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CapitalPress.com
November 16, 2018
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Court expands beef
checkoff lawsuit
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
A U.S. district court
in Montana has granted
R-CALF USA’s motion to
expand its lawsuit against
USDA over the constitution-
ality of the beef checkoff to
include 13 states in addition
to Montana.
That court previously
granted a preliminary injunc-
tion prohibiting USDA from
compelling cattle producers
in Montana to pay checkoff
money to fund the Montana
Beef Council without obtain-
ing producers’ consent.
R-Calf argues that action
violates the First Amendment
because state beef councils
are private entities funding
private speech that cattle
producers disagree with and
cannot influence.
Because USDA has no
role in directly supervising
the councils, R-CALF argues
their promotions do not con-
stitute government speech,
which is exempt from the
First Amendment.
The lawsuit now also ap-
plies to checkoff funding for
state beef councils in Hawaii,
Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska,
Nevada, New York, North
Carolina,
Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Da-
kota, Texas, Vermont, and
Wisconsin.
Morris’ ruling doesn’t
apply the temporary injunc-
tion in effect in Montana to
those states. But if R-CALF
is successful in seeking a per-
manent injunction, it would
likely apply to the additional
states, R-CALF stated in a
press release.
R-CALF’s members, in-
cluding those in the 14 states
included in the lawsuit, ob-
ject to both the beef check-
off’s messaging and the
fact that state beef councils
are entirely unaccountable,
R-CALF stated in court pa-
pers.
It alleges checkoff money
is used to undermine inde-
pendent cattle producers by
promoting multinational beef
companies.
Checkoff dollars are reg-
ularly used to promote a
false equivalency between
domestic and imported beef
because this allows multina-
tional beef companies to im-
port cheaper beef and pass it
off to consumers at the same
price as domestic beef — but
with wider margins, R-CALF
stated in court papers.
“This reduces the amount
of beef purchased from do-
mestic independent cattle
producers and the prices they
receive for their products,” it
stated.
National
Cattlemen’s
Beef Association was quick
to respond to the court’s rul-
ing, stating R-CALF’s al-
legations are without merit
and only serve to divide beef
producers and distract beef
councils from building de-
mand for beef.
The Federation of State
Beef Councils is a division
of NCBA.
“The simple fact is that
regular audits of the beef
checkoff and NCBA have
found both to be compliant
with the laws governing the
checkoff,” Kendal Frazier,
NCBA’s CEO, said.
In addition, two audits
conducted by the USDA’s
Office of Inspector General
have also come back clean.
R-CALF’s accusations to the
contrary are false, he said.
“R-CALF has become
nothing but a front group for
activists seeking to divide the
industry, lessen beef demand
and drive producers out of
business,” he said.
One of R-CALF’s attor-
neys on the case is David
Muraskin, an attorney with
Public Justice who focuses
on litigation to promote sus-
tainable alternatives to in-
dustrial animal agriculture,
according to Public Justice’s
website.
Dairy/Livestock
Dairy farmers consider supply management
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Four years of low milk
prices and the loss of near-
ly 7,000 U.S. dairy opera-
tions has many dairy farmers
warming to the idea of a na-
tional milk supply-manage-
ment program.
National Dairy Produc-
ers Organization has been
imploring farmers for years
to balance milk supply with
profitable demand. Now, the
Wisconsin Farmers Union
is also trying to unify dairy
farmers on that front.
WFU started looking into
the dairy crisis in 2016, noting
an average loss of 500 Wis-
consin dairy farms annually.
Bobbi Wilson, WFU govern-
ment relations associate, said
a survey of the state’s dairy
farmers opened the organiza-
tion’s eyes to the severity of
the crisis, and it began look-
ing at options to address the
situation.
This spring, it hosted a se-
ries of events with Canadian
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
The downward spiral in milk prices is fueling conversation on
supply management in the U.S.
dairy farmers explaining how
their
supply-management
program supports milk prices.
Participation was high, and
WFU was flooded with calls
from dairy farmers across the
country. That launched Dairy
Together, an effort to change
the dairy situation in the U.S.,
she said.
The goal is not to get peo-
ple to support the same sys-
tem used in Canada, which
includes quotas that prohibit
expansion, she said.
“But we need a mecha-
nism to press the brake pedal
when there’s too much (milk)
and press the gas pedal when
there’s not enough. We need a
way to balance the milk sup-
ply with a price that’s profit-
able for farmers,” she said.
The industry is relying on
increasing exports, but that’s
not sustainable and is part of
the problem, she said.
“It’s a race to the bottom
to create the cheapest product
for world markets,” she said.
WFU is seeing growing
acceptance of supply man-
agement and market stabili-
zation among producers. The
National Farmers Union sup-
ports inventory management,
and it was one of the talking
points to lawmakers about the
farm bill during the Septem-
ber NFU fly-in to Washing-
ton, D.C., she said.
The conversation on sup-
ply management among law-
makers is shifting. There’s
still some pushback, but there
is a realization that something
probably needs to be done,
she said.
Lawmakers said they need
to hear from dairy farmers,
particularly the National Milk
Producers Federation, which
represents about 80 percent of
the national milk supply, she
said.
In the 2014 Farm Bill dis-
cussions, there was support
for supply management from
producers in the suite of what
NMPF was proposing to im-
prove the dairy safety net,
Alan Bjerga, NMPF senior
vice president of communica-
tions, said.
Dairy prices dive before holiday bump
C
ash dairy prices could
draw no strength from
last week’s Global
Dairy Trade auction and most
fell the following day and
then some.
Block Cheddar cheese
closed Nov. 9 at $1.38 per
pound, down 7 3/4-cents on
the week, the lowest CME
price since March 16, 2017,
and 33 cents below a year
ago. The barrels finished at
$1.3050, 3 1/2-cents lower
and 44 3/4-cents below a year
ago.
The blocks lost 3 cents
Nov. 12, slipping to $1.35
per pound, lowest CME price
since May 25, 2016, then
regained 2 1/4-cents Nov. 13,
clawing back to $1.3725. The
barrels picked up a penny and
a quarter Nov. 12 and tacked
on 3 3/4-cents Nov. 13, hit-
ting $1.3550, re-establishing
46-4/100
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
a more typical spread of
1 3/4-cents below the blocks.
Dairy Market News
reports that spot milk loads
bound for the cheese vat are
“diminishing” and a growing
number of cheesemakers say
they will forgo the spot mar-
ket until after the Thanksgiv-
ing holiday, when discounts
are expected to reappear.
Milk was also less avail-
able week over week, and
milk handlers report getting
requests that are impossible
to fill on a regular basis. Spot
milk prices ranged from $1 to
$2 over Class. Some cheese-
makers suggest that markets
are negatively affecting sales.
Others say little to no change
has occurred since the price
downslide began, and sales
are “steady to improved. “
Western cheese output
continues at a brisk pace with
ample milk flowing to the
vat. “While teams playing
on the gridiron have put fans
into the mood for pizza and
marketers say retail and food
service cheese sales have
been solid, manufacturers
are eager to see a demand in-
crease for the holidays,” says
DMN. “So far, buyers have
stayed mostly on the sidelines
and the sales bump has yet
to fully materialize. Exports
have also not met expecta-
tions. Price dips may prompt
some immediate activity, but
not to the level desired. As
a result, inventories remain
heavy and are not clearing as
anticipated.”
Butter saw a Nov. 9 close
at $2.1925 per pound, down
10 3/4-cents on the week,
lowest since Sept. 5, 2018,
and 6 1/4-cents below a year
ago. Only 6 cars traded hands
on the week.
Nov. 12’s butter reclaimed
3 1/4-cents, then gave back
2 1/2-cents Nov. 13, slipping
to $2.20.
Cream availability re-
mains sparse in the Central
region but there was a little
more last week, according
to DMN. “Bulk butter, like
cream, is more available
in the West. However, as
trucking woes pervade the
dairy industry, among other
agricultural sectors, this is an
added difficulty and ex-
pense for Midwestern butter
makers. Butter markets are
generally steady and range
bound.”
46-3/HOU