Challenging the Checkoff

Cattle and hog producers, fed up with the positions taken against their interests by the checkoff-supported National Pork Producers Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, organized petition drives to put the pork and beef checkoffs up for referenda of producers. Both of these efforts ended up in court after producers’ demands for a vote on the beef checkoff, and hog producers’ vote to end the pork checkoff, were thwarted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that the beef checkoff violates the First Amendment rights of cattle producers. Read WORC release, statement, and court's opinion.

Skip and Vanna Waters of Moorcroft, Wyoming, attended the hearing for WORC. Constitutional law expert Lawrence Tribe represented WORC and the Livestock Marketing Association. See pictures from the post-hearing press conference.

• Read the transcript of the U.S. Supreme Court hearing (pdf 184k)
• Read brief (pdf 280k)
• Read friend of the court brief from 50 groups(pdf 179k)
• See more pictures from Washington

The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals had struck down the beef checkoff in July 2003.

A Separate Checkoff Challenge Ends
Montana Ranchers End Challenge to Beef Checkoff. Statement by Steve and Jeanne Charter (pdf 9k)

Dairy Checkoff
In February 2004, the Federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals had struck down the national dairy checkoff program. The court found that the program forces dairy farmers to support speech with which they disagree. Other federal courts have made similar rulings about the pork, mushroom and other checkoff programs.

Pork Checkoff
October, 2003: Appeals Court Strikes Down Pork Checkoff
Campaign for Family Farms News Release

Background
Click here for a chronology of WORC's beef checkoff case, known as LMA v. Veneman.