Cattle Producers Mad as Hell and Not Gonna Take It Anymore BAY SPRINGS, MS – Yesterday evening, over 100 farmers and ranchers gathered in Bay Springs, Mississippi to say “enough is enough.” With this year’s calf prices dropping to about half of what they were a year ago and putting Mississippi cattle producers’ viability in question, cattle producers learned of actions they can take to win back a free and just market to regain their fair share of Read More …
Checkoff Programs and the Marketplace Under federal law, farmers of certain commodities (including pork, eggs, beef, and corn) are required to pay a portion of their sales into checkoff programs. These mandatory fees are intended to be used by the U.S. government to research and market those commodities. Well-known examples of past checkoff-funded advertising campaigns are “Pork. The Other White Meat,” “The Incredible, Edible Egg,” and “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.” Checkoff programs collect over $850 million from Read More …
On Tuesday, NCBA’s attempt to delay and disrupt OCM’s search for the truth hit a snag when a federal court greatly limited its role in a lawsuit for beef checkoff records. A federal court allowed the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) a limited entry into a lawsuit brought by OCM to obtain audit records of the beef checkoff program. NCBA had been seeking full party status. In part the court’s order stated, “NCBA’s participation in this case is limited Read More …
July 14, 2016 Dear Members of Congress: We, the undersigned organizations, businesses and individuals call on Congress to support Senators Booker’s and Lee’s S. 3201 and Senator Lee’s S. 3200. These bills address the demonstrated, egregious marketplace abuses committed by the commodity checkoff programs (“checkoff programs”). Checkoff programs were established to serve as mechanisms by which agricultural producers pool money for common promotional and research purposes. Fees are mandatory, from the smallest local farmer to the biggest factory Read More …
Joint News Release Contact: Bill Bullard (406-252-2516) Fred Stokes: (601-527-2459) July 14, 2016 Supporters Urge Congress to Take Action and Pass Meaningful Commodity Checkoff Program Reform Washington, DC – More than 140 organizations, ranchers, farmers and businesses applaud Senators Booker and Lee for filing legislation that, when passed, will stop commodity checkoff program abuses. Yesterday, the Senators filed the Commodity Checkoff Program Improvement Act (S. 3201), which would put an end to the most egregious abuses committed by the Read More …
In 1985 most cattlemen proudly acknowledged the passage of the Beef Promotion Act and Order that authorized a $1 per head checkoff assessment (Beef Checkoff) for the promotion of our own product, beef. These were exciting times with great expectations for improving both beef demand and severely depressed cattle markets. The passage of the Act and Order culminated many years of congressional debate and wrangling which began in 1972. Many changes were made to the Act and Order Read More …
I am Fred Stokes from Porterville, Mississippi. I am happy and honored to be a participant in this conference. Ralph Nader is one of my heroes and the epitome of unselfish commitment to worthy causes. I was born on a small diversified family farm in Kemper County Mississippi, the home of the late Senator John C. Stennis. After spending some 20 years in the Army, I retired and returned to my home country to get rich in the Read More …
by Lee Pitts, Livestock Market Digest I don’t get it. Admittedly, there are a lot of things in life I don’t understand, but one of the more puzzling phenomena is rancher’s support of the NCBA while the organization is doing everything possible to hurt American ranchers, including killing COOL. At the same time those ranchers seem to despise R CALF who has had the cattlemen’s back every step of the way. People will flock to an NCBA convention Read More …
