Truth Farmer

RIGHT NOW, the Missouri legislature is attempting to pass a bill that would allow the Missouri Beef Council to collect another $.50 per head Beef Check-Off Tax from Missouri cattle producers. This would amount to over $1 million a year.  House Bill 1496 & Senate Bill 591 would repeal a MO law that prohibits the state from collecting any fees in addition to the fees collected by the federal government under the current beef check-off program.  These additional and unnecessary taxes would be imposed on Missouri cattle producers every time they sell a cow or calf.

If SB 591 or HB 1496 passes, the Beef Council could simply impose this $.50 tax on producers or they could hold a referendum of a small minority of producers that could impose this new tax on every cattle producer in the state.

Currently, the vast majority of the existing check-off dollars paid by cattle producers ends up in the coffers of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).  Over 80% of the NCBA’s funding comes from the beef check-off.  And, unfortunately, the NCBA consistently supports positions that are anti-farmer and anti-consumer.  The NCBA’s positions include opposing Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and theenforcement of anti-trust laws, and supporting packer ownership of livestockand giving fast-track trade authority to the president.  Missouri beef producers do not need to pay any more Beef Check-Off taxes!

• This is a mandatory tax on Missouri cattle producers.
• A $.50 tax on every head of cattle sold in MO would mean over $1 million per year that producers could be spending in their local, rural economies or on their farming operations.
• Missouri cattle producers are already paying over $2 million per year in the mandated federal Beef Check-Off program.  We don’t need any more unaccountable beef check-off programs and taxes.
• Mandatory check-off programs are government programs, NOT producer programs. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that mandatory check-off programs are “government speech”.
• If producers believe it’s in their best interest to increase the amount they pay into the check-off program, a point-of-sale VOLUNTARY check-off could be implemented at any time without this legislation.  This would be a market-based solution, not a government mandate and tax.
• Legislators should not go on record as supporting this unpopular beef tax.

Oppose the Beef Tax Bills—Senate Bill 591 & House Bill 1496.