Commentary: Oklahoma Checkoff Vote Stirs Controversy

Early voting on Oklahoma’s secondary beef checkoff program began Monday, and with it an aggressive campaign to undermine the program and influence voters by planting seeds of doubt. Oklahoma is attempting to establish a producer-funded and managed, state-level promotion, marketing, research and education program for beef and beef products. To do so, producers are asked to vote on a state-wide assessment of $1 per head when an animal changes ownership, all of which is refundable on request. That $1 assessment would be in addition to the $1 national beef checkoff program already in place. Checkoff programs at both the state and national level, however, routinely meet vocal resistance, primarily from two groups: The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), and Ranchers Cattlemen’s Action Legal Fund (R-CALF USA). Earlier this year in a lawsuit filed by R-CALF, a U.S. District Court Judge in Montana upheld an injunction against the Montana Beef Council, which prevents the MBC from keeping a portion of the beef checkoff funds without consent from the payer. In that case, R-CALF went after a state beef council which it argued was a private entity. R-CALF’s tactic of going after the state beef council was initiated because previous attempts to derail the national Beef Checkoff program were unsuccessful. More than a decade ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote that national checkoff programs were “government speech,” and therefore constitutional. Efforts to undermine Oklahoma’s checkoff vote, however, are much different. OCM has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General, alleging that the Oklahoma Beef Council has joined the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, an agriculture industry trade organization, in campaigning and promoting a “yes” vote on Oklahoma’s secondary beef checkoff. The Oklahoma Beef Council denies the allegation...more