FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eric Schippers

Ph: 703-535-5836

April 2, 2002

Dairy Farmers and Center for Individual Freedom File Suit Against Dairy Checkoff

SCRANTON, Pa. -- A family of dairy farmers, in conjunction with the Center for Individual Freedom (CIF), today filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the mandatory dairy promotion program.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on behalf of Joe and Brenda Cochran, seeks to enjoin the USDA and the Dairy Promotion Board from collecting dairy checkoff assessments, or using existing checkoff funds without prior consent of those assessed, pending a declaratory judgment in the case. In addition, the suit asks the court to prohibit defendants from using dairy checkoff funds in defense of this claim.

Joe and Brenda Cochran, along with most of their 14 children, produce roughly 7,000 pounds of milk each day on their 213-acre farm in north-central Pennsylvania. The Cochrans, who pay nearly $4,000 annually to the dairy checkoff, are "independent" dairy farmers who do not belong to a cooperative marketing group.

"This is about our First Amendment rights, plain and simple," said Brenda Cochran. "We believe our more traditional farming methods, which promote the environment by better utilizing our resources, result in superior milk that is healthier than most," said Cochran. "We’re against having to fork over a huge portion of our bottom line for advertising that says all milk is equal."

The dairy checkoff, which last year collected over $250 million, is funded by dairy producers through a mandatory 15-cent per hundredweight (roughly 2-cents per gallon) assessment on all milk domestically produced and marketed commercially. Producers who fail to pay the checkoff are subject to fines of up to $1,000 per violation and penalties of up to 100 percent of the assessment levied.

"This is a question of choice. The Cochrans, and hundreds of dairy producers like them across the country, are being forced to support speech with which they either don’t agree or don’t wish to make," said Benjamin F. Yale, attorney for the Cochrans. "What’s more, they’re being forced to subsidize speech that directly benefits their competitors. Those are clear violations of the First Amendment."

Enacted by Congress in 1983, the dairy checkoff is the latest in a growing list of challenges to commodity promotion programs in the wake of the June 25, 2001, ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that it violates the First Amendment for the government to compel mushroom producers to pay for "generic" industry advertising (United States v. United Foods).

Eric Schippers, Executive Director of CIF said, "We hope this latest suit will signal an end to these unconstitutional schemes. We have long held that the First Amendment rights of our nation’s independent ranchers, farmers and dairy producers are being trampled. With Congress and the USDA continuing to ignore their pleas, the courts become the only recourse."

CIF filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in the United Foods mushroom case, as well as in a case in the California Supreme Court involving mandatory advertising for plum growers (Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. Veneman). Currently, CIF is assisting in lawsuits filed by independent beef ranchers against the beef checkoff, and its general counsel, Renee L. Giachino, will be assisting in the Cochran’s dairy case. Copies of the legal briefs may be read online at www.cfif.org.

CIF has established a national checkoff legal fund to support legal and communications efforts to overturn checkoff programs. Those wishing to contribute to the fund may call Eric Schippers at 703-535-5836.

Founded in 1998, the Center for Individual Freedom is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

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