef checkoff lawsuits, respectively.

Castillo said, "The roundtable discussion clearly revealed that the spate of producer lawsuits against the dairy and beef checkoff programs are symptoms of deeper problems with these self-help programs. These problems must be addressed soon in a responsible and open manner by lawmakers and policymakers if checkoff programs are to fill their intended purposes."

Castillo added, "Our follow-up meetings showed that similar potholes exist on the road to implementing the dairy import assessment. There are also major concerns that the import assessment could invite harmful challenges at the World Trade Organization if USDA doesn’t properly consult with the U.S. Trade Representative during implementation."

Castillo concluded, "Producers from the leading dairy states asked pointed questions during the White House, USTR, USDA meetings about how the dairy import assessment will affect their farming operations. They want to know about USDA’s plans for implementing the dairy import assessment and whether there will be provisions for adequate public notice and comment at every stage of the implementation process. They also called for public hearings and a referendum for any new class of checkoff program participants to bring a needed element of democracy to these programs."

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