This week Montana Federal District Court Judge Brian Morris granted a motion by R-CALF USA to expand its beef checkoff lawsuit against USDA to include at least 13 states in addition to Montana. Under the injunction, the $1 beef checkoff is still collected, and the money is sent to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. Montana ranchers who wish for half of their dollar to go to the Montana Beef Council to promote beef must complete a producer consent form that allows the CBB to send the funds to Montana.
R-CALF and NCBA respond to the news. Press play for
Below are the response by R-CALF USA and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association
NCBA Response:
Activists Allowed to Expand Attack on Beef Checkoff
DENVER (Nov. 6, 2018) – The announcement that R-CALF will be allowed to expand its activist-funded crusade against state beef councils is a disappointment to countless beef producers and NCBA members across America. The phony allegations being perpetuated by R-CALF and its activist legal partners are without merit and only serve to divide beef producers and distract beef councils from the important work of building demand for our products.
“The simple fact is that regular audits of the beef checkoff and NCBA have found both to be compliant with the laws governing the checkoff. Two audits conducted by USDA’s Office of the Inspector General have also come back clean. R-CALF’s accusations to the contrary are false,” said Kendal Frazier, NCBA Chief Executive Officer. “R-CALF has become nothing more than a front group for activists seeking to divide the industry, lessen beef demand and drive producers out of business.”
Accusations that dollars invested in the Federation of State Beef Councils are being misused are equally false. NCBA has a longstanding commitment to the beef checkoff and the state beef councils, whose collections and demand-building work pre-date the federal checkoff. NCBA is firm in its commitment to defend both the checkoff and state beef councils against outside attacks. The volunteer cattlemen and cattlewomen who serve on state beef council boards are committed to improving the beef business and demand for our products and they do not deserve the attacks being leveled by these activist groups.
It has been repeatedly demonstrated that these attacks by R-CALF are being aided by allies at the Humane Society of the United States, Food and Water Watch, Public Justice and other activist organizations that stand against cattlemen and women. These groups know that beef demand is increasing in the United States and abroad, in part due to work funded by the checkoff. These achievements make the beef checkoff and other agriculture industry self-help mechanisms a target for organizations and individuals driving a vegetarian agenda.
“It’s unfortunate that R-CALF has chosen to become a puppet in the war being waged by animal rights activists and the vegetarians seeking to drive beef producers out of business. Let’s be clear, though, the groups aligning with R-CALF are choosing a future with shrinking beef demand, less opportunity
R-CALF USA Response:
Federal Court Grants R-CALF USA's Motion to Expand Its Beef Checkoff Case to at Least 13 More States
Billings, Mont. – Today, the federal district court in Montana granted R-CALF USA's motion to expand its beef checkoff program lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to include at least 13 states in addition to Montana.
The district court in Montana previously granted, and the appellate court recently upheld, a preliminary injunction temporarily stopping the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from violating the U.S. Constitution by compelling cattle producers in Montana to pay for the private speech of the private Montana Beef Council without first obtaining consent from producers.
R-CALF USA requested the court to expand the case to include these additional states in which producers are similarly required to pay for the private speech of their respective private beef councils without their consent.
Today's ruling on R-CALF USA's motion does not
The court granted the USDA 14 days to file an answer to R-CALF USA's complaint and the case now proceeds with the additional states.
Under the preliminary injunction in effect in Montana, cattle producers can individually decide if they want half the mandatory assessments collected from them to be spent by the private Montana Beef Council or all of it sent to the beef checkoff program's Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB), where it is subject to governmental fiscal controls.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said the state beef councils have been sending about $10 million in checkoff funds each year directly to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), a political lobbying group, to fund that group's Federation of State Beef Councils, and those monies are not subject to the same fiscal controls imposed on the CBB.
“By redirecting their money to the CBB rather than to their state beef councils, cattle producers can reduce the amount of money now flowing to the NCBA under the group's pay-to-play scheme, which we believe is a form of money laundering,” said Bullard.
Bullard added that if R-CALF USA's lawsuit is successful, cattle producers in Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin will all have their constitutional rights protected and will no longer be compelled to subsidize private or corporate speech.
Attorneys for R-CALF USA include lead counsel David Muraskin, a Food Project Attorney at Public Justice, J. Dudley Butler, of the Farm and Ranch Law Group, and Bill Rossbach of Rossbach Law, P.C. in Missoula, Montana.
Northern Ag Network, R-CALF USA, NCBA.
