In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, a commodity checkoff program promotes and provides research and information for a particular agricultural commodity without reference to specific producers or brands. It collects funds through a checkoff mechanism that is sometimes called checkoff dollars, from producers of a particular agricultural

commodity In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. The price of a comm ...

and uses these funds to promote and do research on that particular commodity. As stated earlier the organizations must promote their commodity in a generic way without reference to a particular producer. Checkoff programs attempt to improve the market position of the covered commodity by expanding

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

s, increasing

demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. The relationship between price and quantity demand is also called the demand curve. Demand for a specific item ...

, and developing new uses and markets. Checkoff programs amount to $750 million per year. The

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

is responsible for overseeing the formation of checkoff organizations under the authority of the Commodity, Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996. These organizations are responsible for familiar American

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

s, including "Milk Does a Body Good," the

Got Milk? Got Milk? (stylized as got milk?) is an American advertising campaign encouraging the consumption of milk and dairy products. Created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993, it w ...

milk moustache series, " Pork. The Other White Meat", "

The Incredible, Edible Egg "The Incredible, Edible Egg" is a marketing slogan for the American Egg Board. It was created in 1976 by the advertising agency Campbell Mithun. Swann Galleries Saul Mandel Poster Artist 1976 for the Incredible Edible Egg. Swann Galleries is ...

", and " Beef: It's What's for Dinner." Many of these programs are authorized by the Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996.

United States policy

The Sheep Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1994 authorized the creation of the

American Lamb Board American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

as a commodity checkoff program. Because individual producers of nearly homogeneous agricultural commodities cannot easily convince consumers to choose one egg or orange or a single cut of beef over another, they often have joined together in commodity promotion programs to use generic advertising in an effort to expand total demand for the commodity, with the objective of helping their own sales as well. Activities are intended to expand both domestic and export demand; examples include advertising, nutrition education, research to improve product quality and appeal, market research studies, and technical assistance. These activities are often self-funded through assessments on marketing – hence, the name commodity check-off programs. Thi
article
provides a state-by-state application of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service final rule, Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information; Beef Promotion and Research; Amendments to Allow Redirection of State Assessments to the National Program; Technical Amendments.

Controversies

Congress has permitted producer groups to make checkoffs mandatory, and this aspect has generated legal challenges by some producers, who contend they must pay taxes for activities they would not underwrite voluntarily. The U.S. Supreme Court n United States v. United Foods, Inc., 533 U.S. 405, 412 (2001)ruled that the mushroom check-off violated the Constitutional free speech provisions (First Amendment), creating uncertainty about the future of other check-offs. Since then, separate lower federal courts have ruled that various check-offs also are unconstitutional. However, on May 23, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the beef check-off does not violate the First Amendment. In its decision, Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association and Nebraska Cattlemen v. Livestock Marketing Association (Nos. 03-1164 and 03-1165), a majority of the Court agreed with check-off defenders that the programs are in fact " government speech" (an issue that was not considered in the mushroom decision).

"Compelled funding of government speech does not alone raise First Amendment concerns,"..."Citizens may challenge compelled support of private speech, but have no First Amendment right not to fund government speech."

A Montana federal court ruled in June 2017 that the operation of the beef checkoff there was unconstitutional. In 2008, the

American Egg Board The American Egg Board (AEB) is a United States checkoff marketing organization, which focuses on marketing and promotion of eggs for human consumption. The AEB is best known for its long-running slogan, "The Incredible, Edible Egg", and the Just ...

attempted to funnel $3 million to oppose a ballot measure in California prohibiting the extreme confinement of farm animals. They were stopped by an injunction issued by a federal court. In 2013, the Egg Board attempted to get government regulators and retailers to take action to halt sales of egg-free vegan "Just Mayo" brand products. In this scandal, an Egg Board executive was caught discussing "putting a hit on"

Hampton Creek Eat Just, Inc. is a private company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops and markets plant-based alternatives to conventionally produced egg products and cultivated meat products. Eat Just was founded in 2011 by Josh Tetrick ...

co-founder Josh Tetrick. Despite $4 million spent to support the retention of the checkoff, a referendum held in 2000 among hog farmers voted to eliminate the checkoff. Ann Veneman, the Secretary of Agriculture, voided the results. The Senate in 2017 was considering changes to the enabling legislation.

Legal challenge

The constitutionality of checkoffs was challenged in federal court, and in July 2021 the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

affirmed a 2020 grant of summary judgment dismissing the challenging suit.

Major checkoff organizations

*Almond Board of California *

*American Lamb Board * Cattlemen's Beef Board * Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board * Christmas Tree Promotion Board *Concrete Masonry Products Board * Cotton Board *

National Dairy Promotion and Research Board The Dairy Promotion Program or National Dairy Checkoff is a US commodity checkoff program for dairy product promotion, research, and nutrition education as part of a comprehensive strategy to increase human consumption of milk and dairy products an ...

Dairy Management Inc. Dairy Management Inc. is an American trade association funded primarily by the U.S. Dairy Promotion Program, itself funded by government-mandated checkoff fees on dairy products and federal tax dollars and dedicated to promoting the sale of Amer ...

* Mushroom Council *National Honey Board *National Mango Board *United Sorghum Checkoff Program *National Watermelon Promotion Board * National Peanut Board *

National Pork Board The National Pork Board is a program sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service whose purpose is to provide consumer information, perform industry-related research, and promote pork as a food product. The ...

* National Processed Raspberry Council * Paper and Packaging Board *Popcorn Board *

Propane Education and Research Council The Propane Education and Research Council is a nonprofit that provides leading propane safety and training programs and invests in research and development of new propane-powered technologies. PERC is operated and funded by the propane industry. ...

*U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council *

United Soybean Board The United Soybean Board (USB), is the governing body that instantiates the U.S. commodity checkoff program for soybeans. It is made up of 73 volunteer farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soy ...

*United States Potato Board

References

{{CRS, article = Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition, url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110810044532/http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf, author= Jasper Womach

External links