Last summer, Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) launched a petition calling for a referendum on the Beef Checkoff. The group has until July 2 to collect signatures from 10 percent of the nation’s cattle producers, or 88,269 producers, to officially request a referendum.
In late April, leaders of the National Beef Checkoff Petition Committee submitted a letter to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board (CBB) and the USDA, requesting their assistance to offer more producers the opportunity to sign the petition. The letter requests the Beef Checkoff’s database of producer information be shared with the referendum committee.
“The CBB and/or the USDA can be instrumental in providing untold numbers of United States cattle producers the opportunity to exercise their right and privilege to sign a USDA-authorized petition for the purpose of asking for a referendum of their Beef Checkoff Program,” the letter read.
The letter also asked that groups agree to distribute the petition to all the individuals in the database, including those who subscribe to The Drive newsletter and who are included in the database used to gauge producer attitudes.
“We trust you will want to help us ensure that as many cattle producers as possible are afforded the right to sign the petition for referendum should they choose; and, perhaps you have additional ideas as to how to reach even more cattle producers whose specific contact information is not in your immediate possession or is not immediately accessible by you,” the letter concluded.
Petition details
Under the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985, the secretary of Agriculture has the authority to conduct a referendum as long as a group comprising 10 percent of more of the cattle industry requests the termination or suspension of the Beef Promotion and Research Order. The order lays out the specific structure and operational requirements for the Beef Checkoff program.
The following eligibility criteria must be met for producers to be eligible to sign the petition:
• A producer must have owned, sold or purchased cattle from July 2, 2020-July 1, 2021;
• Any person under 18 years old must have a parent or guardian co-sign the petition;
• No proxy signatures are permitted—an individual who signs the petition on behalf of another entity must be authorized to do so; and
• Any individual member of a group may request a referendum separately.
The USDA will pool a statistical sample of all the signatures to authorize that only eligible signatures were recorded, and if selected, signees must be able to provide documentation proof of their eligibility.
More details about the referendum initiative and the petition can be found at CheckOffVote.com. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
