U. S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mike Lee (R-UT) and counterparts in the House of Representatives, Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Dina Titus (D-NV) have reintroduced the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act.  The intent is to ensure that funding collected through commodity check-off programs is used to promote the designated farm product with appropriate transparency.  Sponsors of the OFF Act point to apparent discrepancies and inappropriate use of funds by Dairy Management, Inc.

The OFF Act would intensify the current system of accountability, introducing checks and balances so that both farmers and consumers can benefit.  The OFF Act would also prohibit funds directly or indirectly benefitting large corporations.

To date, 80 farm organizations representing 250,000 family farmers support the OFF Act.  The fact that organizations opposed to intensive livestock production, including the Animal Wellness Action, the Organization for Competitive Markets and the Center for Humane Economy are strong supporters suggests that the Act could, in the future, be used to limit legitimate promotional activities by Commodity Boards.

Senator Booker has advocated legislation that would clearly place intensive livestock production at a disadvantage. He advocates for termination of USDA compensation in the event of depopulation of flocks to control of catastrophic diseases such as avian influenza. He maintains that public-sector indemnity should be replaced by an industry fund. This would raise constitutional issues relating to “taking of property”.

Advocates for the OFF Act anticipate that it will be added to the 2023 Farm Bill although the level of support for this legislation is questioned, despite obvious issues in the beef and milk industries. Fortunately the American Egg Board has recovered from a previous controversy and its activities and expenditures are now beyond reproach.