Information from FarmSTAND expert report in litigation over beef checkoff informs this new advocacy resource
Food checkoff programs penalize independent producers of food by funneling money to the lobbying and trade organizations that boost the largest corporate producers, according to research featured in the latest in FarmSTAND’s Deep Dive series to be published over the next month.
Checkoff programs—which exist for soy, eggs, beef, pork, and more—are a mandatory tax on agricultural producers. That tax money is supposed to be spent to promote overall sales of a given agricultural product. FarmSTAND research published in today’s Deep Dive shows these programs put independent farmers and ranchers at a double disadvantage: not only are they yet another cost for those operating on razor-thin margins, but the money ends up supporting the Big Ag companies aiming to put them out of business and threaten our health and environment.
The first edition of FarmSTAND’s Deep Dive series explored how Hormel’s Natural Choice line was made of the exact same meat used in Hormel’s standard products, like Spam, misleading consumers into thinking their purchases benefited their health, the environment, and animal welfare more than buying other Hormel brands might. Deep Dives use information that came to light as a result of FarmSTAND litigation to expose the tactics Big Ag uses to preserve an industrial ag status quo that harms workers, independent and small farmers, and consumers.
The Deep Dive resource published starting today will illustrate how the system’s corporate advantage works within the beef industry specifically: the beef checkoff funnels money to lobbying groups accountable to Big Ag, particularly the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; Checkoff money has regularly been unaccounted for, or used for lavish personal expenses by those high up in NCBA or state beef councils; and Beef Checkoff money goes to fund biased research that minimizes the climate impact of industrial agriculture. FarmSTAND is rolling out this substantial resource in three phases over the coming month: the opening sections published today introduce checkoff programs and explore their ubiquity in American life, explain how they disadvantage independent and small producers, and how FarmSTAND has successfully teamed up with independent ranchers to root out beef checkoff corruption. Future sections focus on how industry pays to skew public information about how the beef checkoff operates and who it benefits; how USDA has turned a blind eye to checkoff waste and abuse rather than oversee it responsibly; and the ongoing fight to reform the checkoff system.
This resource relies on information gleaned from an expert report commissioned as part of FarmSTAND’s years-long legal advocacy in court on behalf of independent rancher group R-CALF USA. R-CALF has argued that USDA fails to properly regulate how checkoff money is spent, that advertising paid for by the checkoff hurts independent beef producers, and that these ads are an unconstitutional form of compelled speech. An expert report commissioned during this litigation shows how generic checkoff advertising hurts independent ranchers and boosts Big Ag. The report also shows that small changes to checkoff advertising could instead boost independent ranchers, so that they too benefit from the tax they pay.
“This deep dive makes clear how the checkoff system operates in a way that furthers Big Ag’s power over independent farmers and ranchers,” said FarmSTAND Research Paralegal Sylvia Regan. “We’re urging advocates for a fair food system to use it as a tool to explain why reform is urgent.”
This resource features illustrations by Washington, D.C.-based artist Tania Lee.