checkoff

Legislation reintroduced last week seeks to reform the beef checkoff program.  The Voluntary Check-Off Program Participation Act, reintroduced by Senate Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, would “allow producers to vote freely with their pocketbooks regarding whether they are individually satisfied with the checkoff’s performance,” according to R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.   R-

R-CALF USA, continues its litigation against the USDA and the Montana Beef Council, requiring the MBC to send all of the collected dollars to the Beef Board.  From there the MBC gets a portion of the dollars submitted by producers to give a written ‘okay’ for the state council to utilize it.  This last year...

The Department of Agriculture has stopped consideration of a national organic checkoff program. The Agricultural Marketing Service published the proposal this week to terminate the rulemaking for the organic checkoff. USDA says the decision is “based on uncertain industry support” for the program and “substantive issues” with the proposed program.   The Organic Tr...

R-CALF is claiming a win stemming from last week's federal court ruling against the beef checkoff program.  The organization alleges that the involuntary collections of beef checkoff funds from producers in Montana were in violation of the U.S. C...

Over 80 organizations recently sent letters to both the Senate and House of Representatives, calling on lawmakers to fix the government’s “failed commodity tax support programs.”   The 80 organizations represent over 250,000 farmers, ranchers, and businesses that want recently introduced legislation passed by both chambers and signed into law.   The letters say th...

Have you ever heard one of these slogans?   “Pork, the other white meat. Cotton, the fabric of our lives. Avocado, love one today. Beef, it’s what’s for dinner. And the incredible edible egg.”   Dana Coale with the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service says they are created and paid for by producers of those commodities through checkoff programs.   “These checkoff programs...