OFF Continues to Receive Push Back

President and CEO of Competitive Markets Action and Secretary for the Organization for Competitive Markets, Marty Irby says they are engaged in and support the opportunity for Fairness and Farming Act, otherwise known as the OFF Act, which he says would reform USDA checkoff programs. He says many are concerned about the integrity of the programs.

“One of the things that people are so concerned about now is that when Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was in office, the first time under Barack Obama's president, he allowed for the Dairy Checkoff not to actually follow the reports and that was what was brought to light. Later on. He left his term in office to go work for Dairy Management, Inc., making almost a million dollars a year. I think it was roughly 800,000 some change per year for four years. And the dairy reports were filed when the Trump administration was there. Tom Vilsack once again back in office now and the Dairy Checkoff has not filed the reports once again. And that has been brought to light in the recent weeks in the media.”

Thus he says, checkoff reform legislation is needed.

“And we're trying to bring reform to those programs so that farmers and producers can know where their dollars are being spent, they can be assured that their dollars are not being utilized to lobby against their own interests. And in addition to that, that it prevents anti competitive practices disparaging one product over another.”

The OFF Act is bipartisan legislation that has been introduced into both the House and the Senate.