Dairy Management Inc’s CEO confident about checkoff’s future direction

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Dairy Management Inc’s CEO confident about checkoff’s future direction

The CEO overseeing the dairy checkoff is stepping down soon, but he’s confident in the direction of the program.

Tom Gallagher announced Tuesday he will be leaving Dairy Management Inc after three decades, but he tells Brownfield he expects DMI will continue to work with the industry to increase dairy sales, and also focus on being more environmentally friendly. “I think more and more because of consumer sentiment on the environment, we need to continue strong on developing the environmental science to have the ability to speak with the science, just like we do with nutrition.”

Gallagher says another area for DMI to stay focused on is feeding a growing population. “We’re going to have 20-billion more people in the world by 2050. They’re going to be the aging population in Africa, Southeast Asia, and China. It’s not going to be children, and so there’s an enormous opportunity for the U.S. dairy industry to tailor products to those areas of the world with aging populations.”

Gallagher says the dairy checkoff funds environmental research and consumer research, but that’s not where most of the farmer’s money goes. “The vast majority of our budget goes towards direct marketing and sales.”

Barb O’Brian will step into the CEO role when Gallagher leaves.

Galllagher spoke to Brownfield during World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin Wednesday.

Tom Gallagher talks about the future of DMI with Brownfield’s Larry Lee at World Dairy Expo

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