Talk:Dairy Management Inc.

Sources

Response from DMI to the NY Times article. Might be a good idea to check the Michael Moss article against other accounts of DMI's originsL http://dairyherd.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=675&ed_id=12728 Another: http://www.dairyherd.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=675&ed_id=12709&news_id=29049&ts=nl2 I also found a couple blog posts that investigated this story in more depth: http://www.yearofplenty.org/2010/11/newsflash-dairy-industry-wants-you-to-eat-more-dairy-whats-so-controversial-about-that.html http://www.yearofplenty.org/2010/11/how-my-little-blog-out-reported-the-new-york-times.html?cid=6a00e5500a0b5588340133f5c3eb38970b

Not too interested in writing a section for the page myself, but thought I would offer these up as fodder for other wiki denizens. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.233.145.32 (talk • contribs)

New editing

An editor made a complete rewrite, giving as an explanation, Changes were made to provide a more detailed and accurate account of Dairy Management Inc. (Prior information was innaccurate and biased)).[1] The problem with the added material is that it was mostly taken directly from the DMI website. Wikipedia's NPOV policy requires including all significant points of view, even critical ones. If there is anything that's inaccurate or biased then that can be fixed without throwing out all of the existing content.   Will Beback  talk  02:59, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Copied from user talk:Will Beback

Hello – I am an employee of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) and posted some requested edits to our company description last week. I was unfamiliar with the process for correcting inaccurate information so thank you for the input received last week. There is actually an inaccuracy in the opening sentence describing Dairy Management Inc. that we feel is important to remedy to properly describe our organization.

The opening currently reads "Dairy Management Inc. is an offshoot of the U.S. Department of Agriculture dedicated to promoting the role of American made dairy production."

DMI is actually not an offshoot of the USDA; and is actually funded solely by America’s dairy farm families. In addition DMI actually does not use any government or taxpayer dollars to promote dairy products.

Can we please change the opening line to reflect this proper description?

I would suggest the following:

"Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI) is the nonprofit domestic and international planning and management organization responsible for increasing sales of and demand for U.S.-produced dairy products and ingredients on behalf of America’s dairy farmers. DMI is funded solely by America’s farm families."

Please advise as we would like to ensure that the accurate description of our organization is posted as soon as possible. Thank you very much.

RoseDMI (talk) 20:43, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

(talk page stalker)The only rebuttals or information I can find that support that statement are from Dairy Management itself, including the item that may be mistaken as an article on PR Newswire. Do you have a reliable source for it? Also, sadly, you cannot directly use the copy verbatim from Dairy Management's press releases and website (even though you work for them) without proper permission being given by releasing it under the correct copyright or into the public domain. It would need to be treated as a copyright violation.

And coincidentally, I can find a dozen of secondary reliable sources of various sorts, from various dates that do indeed state that the USDA has provided funding to Dairy Management (Discovery.com, The Consumerist, and The NY Times as three examples). This[2] document, from the Federal Government, indicates some form of partnership, and implies some form of funding via cost shares, reduced costs for applicable things, and grants. Perhaps you can find secondary reliable sources that contradict the information elsewhere? ROBERTMFROMLI | ^TK/_CN 22:16, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

It seems that the citable "truth" may actually something inbetween the current text and what RoseDMI proposes. WillBe, I'm willing to do some digging and help out, if you two want. Bloomberg lists them as formed in 1915. Best, ROBERTMFROMLI | ^TK/_CN 22:21, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

We can't use the DMI's description of itself.[3]   Will Beback  talk  04:34, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

It seems the Federal Government imposes a tax on "farm families," which is earmarked to run DMI. The money does all come from "Farm Families," but they are required to pay. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 11:41, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I doubt the fee is levied on "farm families". More likely it is on the farms, regardless of whether owned by families or corporations.   Will Beback  talk  20:44, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Well of course the thing is that a "fee" the government makes you pay is a "tax." That is what the word means. So of course DMI gets taxpayer money. It gets the money from people who are required to pay. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 02:54, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for taking a while to respond back to you. We appreciate the context you provided. At this juncture our main concern is the descriptor in the opening line that DMI is an offshoot of the USDA which is actually not the case.

Can we please change the opening sentence to reflect a more accurate description of our organization? I would suggest the following:

Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI) is a private, non-profit corporation which was established and is run by America's dairy farmers to unify national and local dairy promotion efforts.

This information is supported by an article from Prairie Farmer (part of Farm Progress Companies – Agriculture’s Information Leader) which also clarifies the USDA inaccuracy.

(http://prairiefarmer.com/story.aspx/dairy/management/inc/and/americas/dairy/farmers/set/the/record/straight/43816)

Please advise as we would like to ensure that the accurate description of our organization is posted as soon as possible. Thank you very much.

RoseDMI (talk) 18:28, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

"Offshoot" is accurate, but has no settled meaning. Using material from a DMI website I have attempted to accurately characterize the founding of DMI. What proportion of the funding of DMI's operations comes from the commodity checkoff program administered by the federal government? Also what are the citations for the U.S. Supreme Court and the 3rd Circuit decisions upholding the constitutionality of the checkoff program? User:Fred Bauder Talk 19:25, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Fred-- Thanks for the feedback and for changing the opening line. In regards to your questions, I'm checking sources and will get back to you soon. RoseDMI (talk) 18:05, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Fred— After doing some research, I found answers to your questions. In regards to your second question, I see that you have already found an answer to it. Just to give further support to your findings, here’s a link to another source concerning the U.S. Supreme Court and the 3rd Circuit decisions to upholding the constitutionality of the checkoff program:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1164.ZS.html

In regards to your 1st question, take a look at the information that I posted on the funding portion of this discussion page. Also, take a look at the information I posted on my user talk page as a response to your question (concerning the association between the federal government and DMI).

RoseDMI (talk) 16:05, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Paul I understand what I need to do now. I'll come back with the correct references to make this change. You can switch it back until I get them. Sorry for the confusion - but I will figure out how to prove we are not funded by the U.S. govt. Thanks, Don — Preceding unsigned comment added by DonSchindler (talk • contribs) 17:12, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Checkoff

• Report of 2003 district court decision
• First 3rd Circuit decision
• Reversal of 3rd Circuit
• The beef checkoff decision was Veneman v. Livestock Marketing Association User:Fred Bauder Talk 19:41, 2 September 2011 (UTC)
  • "Where's the Beef? Heading For the Supreme Court" May 25, 2004
  • "Justices Say All Ranchers Must Help Pay for Federal Ads" May 24, 2005

Funding

Thanks to Fred for his addition of "checkoff fees" in para one. Gosh darn it, we now have three mentions in three paragraphs about how this group is funded. It seems a bit of a side issue, and I welcome the link Fred provided, but how is this not a tax? The government requires you to pay it. I hate to be like a dog with a bone in its teeth, but we ought to be able to come to some consensus on this. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 02:07, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Paul—

Here’s what I found to address your question; a good question.

Basically, Federal courts have determined that these assessments do not constitute a tax because “the Act (under which the National Dairy Board was founded) does not raise revenue for the government and regulation is the primary purpose of the statute.”

They applied the following test in their determination.

“The test to be applied is to view the objects and purposes of the statute as a whole and if from such examination it is concluded that revenue is the primary purpose and regulation merely incidental, the imposition is a tax and is controlled by the taxing provisions of the Constitution. Conversely, if regulation is the primary purpose of the statute, the mere fact that incidentally revenue is also obtained does not make the imposition a tax, but a sanction imposed for the purpose of making effective the congressional enactment.”

Based on this, the Wikipedia article should describe the organization as funded by an assessment rather than a tax.

RoseDMI (talk) 15:35, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Howdy Rose, The federal government makes you pay it. If you do not pay it, they take you to court. No amount of legal doubletalk can (in my opinion) make this anything but a tax. But I have no dog in this fight, except for my desire for clear language and clear understanding. I shall let the other editors have their way with this. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 03:46, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Paul, yes, I know I work for DMI and I'm trying to do the right thing here but I don't see how you can determine that we are funded by taxes from the U.S. Govt through the USDA - why can't we say it's funded as a Commodity Checkoff program and link them to this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_checkoff_program? 67.103.175.70 (talk) 17:28, 5 March 2013 (UTC)Don

Paul, I also found these articles on the subject about why the NY Times article is inaccurate and filled with leading information. Including it in wikipedia seems like an issue to me unless you post the other articles as well. USDA does fund us to promote dairy products overseas but not in the states.

Here's the info.

The USDA oversees these funds, to make sure there is no impropriety and to see that the programs are honest, but all of USDA’s costs are reimbursed by checkoff money.

Why is the government involved at all in this business? Once producers vote, federal law requires that everybody pays the fee. This cuts out the problem of having free riders, producers who benefit from the advertising but don’t pay for it. The government is needed to create these programs as a way of taking care of the free-rider issue.

These producer-led boards — not the USDA — created Dairy Management in 1994 and gave it the job of selling more dairy products. Dairy Management’s budget is $140 million.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/11/how-journalists-got-the-cheese-lobbying-story-wrong/66663/

http://www.yearofplenty.org/2010/11/newsflash-dairy-industry-wants-you-to-eat-more-dairy-whats-so-controversial-about-that.html

Let me know if this isn't enough. I'll keep researching.

Don (talk) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.103.175.70 (talk) 18:13, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Paul, the same sentence with the same link to the funding mechanism on Wikipedia is given in the first and second paragraphs of the intro portion of the article. I took one out. Seems like the funding is better in the second paragraph, but if you like it in the first paragraph, leave it there. Twice in the intro is once too many. Not contesting the accuracy, just how many times to say it in the intro. Prairieplant (talk) 02:28, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

OK< then, please feel free to change it back. For some reaon manhy editors, myself included are all wrapped up arround the axle on this funding thing. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 06:20, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Proposed merge of American Dairy Association into Dairy Management Inc.

Same entity, similar activities & content, + one is a stub. Artoria2e5 🌉 05:44, 6 October 2023 (UTC)

• Agreed: The stub content would easily fit into the other article. — CJDOS, Sheridan, OR (talk) 03:57, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

  Y Merger complete. Klbrain (talk) 22:59, 7 November 2023 (UTC)