NFU president Roger Johnson said the discussions among an informal working group of 11 ag organizations showed “there is no willingness from key players to allow real reforms to take place.” The working group, spanning cattle, dairy and import trade groups and the two largest U.S farm groups, was created in hopes of consensus on a proposal to double the checkoff of $1 per head and complaints the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association unfairly gets the lion’s share of checkoff revenue. The checkoff generated $39.5 million in 2013.
The NFU says the reforms must include giving the checkoff board the power to run projects on its own and there must be a referendum every five years on whether to keep the checkoff in operations.
The Hagstrom Report said a month ago the discussions were in trouble. It said “the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group apparently came up with a set of recommendations that some members view as a last attempt at consensus…The group is supposed to make recommendations to Congress, since congressional action is the only way to make major changes to the program under the 1985 law that established it as a way for producers to engage in research and promotion efforts.”