2003 Beef Business Bulletin Stories Archive
Nebraska Cattlemen Defend Checkoff in Appeal Case
In defending the beef checkoff March 10 before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul, Minn., an attorney for the Nebraska Cattlemen argued that the First Amendment does not come into play on the program’s constitutionality. The generic beef promotion by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board in this case represents government messages, and producers who object to it therefore have no First Amendment complaint, just as pacifists have no First Amendment complaint when the government urges people to consider a career in the military.
The Nebraska Cattlemen attorney and one from the U.S. Department of Justice, representing USDA on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, made arguments appealing a June 2002 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Kornmann, who ruled that the checkoff was “unconstitutional and unenforceable.”
Since Judge Kornmann’s decision, two other district courts — in Montana and the District of Columbia — have ruled that promotion programs such as the beef checkoff constitute government messages. First, the purpose of the messages —- to maintain a healthy beef industry — was established by Congress in the Beef Act and by the Secretary of Agriculture through regulation. Second, the government message is communicated through the Beef Board, which was created by Congress and whose checkoff-paying beef producer members are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. And third, the Secretary of Agriculture exercises supervision over the activities of the Board to ensure that it communicates the government’s message.
The beef checkoff requires cattle producers to pay a $1 per-head fee on cattle sold in the United States to support beef promotion and research activities. The generic beef promotion program is mandatory to avoid the obvious “free rider” problem inherent in all generic commodity promotion.
Nebraska Cattlemen chose to be an intervener to assure that producers who support the checkoff have a voice in the case. Nebraska Cattlemen believes that its members and all cattle producers benefit from effective promotion programs for beef products. Beef producers from South Dakota also intervened on behalf of the checkoff.
“The new national ‘Beef. Its What’s For Dinner.’ advertising will debut today, which emphasizes the kind of positive message check-off funds can convey to our consumers and producers,” said Nebraska Cattlemen President Jim Hanna. “More than 600 beef producers sit on national and state boards involved with checkoff programs. And they’re doing an effective and efficient job.”