010130 Beef Referendum Attempt Falls Short

Washington - Opponents of the beef promotion program known for the slogan “Beef, It's What's for Dinner” failed to submit enough valid petitions from cattle producers to require a referendum, the Agriculture Department said.

A referendum held last year among hog farmers resulted in the demise of the pork promotion program. Both programs are managed by the government and funded through fees on producers.

At least 107,833 valid signatures, or 10% of the nation's beef producers, were required under law to have a referendum on the beef program.

The Livestock Marketing Association, a group representing independent auction houses that has led opposition to the beef program, submitted 127,927 petitions to the department. However, an audit by the Pricewaterhouse Coopers accounting firm estimates that no more than 83,464 were valid.

“Although the number of petitions submitted to USDA is not sufficient to trigger a referendum, thousands of beef producers have clearly signaled their concern over the beef checkoff program,” said Kathleen Merrigan, administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

Producers pay a fee of $1 per cow that raises about $80 million a year for the program.

The department did not validate sufficient petitions on the pork program either. But Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman ordered the referendum anyway, saying it was time for producers to have a say in whether they wanted it to continue.

USDA officials did not believe Glickman had legal authority to call a referendum on the beef program without sufficient petitions. The pork and beef programs were created under different laws.

Opponents of the beef program say it has done little to change what until recently had been a steady decline in beef consumption.

The livestock association filed suit last month in South Dakota, where opposition to the program is especially strong, to force USDA to hold a referendum. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 25.

“There is no downside to voting. There is no downside to democracy,” said John McBride, a spokesman for the association.

The disputes over the two promotion programs reflect a growing division in U.S. agriculture between the interests of large and smaller-scale producers.

Merrigan said the beef petition drive should remind managers of promotion programs “to stay in close touch with the producers who fund these programs.”

The department also supervises promotion programs for milk, dairy products, watermelons, honey, popcorn, potatoes, peanuts, mushrooms, cotton and eggs.

The beef program was authorized by Congress in 1985, and approved by producers in 1988. There has been no referendum since then.

“It's time now to move forward and focus on the future, instead of the past,” said George Hall, president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, which is partly funded by the fee. “It's our hope that we can now give even more attention to increasing beef demand, which is of critical importance to our industry.”

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