The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case against the beef industry’s marketing program after a U.S. appeals court ruled that it’s unconstitutional to fund marketing through mandatory fees.
The court’s decision could end the $80 million Cattlemen’s Beef Board marketing program and threatens dozens of other checkoff programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including the $48 million National Pork Board marketing program that was restructured in 2001 after a legal battle.
The Supreme Court will hear the beef case during its full session, which begins Oct. 1, and should render a decision by June 2005. Cattle ranchers will continue to pay $1 per head in checkoff fees until then, and marketing will continue as scheduled, including the high-profile “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner” ad campaign. New TV spots broke in April with print, radio and promotions running through summer that centers on grilling.
The Livestock Marketing Association, the Western Organization of Resource Councils and three individual ranchers sued the USDA, the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion & Research Board and the Nebraska Cattlemen, arguing that mandatory fees violate ranchers’ free-speech rights and benefit corporate producers more than small ranches. The Promotion & Research Board says checkoff-funded marketing has helped boost consumer demand 16% since 1998.
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