November 12, 2014
Checkoff Lawsuit Seeks to Uncover Why OIG Did an About-Face
Billings, Mont. – In a lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Organization for Competitive Markets v. Office of Inspector General, the plaintiff alleges that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is unlawfully withholding records regarding the agency’s 2011 through 2014 investigation into the USDA-controlled national beef checkoff program.
November 3, 2014
Group Informs Ag Secretary of Its Members’ Checkoff Policies
Billings, Mont. – In a letter sent today to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, R-CALF USA provided a list of primary and secondary elements to be included in any future beef checkoff program. The letter is intended to address the Secretary’s recent announcement that he plans to establish a new beef checkoff program under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996.
October 22, 2014
Group Says NCBA’s Claims Against COOL Are Baloney
Billings, Mont. – The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), which receives 82 percent of its annual revenues from government-mandated producer assessments under the national Beef Checkoff Program, is most likely using those government payments to offset the costs of its three-prong campaign to defeat country of origin labeling (COOL), that according to R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.
October 20, 2014
International COOL Ruling Runs Afoul of U.S. Court Decisions
Billings, Mont. – The much anticipated ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding whether country of origin labeling (COOL) passes muster with the international tribunal was finally made public today. The U.S. COOL law requires retailers to inform consumers as to the origins of meat.
October 8, 2014
Sheep Producers Host Roll-Over Auction Fundraiser
Billings, Mont. – Recently, R-CALF USA had its first ever sheep roll-over auction fundraiser. This milestone event occurred during the 69th annual Newell Ram Show & Sale. R-CALF USA member Keith Franke of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, donated a yearling ewe to be auctioned in the roll-over sale that raised thousands in support of R-CALF USA. In addition to the fundraiser, Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA CEO, addressed the crowd for a few minutes at the Newell Sale Barn and later during the supper.
October 6, 2014
R-CALF USA Commends 32 Senators for Defending COOL
Billings, Mont. – In early September Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) reached out to Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) to draft a bipartisan letter to demonstrate the U.S. Senate’s resolve to defend the nation’s 2002 country of origin labeling (COOL) law. Today, with the signatures of 32 Senators, their bipartisan, pro-COOL letter was sent to the chair and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.
September 15, 2014
Producer-Paid Checkoffs Help Meatpacking Lobby Sustain COOL Fight
Billings, Mont. – On Friday the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the American Meat Institute (AMI) and other foreign and domestic meatpacking lobby groups rekindled their ongoing court fight to strike down the United States’ country of origin labeling (COOL) law by filing a petition for rehearing with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Appeals Court).
September 11, 2014
36 Groups Urge Ag Secretary to Enforce Beef Checkoff Program’s Prohibition Against Conflicts of Interest; Urge Other Reforms Washington, DC – In the wake of this weekend’s announcement by the National Farmers Union (NFU) that it was withdrawing from the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group (working group), 36 organizations sent a joint letter today to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to immediately implement their recommendations for eliminating the conflicts of interest from the Beef Checkoff Program.
July 29, 2014
Cattle Groups Pleased With Appeal Court’s Affirmation of COOL
Billings, Mont. – Today, eleven judges at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Appeals Court) denied the request by the American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and other meatpacker lobby groups for an injunction that would have halted enforcement of the U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law.
July 24, 2014
More Than 80 Farm, Consumer, Rural and Faith-Based Organizations Call on Justice Department to Extend Review of Proposed Tyson-Hillshire Merger
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a coalition of 82 farm, ranch, consumer, rural and faith-based groups sent a letter demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice extend its review of the proposed Tyson Foods (Tyson) takeover of Hillshire Brands, Co. (Hillshire).
July 15, 2014
Group Opposes USDA Plan to Establish Another International Bureaucracy
Billings, Mont. – In comments filed last night, R-CALF USA urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to abandon its plan to establish yet another international bureaucracy, this one to implement APHIS’ proposed Draft Framework for Implementing the United States-Canada Foreign Animal Disease Zoning Arrangement (Zoning Arrangement).
June 25, 2014
Former GIPSA Chief Sets Record Straight After Personal Attacks From Industrial Agriculture Activist
Billings, Mont. – In a recently published article, J. Dudley Butler, immediate past administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), was personally attacked by Steve Dittmer,
June 6, 2014
USDA Approves Checkoff Advertisements Featuring “North American Beef”
Billings, Mont. – Last February R-CALF USA submitted a complaint to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack alleging unlawful use of U.S. beef checkoff program dollars in advertisements that improperly encouraged consumption of “North American Beef.”
May 29, 2014
R-CALF USA Statement on House Appropriations Committee’s Passage of Agriculture Appropriation’s Bill
Billings, Mont. – R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard issued the following statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee’s passage of the FY 2015 Agriculture Appropriations Bill.
May 21, 2014
Group Celebrates 100th Show on Nebraska Radio
Billings, Mont. – Today, R-CALF USA’s 100th radio show aired on KBRX in O’Neill, Neb. For nearly two years, radio listeners have benefited from R-CALF USA’s weekly presence in O’Neill and the surrounding communities.
May 19, 2014
Farmers, Ranchers and Consumers Urge Congress to Reject Harmful Appropriations Policy Riders on COOL and Farmer Protections
Washington, D.C.—Today, farm, rural, consumer, labor and environmental groups from across the United States delivered two separate letters to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees urging them to reject any efforts in their upcoming 2015 Appropriations Bill to insert policy riders that would harm family farmers, ranchers and consumers.
May 6, 2014
Brazil’s Second Reported BSE Case Raises Food Safety Concerns
Billings, Mont. – On Monday the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) provided notice that Brazil confirmed its second case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), this time in a 12-year-old Brazilian cow. While the notice states that none of the meat or other products from the infected cow entered the food chain, a recent audit report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveals that Brazil has not been complying with BSE safeguard measures required by the United States.
April 24, 2014
Cattle Group Minces No Words in Opposition to USDA’s Plan to Import Fresh Beef from FMD-Affected Brazil
Billings, Mont. – In strongly worded public comments, R-CALF USA criticized the plan by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to relax United States’ border protections to allow the importation of fresh beef from 14 Brazilian states, even though Brazil is not a country free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).