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By Lana Robinson
Field Editor
In August, the American Farm Bureau Federation, Texas Farm Bureau and 27 state Farm Bureaus, along with a number of other state and national commodity organizations, filed a friend of the court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, supporting the reversal of a lower court ruling that would end the Beef Checkoff Program. Joe Maley, TFB Organization director, said the stakes were too high for Texas and U.S. cattle producers to stand idly by.
"Last spring, Texas Farm Bureau was one of three Texas organizations (Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers and Texas Cattle Feeders) that spearheaded the effort to encourage the U.S. Supreme Court to review conflicting court of appeal opinions regarding the constitutionality of the beef checkoff program," said Maley, noting that 48 commodity organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, had added their names to the first brief. "The beef checkoff has proven itself to be a very valuable self-help program for beef producers. We filed this second brief telling them why we think it is constitutional as well as beneficial to consumers and producers. We could not be absent from this issue. In Texas, something over 50 percent of our gross agriculture income comes from meat animals, beef being the primary one. We have 113 groups signing on to this brief, and we're very proud of that."
Maley is hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will seriously consider the arguments advanced in the amicus brief.
"In their order stating they would hear the case, they cited our 48 group brief. I feel like we had an impact on encouraging the Court to take it, so we're hoping for a favorable result on the merits this time," he said.
The case hinges on the question of whether mandatory government-operated promotional programs like the one established for cattle producers under the Beef Promotion and Research Act violate the free-speech rights of producers who disagree with how the money is spent. The legal challenge to the beef checkoff's constitutionality was raised by the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA), the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and a few individual producers.
"We believe it is government speech because the Beef Board, which administers the program, is appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. There is a certain constitutional protection that says government can speak, and with the Beef Board overseeing the beef checkoff funds, how they are collected and spent, that trumps free speech," Maley explained. "Part of our argument is that government has the right to advise its citizens regarding health and safety issues. The Beef Checkoff program not only promotes beef, but the research includes food safety, nutrition, and proper utilization of beef—all of it is involved."
Jon Johnson, TFB associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities, worries that a negative Supreme Court ruling on the case will have an impact on other USDA-administered marketing programs, including the pork checkoff, which was also ruled unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds by a lower court.
"If the Supreme Court rules against the national program, then Texas producers would have to vote for a state checkoff program," said Johnson "The state program would be voluntary, but in order to hold a referendum, it's going to cost us a tremendous amount of money that could be used to promote our product."
Johnson noted that the Beef Checkoff program provides cattlemen the means to promote their products on a national and international scale with the program's fee of $1 per head. If the Supreme Court allows the lower court's decision to stand, the industry advertising for beef and beef products will disappear.
"The benefits of the program are so extensive," said Johnson. "There are so many different things those checkoff dollars are used for. I just hope that the Supreme Court will see the value of the checkoff and the benefits it provides to the producers and the consumers."
Johnson said checkoff dollars do a lot of good that goes unnoticed.
"It's kind of intangible. You don't see the benefit from it immediately, but if you lost it, you would see that reflected in the price. I'm told that for every $1 invested, there is a $3 to $4 return to producers. Current beef prices are due in part because of all the work the Beef Council and Beef Board does through promotion, research and education," he suggested.
Speaking as a cattle producer himself, Joe Maley believes his money has been well spent in building demand for his product.
"If nothing else, the checkoff was behind the development of prepared dishes, such as the brisket, beef crumbles, hamburgers, and other quick meals that have helped our sales tremendously," Maley said.
As far as the public benefits of the program, Maley said they will either cease or struggle for funding through states or voluntary donations if the lower court decision is upheld.
