Sep 23, 2026 · 9 min · 7 segments
This week, our stories look at how motivations impact outcomes: an abuse of power from the You Can't Make This Stuff Up Filea Wisconsin guest at the White Housean overdue reprimand for the dairy…
Let's start with the dairy checkoff, which is a mandatory federal program that collects 15 cents for every hundred weight of milk a dairy farmer sells basically every 11 and a half gallons.
Of that, $0.10 goes to Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, formerly the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, and $0.05 goes to the national program managed by Dairy Management Inc., also known as DMI.
Using Wisconsin's average milk production, that's about $3,800 total for 100 cow dairy.
Now, the checkoff program at both levels is designed to fund dairy research promotions and market development.
On one hand, international dairy exports have expanded, and according to the USDA's latest economic analysis, checkoffs are turned about $5.93 for every dollar invested.
On the other hand, forgive me if I'm skeptical of the USDA glazing itself in its own report about how great its program is doing.
All that aside, a distinct majority of our dairy farm members are frustrated with the program for any number of reasons.
Typically near the top, DMI paying millions in executive salaries with comfy golden parachutes when they retire.
Another frustration is when mandatory farmer money drifts into goals like net zero emissions, climate neutrality, and other environmental programs that farmers never agreed were the reason for the assessment.
Then, last week, USDA directed every agricultural checkoff board to end its work tied to net zero and climate neutral commitments, and DMI says it will comply.
It's been paused, not won, and the underlying legal questions haven't been fully decided.
When government makes a payment mandatory, the program owes the payer a very clear job description.
It's malpractice that frustrated farmers have to hire a lawyer just to remind a mandatory program what it was created to do.
Let's start with the dairy checkoff, which is a mandatory federal program that collects 15 cents for every hundred weight of milk a dairy farmer sells basically every 11 and a half gallons.
Of that, $0.10 goes to Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, formerly the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, and $0.05 goes to the national program managed by Dairy Management Inc., also known as DMI.
Using Wisconsin's average milk production, that's about $3,800 total for 100 cow dairy.
Now, the checkoff program at both levels is designed to fund dairy research promotions and market development.
On one hand, international dairy exports have expanded, and according to the USDA's latest economic analysis, checkoffs are turned about $5.93 for every dollar invested.
On the other hand, forgive me if I'm skeptical of the USDA glazing itself in its own report about how great its program is doing.
All that aside, a distinct majority of our dairy farm members are frustrated with the program for any number of reasons.
Typically near the top, DMI paying millions in executive salaries with comfy golden parachutes when they retire.
Another frustration is when mandatory farmer money drifts into goals like net zero emissions, climate neutrality, and other environmental programs that farmers never agreed were the reason for the assessment.
Then, last week, USDA directed every agricultural checkoff board to end its work tied to net zero and climate neutral commitments, and DMI says it will comply.
It's been paused, not won, and the underlying legal questions haven't been fully decided.
When government makes a payment mandatory, the program owes the payer a very clear job description.
It's malpractice that frustrated farmers have to hire a lawyer just to remind a mandatory program what it was created to do.
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