I am willing to bet there is absolutely nothing I can put in one sentence that creates greater division or interest in reading than that headline above.
In January 2020, I wrote a three-part series about how important it was that the current beef checkoff come to a halt. The reason was not because I am anti-checkoff but rather because I am leery of the federal government. We had a sympathetic White House with the Trump administration and the ability to maneuver a well-intended checkoff was a real possibility. Now, it is a total disaster and, in my opinion, we must act immediately.
In case you have forgotten or possibly never knew, the checkoff for livestock producers is considered “government speech.” As reported by Center for Individual Freedom on Nov. 5, 2002:
“Abandoning the notion that the beef checkoff is a “self-help” program, the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association have temporarily staved off one of a number of challenges to the beef checkoff by persuading a federal court that the program is, in fact, ‘government speech.’”
I am curious if anybody really knows what that means. It actually means that not one single marketing message about beef production or consumption can be shared without approval of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It has gotten so severe that Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts recently penned a column about the dangers of the Biden administration as it involves beef production. Here is just a snippet of the information contained in Governor Ricketts column:
“While raising livestock for consumption is our way of life, this industry is under attack. Radical environmentalists and supporters of the Green New Deal have been pushing a climate agenda that’s opposed to animal agriculture. Their ill-informed attacks reveal a lack of knowledge about modern agricultural practices. Our family ranches are continuously improving the efficiency of their operations. The United States produces the same amount of beef now as it did in 1977, with 33% fewer animals. Since the 1960s, our ranchers have contributed to a 66% increase in national beef production, while helping the U.S. cattle industry reduce its carbon footprint by 40%. Per pound of beef produced, the U.S. has some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in the world—measuring 10 to 50 times lower than in many other parts of the globe.”
Beyond the real facts about the importance of a ruminant animal to planet health, when you have a White House administration that works at eliminating the beef business that is now also in charge of approving the messages of the checkoff sponsored promotions, how do you think this is going to go?
Being scared isn’t a solution and solutions are what we need right now.
I have actually talked to individuals about what it will take to end the beef checkoff as it currently exists. The consensus is clear: every single one of us that produce beef, pay into the checkoff and share concerns about how these dollars are being spent need to get loud. In the first 100 days of this administration, proposals for promoting beef by state beef councils have been rejected for no good reason other than the fact that they would actually promote beef consumption
For us to continue to willingly contribute $1 a head sold toward government speech that wants to put us out of business is just insanity. Let’s tear it down and then build it from the ground up so it actually benefits the people who produce the beef.
Editor’s note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].