SUPREME COURT WILL HEAR BEEF CHECKOFF CASE

The U.S. Supreme Court has said it will decide on the constitutionality of the beef checkoff program and determine whether the federal government can require beef producers to pay for an industry marketing program. However, the high court opted not to rule upon the second question presented to it, whether the district court erred in issuing a nationwide injunction against the collection of all assessments under the Beef Act, including those from cattle producers who support the generic advertising and those used to fund activities other than generic advertising.

The high court agreed to re-examine the constitutionality of the checkoff program after a U.S. appeals court ruled last year that the beef program was unconstitutional, violated farmers‚ free-speech rights and should be terminated. It also noted the beef checkoff program was identical to a mushroom program that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2001. The beef program has been allowed to continue pending the appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Livestock Marketing Association (LMA), the Western Organization of Resource Councils, and a few individual producers brought the original lawsuit on the beef checkoff program. LMA President Billy Perrin said in a statement today: "We remain confident that our position will eventually prevail, a position upheld by four federal judges in two separate federal courts. [It is worth noting that the defendants principal defense, the surprising claim that the checkoff is government speech and thus immune from First Amendment challenge, has also been roundly rejected by three other separate federal appeals courts, in challenges to the pork, dairy and the Louisiana alligator checkoffs] ∑A commodity checkoff program is not above the law, and it cannot strip American cattle producers of their Constitutional rights. That position is at the heart of this case, and it will be upheld again."

Proponents of the program say it's essential in boosting consumer demand. In a statement released today, the National Cattlemen‚s Beef Association (NCBA) said the checkoff has helped grow consumer demand for beef more than 16 percent since 1998 and has increased the prices that producers receive for their cattle. In fact, recent producer market research conducted by an independent firm indicates that nearly 70 percent of beef producers support the current $1-per-head beef checkoff program. "Throughout the lengthy litigation process, we anticipated that the decision would ultimately be made by the U.S.
Supreme Court. What's more, we believe in the merits of the beef checkoff and are confident that it eventually will prevail," said Bob Rolston, an Englewood, CO, cattleman and Chairman of the Federation of State Beef Councils Division of NCBA, in a release.

The fate of the beef checkoff will also affect USDA's pork checkoff program, which was declared unconstitutional by another appeals court. The justices on the high court will hear arguments and issue a ruling in the beef case during the term that begins in October. The final Supreme Court ruling is expected in the first half of 2005.