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 …
By MIKE McGRAW and PEGGY LOWE | Harvest Public Media NEMAHA COUNTY, Kan. – From their small farms set in the rolling hills of northeast Kansas, two ranchers are raising a few cattle — and a lot of Cain. David Pfrang and Jim Dobbins turned themselves into activists, launched a mirror corporation, got hauled into federal court and had to hire a lawyer. All over $1. That buck, though, divides the beef industry. And it may influence what Read More …
By Chris Clayton With Congress blocking USDA from spending any funds to create a second beef checkoff, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he’s happy at least that people within the beef industry could at least find an area of agreement. In a phone interview Thursday, Vilsack said USDA won’t pursue efforts to create another checkoff under the 1996 commodity promotion law. A policy rider in the federal appropriations bill passed over the weekend prevents USDA from continuing to Read More …
Secretary Vilsack has proposed a new Beef Checkoff Program, which is in addition to the current one which will remain as is. As I understand it, three years after the new program goes into effect there would be a referendum to see if Checkoff payers liked it. In the meantime, the present program would continue and NCBA would presumably continue its lock on the contracting process for the current (mandatory) program and thereby receive more than 80% of Read More …
The second “final” report on the USDA OIG Audit of the Beef Checkoff was released the end of January. An earlier seventeen page report was released in March of 2013 but was shortly withdrawn for “additional audit work” under withering charges of whitewash and cover-up. It was generally accepted that the audit was prompted by the disturbing findings in an Audit in 2010, ordered by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB). You may recall that the CBB ordered audit Read More …
By Mateusz Perkowski | Capital Press A rancher vows to continue his legal challenge against the national Beef Checkoff even though his original attorneys have decided to exit the court battle. “We fully intend to pursue the case,” said Michael Callicrate, a Colorado rancher and plaintiff in the litigation. A federal judge recently allowed attorneys to withdraw from Callicrate’s lawsuit, which alleges that national Beef Checkoff dollars intended for promotions were unlawfully misused for lobbying. The complaint claims Read More …
By Mateusz Perkowski | Capital Press Attorneys involved in a lawsuit against the national Beef Checkoff program want to quit the case, citing a conflict of interest. Michael Callicrate, the Colorado rancher who filed the complaint, said he believes the law firm has caved in to pressure from the meat industry. “I am very skeptical,” said Callicrate. “They have no legitimate basis for withdrawing from this lawsuit.” Gabriel Zorogastua, an attorney with the Polsinelli Shughart law firm who Read More …
Daniel D. Owen – Polsinelli Shughart PC August 10, 2012 | Filing Date for Complaint for Permanent Injunction MICHAEL P. CALLICRATE, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (PDF) Mike Callicrate is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit filed against the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) and the CBB’s Beef Promotion Operating Committee. Callicrate is the owner of a meat packing facility and retail market called Ranch Direct Foods in Colorado Springs, Read More …