Center's
Legal Activities
CHECKOFF
FIGHT BUILDS MOMENTUM
130 Independent Cattlemen and Nine National, State and Regional
Organizations Join Lawsuit Over Mandatory Beef Promotion Program
In a motion
filed in Federal District Court in Billings, Montana on September
14, 2001, 130 independent cattle producers and nine organizations
joined Montana ranchers Steve and Jeanne Charter and the Center
for Individual Freedom in the legal battle over the Beef Checkoff
Program. The coalition of cattlemen and agriculture groups, in requesting
permission to intervene on the Charters behalf, declared the
Checkoff "unfair, undemocratic, and unconstitutional."
According to
the Northern Plains Resource Council (NPRC), a Montana-based organization
of family ranchers, farmers and conservationists, the motion to
intervene will allow intervenors to benefit from any relief the
court may grant to the Charters, and demonstrates broad-based opposition
to the Beef Checkoff Program. To read the NPRCs press release
on the motion to intervene, click
here.
Other intervenors
in the suit include the Western Organization of Resource Councils,
National Family Farm Coalition, Campaign for Family Farms, Intertribal
Agriculture Council, Alternative Energy Resources Organization,
North Dakota Farmers for Profitable Agriculture, Dakota Resource
Council and the Powder River Basin Resource Council.
The beef checkoff
program which claims to raise more than $80 million annually
is paid for by an assessment on beef producers of $1 per
head of cattle sold. The program, enacted by Congress, has become
increasingly controversial as independent ranchers have challenged
the large waste of money, diversion of funds for inappropriate purposes,
and advertising that benefits giant corporate packing houses and
retailers at the expense of independent producers.
For more on
the Centers involvement in the battle over the Beef Checkoff,
click on:
Ranchers
and Center for Individual Freedom
Join
Forces in Beef Checkoff Lawsuit
To
read the legal briefs in this case, click below:
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