What exactly are checkoffs within the agricultural industry? They promote & provide research & information for a particular agricultural commodity, without reference to specific brands or producers. Historically, these programs were not mandatory. Producers marked a check off box if they wished to contribute to the program. In 1988, they became mandatory for producers to pay into though. Here are a couple examples of checkoff dollars, within the state of IL:
Beef-50 cents/head + $1/head(National)
Beans 7.3 cents/bushel
Corn-7/8 of a cent/bushel
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service oversees 21 research & promotion boards. Of those 21 programs, 12 operate under a federal statue. These include programs for eggs, beef, cotton, dairy, pork, potatoes, watermelons & popcorn. The remaining 9 programs operate under a more generic law. These include programs for lamb, Christmas trees, blueberries, honey, mangoes, peanuts, paper, sorghum & softwood lumber.
Programs such as those for beef & soybeans operate in a framework, that contain both a federal & state-level entities. Some states have different programs altogether, such as for rice. And some states have additional programs, for things like beef & soybeans, that operate in tandem with federal programs.
Some examples of checkoff programs that you might be familiar with are the “Got Milk” campaign for the dairy industry. Or for cotton-“The Fabric of our Lives”or “The Incredible Edible Egg” or “Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner”. These slogans, funded by checkoff dollars, have helped to create identities for these everyday, household items, increasing consumer awareness & expanding markets for many US commodities.
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