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Texas Agriculture Archive

July 5, 2002

District judge strikes
down beef checkoff

The Beef Promotion and Research Act has been ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court judge in South Dakota who has ordered a halt to the $1 per head checkoff starting July 15.

"The loss of the checkoff would mean beef producers would have no unified way of promoting beef products," said Jon Johnson, Texas Farm Bureau associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities. "Texas Farm Bureau policy supports the checkoff as long as it's managed by producers."

The challenge to the beef checkoff's constitutionality was raised by the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA), the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and several individual producers in an earlier petition.

Defendants in the case are the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the checkoff, and Nebraska Cattlemen, Inc., which is leading a group of supportive producers to intervene on behalf of the checkoff.

"The ruling reverses the will of Congress," said J.D. Alexander, immediate-past president of Nebraska Cattlemen and a feedlot operator from Pilger, Neb. "It's an attempt to stop an entire industry in its tracks and takes away the empowerment of nearly a million beef producers."

"In 16 years of producer attitude surveys by three different companies independent of the industry, support for the checkoff has always remained above 60 percent," Alexander said. "The most recent survey showed a more than two-thirds approval rating. And in pushing its earlier petition for a new vote on the checkoff, LMA failed to gain the 10 percent of beef producer signatures needed. It's frustrating that when LMA and WORC couldn't get what they wanted through a democratic referendum process, they chose to take it to the courtroom."

Livestock Marketing Association President Billy Perrin said the Court's ruling "confirms that producers will be able to use their money to promote the beef they produce, in the way they want, in association with people whose beliefs they share. It's now up to the industry to come together to discuss a voluntary program, which we can all support."

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the judge found the purpose of the beef checkoff was closely related to the purpose of the mushroom checkoff, which the Supreme Court found unconstitutional in 2001.

Meanwhile, beef industry groups say they would ask the Department of Agriculture and the Justice Department to appeal the decision.

"We believe this ruling is only a temporary setback for American beef producers," said Wythe Willey, president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA).

Willey said NCBA is confident the case will be overturned on appeal and the judge's ruling stayed so that the checkoff can continue while the case advances to the next court level.

"We will continue the business of promoting beef while this process takes place, with minimal distraction," he said. "We believe the checkoff, the `Beef. It's What's for Dinner.' promotions and other similar programs designed to build demand have returned significant dividends to producers over the years. We will follow the law, of course, but believe the judge has misinterpreted it. Fortunately, the beef industry has an extremely strong case, and we believe we will prevail in a higher court."