In the past months, cattle producers have been facing a tighter market. Prices are down and there are investigations being launched into any instances of price manipulation. Also, during times like these, producers are wanting an accurate accounting of how their monies are being used. There have been several calls by some ag groups and producers to do away with the beef checkoff program. Now, a concerted effort is being put forth to hold a referendum.
The Beef Checkoff was established in the 1985 Farm Bill and was approved by 79% of producers in 1988. The program requires that beef producers and importers pay $1 per head of cattle for the promotion of beef. The Cattlemen?s Beef Board oversees the funds and is monitored by the United States Department of Agriculture. Fifty cents of each dollar goes to Qualified State Beef Councils for promotion, and the other half goes to the Cattlemen?s Beef Board.
R-CALF USA has been challenging the legality of certain State Beef Councils. They recently challenged the legality of a checkoff being run by some state agencies. They claimed that some of the state councils were not appointed by USDA or elected by producers who pay the checkoff dollars. Therefore, they were private organizations and should not be allowed to charge the checkoff payments. R-CALF said that state agencies were paying checkoff dollars to agencies like NCBA and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Organizations that are not overseen by the USDA.
In March of this year, a magistrate denied R-CALF?s request for an injunction to stop these state-level councils from collecting checkoff dollars. The decision was praised by the National Cattlemen?s Beef Association (NCBA). They supported the work the checkoff is doing and the promotion for which the dollars are being sent.
This ruling did not signal the end of the argument for R-CALF or other organizations. Recently, a coalition of producers and Ag groups launched a national petition to hold a referendum on the beef checkoff program. This effort is supported by R-CALF.
R-Calf CEO Bill Bullard says the goal is to get 89,000 signatures on the petition by July 1st, 2021.
Bullard says that only eligible U.S. cattle producers are allowed to sign the petition.
The goal is simple. Bullard says they want the Beef Checkoff program terminated.
Bullard claims that the Checkoff limits the ability of producers to promote beef products from the USA, that they are forced to promote beef from competitors.
Producers can read more about the petition and the concerns being raised at weneedabeefcheckoffvote.com.
Conversely, they can find out about the work the Beef Checkoff is doing by going to Cattlemen?s Beef Board website at beefboard.org.
