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Oct. 7, 2014 BrownfieldAgNews reports: Frustrated by the inability of the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group to reach agreement on key issues, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has reportedly proposed the creation of a second beef checkoff program-one that would operate separately from the current beef checkoff program. Forrest Roberts, CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says Vilsack made that announcement in a meeting with the checkoff working group on September 30th. "From his (Vilsack's) perspective, he felt that the working group had not yet delivered a solution," Roberts says, "and therefore because of the differences that might be there within some of the members of the working group, he was going to move forward with some ideas for how to bring more resources into the beef industry through the creation of a new separate and supplemental beef checkoff program that would come to fruition through a new beef order here over the course of the next year and would be implemented somewhere in the time period of January of 2016." According to Roberts, the new checkoff would be formed under the 1996 Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act, also called the "generic checkoff act". NCBA president Bob McCan says the idea of another beef checkoff doesn't make sense. "It's disconcerting, certainly, for producers I think," McCan says, "and it's hard for folks to understand why something like this would be recommended or ever brought forth knowing that the majority of the folks really like and have a high approval of the type of structure that we're operating under right now." Earlier this year, the National Farmers Union voted to leave the working group, saying that key players in the group were not willing to allow real reforms to the checkoff to take place. The Farmers Union is pushing for the beef checkoff to be completely refundable; for a regular referendum on the beef checkoff; and for more autonomy for the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the organization that administers the current checkoff. BrownfieldAgNews reports: Frustrated by the inability of the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group to reach agreement on key issues, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has reportedly proposed the creation of a second beef checkoff program-one that would operate separately from the current beef checkoff program. Forrest Roberts, CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says Vilsack made that announcement in a meeting with the checkoff working group on September 30th. "From his (Vilsack's) perspective, he felt that the working group had not yet delivered a solution," Roberts says, "and therefore because of the differences that might be there within some of the members of the working group, he was going to move forward with some ideas for how to bring more resources into the beef industry through the creation of a new separate and supplemental beef checkoff program that would come to fruition through a new beef order here over the course of the next year and would be implemented somewhere in the time period of January of 2016." According to Roberts, the new checkoff would be formed under the 1996 Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act, also called the "generic checkoff act". NCBA president Bob McCan says the idea of another beef checkoff doesn't make sense. "It's disconcerting, certainly, for producers I think," McCan says, "and it's hard for folks to understand why something like this would be recommended or ever brought forth knowing that the majority of the folks really like and have a high approval of the type of structure that we're operating under right now." Earlier this year, the National Farmers Union voted to leave the working group, saying that key players in the group were not willing to allow real reforms to the checkoff to take place. The Farmers Union is pushing for the beef checkoff to be completely refundable; for a regular referendum on the beef checkoff; and for more autonomy for the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the organization that administers the current checkoff. Tweet |
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