1999 News Archive
STATEMENT Regarding Submission of Checkoff Referendum Petitions to USDA
The Beef Promotion and Research Act has a provision that provides for a referendum. We were instrumental in the referendum provision being included in the Act when it was passed by Congress in1985. We respect the right of cattlemen to ask for a referendum. We expect USDA to verify the names of people who may or may not be cattle producers who have signed petitions and who may or may not have known what they were signing. USDA must do this to protect the integrity of the process and the overwhelming majority of cattlemen who support the checkoff. During the petition gathering process USDA three times directed the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) to stop using deceptive and misleading tactics to get people to sign petitions. For example, LMA was asked to discontinue the practice of giving away prizes such as new cowboy boots as an incentive to get people to sign the petitions.
NCBA and the Beef Board are focused on stabilizing and building demand. Reports by independent economists indicate that beef demand stabilized in the first half of 1999. We continue to focus checkoff funded programs on developing new and convenient beef products, convincing consumers and youth that beef is a nutritious product, expanding and developing foreign markets for beef, improving the quality and consistency of beef and assuring consumers that beef is safe.
# # #
Initiated in 1898, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry. NCBA is producer-directed but consumer-focused, with offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington D.C.