Dairy Checkoff Freed from ESG
Published: Friday, September 25, 2026
Last year around 1,000 American dairy farms went out of business because of increasing costs and regulatory burdens. Last Thursday, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins directed sweeping reform that will help heal America's wounded dairy industry by ensuring that the fees farmers pay to advance farming interests no longer go to advancing ESG-related activities and subsidies often directed by interests outside the United States.
Heartland Impact and Consumers Defense applaud Rollins for terminating Biden-era mandatory ESG commitments and protecting the American food supply.
Furthermore, both organizations thank Rollins for her timely and significant letter to Lolly Lesher, chair of the National Dairy Board, informing the National Dairy Board of the pivot away from ESG activities and requesting a detailed listing of all projects, current and planned, that support ESG activities complete with a proposed plan for termination to be sent to the USDA by Sept. 30.
Included in the letter, Rollins specifically called out Pathways to Dairy Net Zero (P2DNZ), a nongovernmental ESG initiative that specifically targets the dairy industry. This comes after Heartland Impact and Consumers Defense raised the alarm on Pathways to Dairy Net Zero with the release of their recent co-authored report: "The War on Dairy: Foreign Influence Subverting America's Dairy Sector."
The report analyzes the effects of multinational, non-governmental ESG agreements like Pathways to Dairy Net Zero. From the actual impact American dairy emissions have on global emission standards, to food security and disruptions in our American food supply, and foreign adversaries and competitors.
On Sept. 3, the report was sent to the USDA, along with a letter from Heartland Impact and Consumers Defense urging a deeper look into these legacy-ESG programs hiding in plain sight. Both organizations are grateful to Rollins and the USDA for taking such quick action, for listening to the American dairy farmers who inspired the report, and for protecting American agriculture.
"USDA got this exactly right," said Cameron Sholty, executive director of Heartland Impact. "ESG agendas and fantastical net-zero policies put real strain on farmers by raising costs, constraining production, and making an already difficult job harder. We're grateful to farmers across the country who spoke out and to Secretary Rollins and USDA for listening and acting. Mandatory checkoff dollars should promote dairy, not finance policies and global environmentalist cabals that work against the farmers who pay them."
"This is another wonderful moment for American farmers, made possible by Secretary Rollins and the USDA. For far too long, nongovernmental entities have sought to oppress American farmers and ranchers by imposing ideologically-driven mandates on their farming activity," said Samantha Fillmore, senior state government relations manager of Heartland Impact. "These mandates rely on inconclusive, unconvincing science. Meanwhile, their real cost puts hard-working American farmers at risk of bankruptcy, increases costs for consumers, and creates serious vulnerabilities in our American food supply. This paramount decision by Secretary Rollins fulfills a promise made to Americans who voted for this administration. A pivot away from ESG frameworks and net zero toward the measurable advancement of American welfare—for all Americans."
"USDA's decision is a massive blow to the climate cartel and a win for the American people. For too long, farmers have been forced to fund harmful climate agendas that have nothing to do with the core mission of promoting American agriculture," said Sal Nuzzo, executive director of Consumers Defense. "With Secretary Rollins' announcement, these checkoffs that waste farmers' hard-earned dollars are thankfully over. Now these funds can be used to expand markets and support producers, not advance costly ESG mandates, net-zero commitments, and other climate nonsense. This is a very important step that puts American farmers first along with the millions of consumers they support."
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