For Immediate Release: Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com
Photo of Stone County Farm Bureau Directors Rick Squibb (left) and David Halligan (right) presenting their donation to R-CALF USA.
Billings, Mont. – Recognizing R-CALF USA’s ongoing and aggressive fight to improve economic conditions for the nation’s family farmers and ranchers who raise cattle, the Stone County Missouri Farm Bureau, an affiliate of the Missouri Farm Bureau, made an end-of-year contribution to R-CALF USA in the amount of $4,123.85.
Mike Schultz, former R-CALF USA Vice President and Director of Region VI, which includes Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, was recently invited to speak at the Stone County Farm Bureau membership meeting in Crane, Missouri. During the meeting, Schultz fielded questions from the many attendees that revealed they had deep concerns regarding the current state of the U.S. cattle industry.
Schultz explained to the Stone County attendees that the conventional organizations purporting to represent independent cattle producers are too closely aligned with the multinational meatpackers whose economic interests are out-of-line with the interests of independent cattlemen. He described how R-CALF USA’s voting structure ensures that the organization remains loyal to the policies developed by its grassroots members and stated that this is the reason the group has never weakened in its support for issues like mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL).
Schultz told the attendees:
“The largest packers do not want you to distinguish your higher-quality beef in your own domestic market with a country-of-origin label that proudly says ‘Product of the USA’.
“They also don’t want you to limit their ability to import as many undifferentiated cattle and as much undifferentiated beef as they want so they can leverage down the price of your cattle.
“And, they don’t want you to restrict their cattle-buying practices that limit your access to the marketplace as this allows them to buy your cattle for a price much lower than what it should be if the marketplace were competitive.
“Just look at today’s near record beef prices and compare them to your depressed cattle prices and you can see that the marketplace is no longer functioning properly.
“You’re losing tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars because the policies the conventional organizations have supported for years are supporting the multinational beef packers’ interests over your interests.”
Longtime Stone County Farm Bureau member Rick Squibb stated “Missouri is ranked No. 2 in cow-calf production and the beef market is very important to our state. Our society wants to know where their food comes from. Country-of-origin labeling is a crucial step for the American cattlemen in marketing beef to today’s consumers.”
Following Schultz’s presentation, the Stone County Farm Bureau Board of Directors voted to support R-CALF USA’s work with a sizable donation because no other organization was so effectively representing the interests of independent U.S. cattle producers.
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only cattle trade association in the United States. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
