The Beef Checkoff has been a controversial issue for some folks ever since its inception in 1986. At the time, the cattle industry was lost, and we had no direction. The industry was fragmented with no production goals.
It dumbfounds me this this program is 34 years old and is still being ridiculed by a handful of naysayers. The most prominent criticism is its association with the NCBA and that NCBA is getting money for lobbying, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Therefore, the organizations set up a complex, cumbersome accounting system. Yes, things can get away from them from time to time, just as it does with nearly every business. Errors are caught and fixed, so the books balance at the end of the year.
I can’t get over the accusation that the Beef Checkoff contribution of $1 per head is considered by some as a “cow tax.” Here is a program set up by cattlemen, run by cattlemen, and all those affiliated with beef production and marketing, initiated and voted on by cattle people, yet it’s considered an unfair tax. Packers and importers pay into the program, as well, so you’re not alone making this small investment.
For gosh sakes, there aren’t that many beef producers left. This industry has consolidated right along with most every other ag enterprise. The days of making a living on 40 acres and mules are long gone and economics has taken over, as it always does. The Beef Checkoff was pure democracy and the majority ruled and passed it into a law that only affects the beef industry. Do you want to call it self-inflicted damage or self-imposed prosperity? After all these years, can you honestly say that the Beef Checkoff harmed your operation to the extent you wouldn’t be in business any longer.
Back in the 1990s the Livestock Marketing Association challenged the constitutionality of the beef checkoff on the grounds of free speech, which went to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that the Cattleman’s Beef Board messaging was government speech or government messaging. I imagine that this episode is where the demarcation line of “cow tax” may have occurred. But it always had government oversight.
Now, every message, communication or advertisement must be approved by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, which looks at everything. The program is under a USDA microscope, which doesn’t allow for any shenanigans to go too far without being detected. A couple of wayward senators attempted to change the checkoff structure recently, which fell on deaf ears, so hopefully that episode is dead.
Exports, fake meat, dietary guidelines and a bunch of other issues have benefited from checkoff investment. The list of positive outcomes the beef checkoff has contributed to is quite long over its 33 years. And the fact that consumers are willing to give the beef industry an average of $5.60 per pound for fresh beef is remarkable to me. Nothing happens without the consumer and their confidence to buy beef. Just because NCBA’s offices host the organization and the Federation of State Beef Councils doesn’t mean NCBA lobbies with the money. Personally, it wouldn’t bother me if they did, but that’s just me.
The anti-checkoff groups—you know who they are—continue to attack the checkoff. Their goal is to help minimize the NCBA. I realize that some people don’t like NCBA for one reason or another. But what good would it do to destroy NCBA in our hyper-political world? For the most part NCBA does a good job on lot of issues, which directly affects your cattle operation. I would rather have them around fighting the daily beef industry battles than not.
There has been a lot of time and money wasted on both sides of the issue that could certainly be put to better use. The way I see it, you can either build this industry up, or destroy it. Do you want to be a builder or destroyer? I know what I want.
We need to settle this thing once and for all. I don’t like the idea that folks have sued the checkoff for personal gain, or that the checkoff is used to threaten organizational policy issues. We’re in this together and right now there are no free grazers; everyone who sells a bovine pays. The checkoff is like revenue insurance, but we control how the premiums are invested, what a deal. — PETE CROW
