Today, Farm Action released a report exposing how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has enabled fraud and abuse within commodity checkoff programs by failing to meet legal oversight requirements.
Checkoff programs were initially voluntary farmer-funded initiatives to support industry research and marketing efforts, but they have since evolved into mandatory fees that farmers must pay when they sell any of 22 products, including beef, soybeans, milk, and more. The USDA is responsible for overseeing these funds to ensure they are used for their intended purpose, but the programs have a long history of fraud and abuse.
“Farm Action has documented the illegal use of checkoff funds for lobbying activities, despite USDA’s court claim that it provides oversight to “every word” of the checkoff programs. Materials from our Freedom of Information Act requests reveal that USDA is not overseeing checkoff programs in the way it claims to be or at the level required by law,” said Farm Action co-founder Joe Maxwell, a Missouri hog, sheep, and grain producer.
“USDA has failed America’s farmers and ranchers, who deserve better than to have our hard-earned dollars funneled to corporate agriculture lobbyists who campaign against our interests,” Maxwell continued.
Farm Action’s report details our FOIA requests, what we found, what the findings mean, and what actions must be taken to address them.
- North Dakota Soybean Council: Illegally spent $85,000 in checkoff funds on lobbying. Farm Action found no evidence of the expected USDA approval of their budgets or programs.
- Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council and Iowa Soybean Association: Checkoff funds were used for a program that engaged in lobbying activities. The program’s description has since been altered after concerns were raised, but the activities appeared unchanged. No evidence of USDA approval was found.
- Montana Beef Council: While the council submitted financial reports and budgets, there was a marked reduction in oversight of promotional materials starting in 2020.
Along with the report, Farm Action sent a letter to recently appointed USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, asking her to immediately halt all approvals of checkoff expenditures until full compliance audits can be completed and made public, and then work with Congress to reform the programs. If the commodity checkoffs cannot be reformed, Farm Action urges Secretary Rollins to terminate or suspend them.
These most recent findings are part of a long list of instances where USDA’s lax oversight of checkoff programs has been exposed. Farm Action’s network of farmers and ranchers has demanded increased transparency and accountability of the programs for years.
Media Contact: Emma Nicolas, enicolas@farmaction.us, 202-450-0094
