GREEN BAY, Wis. — Three Wisconsin dairy farmers, represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), have filed a federal lawsuit against USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board, challenging the use of mandatory dairy checkoff funds for sustainability and climate-related initiatives. The suit alleges the program has moved beyond the dairy promotion and research purposes authorized by Congress.

The lawsuit was filed June 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Green Bay Division, by WILL on behalf of dairy farmers Abby Swan of Westfield, Adam Faust of Chilton and Christopher Baird of Ferryville.

The suit does not seek to end the dairy checkoff itself. Instead, it challenges the use of checkoff funds to support the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and related sustainability programs, alleging such spending violates both the Dairy Production Stabilization Act and the First Amendment.

“Dairy farmers like me are being forced to subsidize private organizations pushing climate change research and ESG mandates for our farms, even though the dairy checkoff program is just supposed to market and promote our milk,” Swan said in a statement released by WILL.

In a video posted on social media June 10, Swan said the dairy checkoff “has decided that sustainability is their new research and promotion of dairy products,” noting the lawsuit seeks to return dairy promotion dollars to “dairy promotion and dairy research.”

At the center of the complaint is the plaintiffs’ contention that mandatory producer assessments are funding a network of organizations and programs focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals rather than increasing dairy sales and consumption.

The complaint describes today’s program as a “bloated dairy checkoff labyrinth” and argues that funds collected from dairy farmers are being directed through Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) to support the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, a private organization founded in 2008 and administered by DMI, which coordinates sustainability efforts across the dairy supply chain.

According to the filing, the Innovation Center’s stated priorities include environmental stewardship, greenhouse gas reduction and sustainability reporting. The plaintiffs argue those activities fall outside the Dairy Act’s definition of promotion and research, which is limited to advertising, market development, nutrition education, and research related to expanding demand for milk and dairy products.

The lawsuit notes that dairy checkoff assessments generated more than $350 million annually from dairy farmers and importers according to USDA’s most recent report to Congress. Producers are required to participate and have no mechanism to opt out of the program.

The complaint specifically challenges checkoff support for initiatives including the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative, Pathways to Dairy Net Zero and FARM Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES).

Among the evidence cited is a 2009 memorandum of understanding between USDA and the Innovation Center under which USDA agreed to assist efforts aimed at reducing dairy industry greenhouse gas emissions, promoting methane-reduction technologies, accelerating manure management strategies and coordinating climate-related research.

The complaint also points to a 2022 renewal of that agreement, which referenced continuing work toward the dairy industry’s 2050 environmental stewardship goals and reducing methane emissions.

WILL argues those activities exceed the authority Congress granted under the Dairy Act, which states that checkoff funds “shall be used” for the advertisement and promotion of dairy product sales and consumption and for related research.

A major focus of the lawsuit involves FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES), a sustainability reporting program jointly managed by DMI and the National Milk Producers Federation. FARM ES collects farm-level data used by cooperatives and processors to calculate environmental metrics and report sustainability progress to dairy customers and food companies.

While participation is often described as voluntary, the plaintiffs argue the program has become effectively mandatory because organizations representing roughly 80% of the nation’s milk supply is represented by processors and cooperatives that participate in the reporting system.

According to the complaint, Swan received requests earlier this year for extensive information including energy usage, herd data and other farm-management information tied to sustainability reporting requirements. The lawsuit argues that producers must often comply with such requests to maintain market access.

The filing contends dairy farmers are caught in a cycle where mandatory checkoff dollars help fund sustainability initiatives that ultimately lead to additional reporting requirements and expectations being imposed on farms.

WILL Deputy Counsel Rebecca Furdek said the lawsuit challenges both the constitutionality of the arrangement and USDA’s authority to permit it.

“While the federal government is actively pulling back from extreme climate mandates, it is fundamentally Orwellian that American dairy farmers are still being forced to subsidize the very organizations effectively regulating them out of business in the name of sustainability,” Furdek said. “This lawsuit is about protecting the First Amendment and ensuring family dairy farms are not forced to fund ideological speech with which they disagree.”

The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that using dairy checkoff funds to support the Innovation Center violates federal law and the Constitution and to permanently prohibit future checkoff funding of the organization.

The case could have implications far beyond Wisconsin, as national dairy checkoff is funded through mandatory assessments paid by dairy farmers across the country. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could reshape how hundreds of millions of dollars in annual promotion funds may be spent and whether sustainability initiatives qualify as authorized dairy promotion and research activities under federal law.

This lawsuit is part of WILL’s stated ongoing commitment to push back against federal overreach, protect free speech, and dismantle unconstitutional ESG regulations that threaten American businesses and agriculture. According to their website, WILL has successfully represented clients across the nation in high-impact lawsuits defending individual liberties and economic freedom under the law.

WILL is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the website for information is will-law.org. They can be reached at (414) 727-9455 (WILL) or info@will-law.org.

Read the filed complaint at https://will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-2026-06-09-Complaint.pdf