Dairy Industry Watching Checkoff Dollars Closely

Regardless of commodity, budgets are tight these days.  Barbara O’Brien, president and CEO of Dairy Management, Incorporated, said they are very aware of that fact when it comes to investing checkoff dollars/

"Believe me, we have been increasingly conscious and listening to farmer input in terms of how they want that investment spent," she noted.  "We look at the programs actually on our horizon, including short, midterm, and long term, and because of that investment, we have some flexibility, but farmers have been clear: they want to see short-term returns. So, 65%–75% of an annual budget is focused on short-term, in-year results, where we are driving immediate sales through partnerships, e-commerce campaigns, you know, where we can hold up direct sales impact.”

O'Brien added they’re also carefully focusing on longer-term projects as well, and those investments are paying off when it comes to projects like whole milk in schools again.

“It turned the tide. That farmer investment. I mean, you heard me say it on stage, 80 studies over a decade that spawned another 600 worldwide universities and institutions looking at the same premise of the role of dietary fat," O'Brien pointed out.  "And it's shifting. It's shifting. We just saw the Senate pass the whole milk school bill, and it's going back to the House, which we think we're feeling good about. And it's magical.”

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com