Karina Jones, Field Director for R-Calf USA joins us each Friday from her ranch in the heart of Nebraska covering what’s new and important to the family farm and ranch.
Big Breaking News out of Washington. The USDA has granted a 60 extension on the Beef Checkoff petition. Here’s the 60-day plan: If you’re a cattle producer, please go to www.checkoffvote.com to sign the petition if you haven’t already.
Email or text all your cattle-producer friends and acquaintances the checkoff vote address and encourage them to go online to sign. Then go to your feed store, auction yard, local fair, rodeo, or anywhere else you go or do business with and ask them to either go online to sign the petition or to send a notice to their email lists to inform producers of their opportunity to call for a vote by signing the checkoff petition. And when all that’s done, please consider printing off some hard-copy petitions and bringing them to locations where you know cattle producers will be to give them the opportunity to sign the petition.
The right to vote on a government program that we have been mandated to pay into for decades is even more important. It gives us a way to bring accountability and reform to the program that is desperately needed. It has been over 35 years since there was a referendum. I did not get to vote 35 years ago and neither did the majority of cattle producers in operation today. Voting is the American way, and it is time to use that power in this scenario. We all need to speak up for our operations and our future through a vote!
While 60 days is not much time, if we all pull together, we can do the impossible to help improve your U.S. cattle industry. I challenge you to gather 30 signatures and once you see how easy it is, gather another 30.
Once again, we now have until October 3 to collect signatures on the beef Checkoff petition. The form is till the same and you can still sign the online petition or print off a hard copy at www.checkoffvote.com. If we want a different program, it starts NOW with fighting for a referendum. $80 million a year is taken out of our industry and out of the pockets of cattle producers like you and me. It is time to take back our Checkoff!
To learn more about Beef Checkoff reform, I invite you to come to our R-CALF Convention Aug 18-20th in Rapid City. Check it out and register online at our R-CALF USA website, just click on that convention tab.
Good luck next week to the 9 Hot Barn auction markets that power this program. You are the heartbeat of your community and R-CALF USA recognizes the service you give to your area producers. We are all better working together.
See more at HOT BARN REPORT
Lemmon Livestock, INC.
Presho Livestock Auction
Mobridge Livestock
Platte Livestock Market
Stockmen’s Livestock
Lamoni Livestock Auction
Crawford Livestock Market
North Platte Stockyards
Bassett Livestock Auction
