Cattle producers may get a chance to vote on whether they want to double the increasingly controversial $1 beef checkoff charge. Under a new plan unveiled this week, an industry working group proposed raising the fee to $2 that each producer pays upon sale of an animal, but also set a referendum every five years.
The proposal, which would have to get Congressional approval, would also offer producers the chance to get a refund of the additional $1, but not the original fee, according to a report by Chris Clayton in the Progressive Farmer.
The latest attempt at changing the beef checkoff comes at a time of producer unrest over the charge, mostly because independent farmers and ranchers have little say in how the mandated charge is spent.
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