Beef Checkoff | Appeals Court Grants Stay, Allows Checkoff To Continue | A de...
Beef Checkoff
Appeals Court Grants Stay, Allows Checkoff To Continue
A decision by the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals yesterday (July 10) allows the continued collection of beef checkoff funds and their use in promoting and encouraging beef sales. The appeals court granted a stay requested by the Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in response to a June 21, 2002 ruling by a U.S. District Court Judge that the national beef checkoff program violated the First Amendment rights of cattle producers.
The lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the beef checkoff filed by the Livestock Marketing Association, the Western Organization of Resource Councils and several other plaintiffs will continue but yesterday’s decision allows beef checkoff collection and activities to continue as normal, assuring no interruption of USMEF’s international efforts to promote U.S. beef exports.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which directs the national checkoff program, subject to USDA oversight. The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.