Cattle producers throughout the U.S. are required by legislation to pay $1.00 per head to the federal beef checkoff program each time they promote a calf, cow, or bull.
WHARTON, OHIO — Farm Motion Fund testified on the Ohio Division of Agriculture’s public listening to in Reynoldsburg, Ohio on whether or not the Ohio Beef Advertising Program, a state-level beef checkoff program, ought to proceed or be topic to referendum.
Since being established in 2014, the Ohio state-level beef checkoff program has levied a greenback tax on the state’s cattle farmers for each head of cattle they promote. That is along with the greenback they need to pay to the federal beef checkoff program. These obligatory charges are supposed to enhance beef gross sales via analysis and promotional efforts.
“Ohio cattle farmers are being double-taxed by the checkoff, however don’t see any extra bang for that additional buck,” stated Angela Huffman, a Northwest Ohioan and the vp of Farm Motion Fund, who testified on the listening to. “Checkoff adverts don’t distinguish between Ohio beef and beef imported from as far-off as Brazil, so Ohio cattlemen and girls don’t see a rise in what they’re paid for his or her cattle in comparison with farmers in different states who don’t pay the additional tax.”
The actual beneficiaries of the checkoff are lobbying organizations together with the Ohio Cattlemen’s Affiliation and the Nationwide Cattlemen’s Beef Affiliation, whose budgets are instantly and not directly backed by checkoff funds, and who foyer on behalf of the world’s largest meatpacking companies.
“Ohio’s director of agriculture has a chance to chop this wasteful and abusive beef tax in half,” concluded Huffman. “We’re calling on Mr. Brian Baldridgeto do the fitting factor and difficulty a referendum in order that Ohio’s farmers can cease paying twice as a lot as their counterparts in different states.”
Huffman’s testimony was delivered as follows:
The Ohio beef advertising program, or beef checkoff, is failing Ohio’s cattle producers.
Cattle producers throughout the U.S. are required by legislation to pay $1.00 per head to the federal beef checkoff program each time they promote a calf, cow, or bull.
For the reason that 2014 referendum created the Ohio beef checkoff program, Ohio cattle producers have needed to pay an additional greenback on prime of that — however don’t get any further profit for paying double.
Trade-wide consolidation has left Ohio with out sufficient processing services, so most producers should ship their cattle throughout state strains to feedlots or for slaughter. On the time of sale, they’re solely capable of earn the identical commodity worth for his or her cattle as producers who pay only a greenback per head.
And for the reason that promotional efforts paid for with state checkoff charges don’t distinguish between Ohio beef and beef imported from different locations as far-off as Brazil, Ohio producers are usually not seeing larger gross sales because of their further taxes.
Producers pay their state checkoff charges to the Ohio Beef Council: a non-government, nonprofit group that acts because the taxing agent for the state of Ohio. Sadly, the obscure monetary studies from the Ohio Beef Council don’t give a transparent image of the place checkoff funds go. With out state appropriations or state audits, abuses of those tax {dollars} are occurring.
Whereas each Ohio state legislation and federal legislation prohibit the usage of obligatory checkoff charges to affect coverage, there may be not satisfactory oversight of the gathering, administration, or expenditure of those tax {dollars} to make sure that the foundations are being adopted.
We do know that the Ohio Beef Council has a particularly shut relationship with the Ohio Cattlemen’s Affiliation, a lobbying group and a state-level affiliate of the Nationwide Cattlemen’s Beef Affiliation, or NCBA. Actually, the Ohio Beef Council and Ohio Cattlemen’s Affiliation share the identical deal with and headquarters. The workers members of each organizations are nearly precisely the identical, and are paid by each organizations.
Whereas there’s a prohibition on utilizing checkoff {dollars} to foyer, by sharing bills for his or her inner operations the Ohio Beef Council subsidizes the Ohio Cattlemen’s Affiliation’s coverage actions. The Council has contributed in additional direct methods as properly: in 2022, it gave $14,000 in checkoff funds to NCBA, and contributes a minimum of that quantity yearly.
It’s not clear that the checkoff advantages cattle producers in any respect: Whereas lobbying teams tout an $11 return on funding from the checkoff, that return goes to the meatpacking trade, not the producers paying into this system.
The clearest beneficiary of the checkoff is the lobbying teams themselves and the worldwide companies they signify.
On the nationwide stage, NCBA lobbies on behalf of its largest members: Cargill, Nationwide Beef Packing, and Tyson Meals. Right here in Ohio, because the state affiliate of NCBA, the Ohio Cattlemen’s Affiliation follows NCBA’s lead.
For instance, they lobbied to repeal Nation of Origin Labeling (COOL) for livestock merchandise — a coverage that’s overwhelmingly supported by customers and by unbiased cattle producers.
One other coverage precedence is to dam USDA’s newest Packers and Stockyards guidelines. These guidelines are designed to advertise equity and transparency in livestock markets.
70% of NCBA’s working funds is from checkoff funds, and as I stated, Ohio Cattlemen’s Affiliation can be propped up by these funds. Producers who don’t agree with these insurance policies shouldn’t need to fund organizations lobbying for them.
I encourage the director of agriculture to difficulty a referendum to present Ohio cattle producers the chance to chop this wasteful and abusive beef tax in half.
Farm Motion Fund is a farmer-led group preventing company monopolies in agriculture. We envision a good, sustainable, and wholesome meals system that empowers farmers, ranchers, and rural communities to feed their neighbors.
