Got Milk? Fees are Constitutional

Dairy farmers must pay checkoff fees to fund ads and promos run by Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), a federal judge ruled late last month.

A Pennsylvania dairy farmer had filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees marketing activities by DMI and other agricultural cooperatives, alleging that the mandatory checkoff violate farmers' rights to free speech.

The judge ruled against the farmer, who opposes the national "got milk?" campaign that DMI licenses from the California Milk Processors Board. DMI said per-capita consumption of dairy products has risen 12% since checkoffs began in 1983.

Checkoff fees are the percentage a farmer pays based on production (15 cents per 100 lbs of milk, for example) into a cooperative to fund generic marketing and research.

Farmers' fees -- about $250 million a year -- fund marketing and research.