The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association is still struggling to find support for a statewide marketing program.
Ranchers and other agriculture producers have been very active in their collective support of State Question 777, which would amend the state constitution to stringently limit lawmakers’ ability to regulate the industry.
They see that as a consumer education campaign, but despite that kind of public awareness effort, cattle ranchers have been slow to get behind a beef checkoff program, The Journal Record’s Brian Brus reports:
A primary motivating factor behind raising checkoff dollars is to counter inaccurate information about ranching and the food it produces, [Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey] said. On the other hand, SQ 777 is often referred to by its supporters as the Right to Farm issue because the constitutional amendment is supposed to protect agricultural processes from unnecessary regulation. If passed, the item would prevent the Oklahoma Legislature from passing agriculture-related laws without a compelling state interest. And yet even though cattlemen have shown strong support for the latter, backed by endorsements from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, American Farmers & Ranchers, several rural legislators and Oklahoma Agri-Women, it hasn’t translated into signatures, Kelsey said.
By law, the Cattlemen’s Association needs about 5,100 ranchers to sign a petition favoring the collective marketing proposal. After a year of trying, the association has only obtained about one thousand signatures.
Cordell rancher Jeff Jaronek said he doesn’t see the problem stemming from a lack of support.
“It’s been a little slower than we expected,” Jaronek said. “What we’ve found out is that people don’t go out of their way to sign petitions. You’ve really got to get out in front and ask them to take action. That’s been tough, particularly through the summer and with everyone putting up hay.” Jaronek said the petition drive will be pushed into the winter during annual producer meetings. Producers have contributed $1 per head to a national checkoff program since the 1980s, when ranchers agreed that a tiny slice of their profits could go a long way to improved beef sales, which led to the National Livestock and Meat Board Beef Council’s “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner” campaign. However, that same buck doesn’t stretch as far today, Kelsey said, while producers have to deal with aggressive anti-meat campaigns on social media, shifting consumer attitudes, nutritional misinformation and greater competition for export markets. The additional $1 would make a huge marketing difference, he said. Kelsey added that the checkoff, if approved, could not be used for political lobbying.
Jaronek said an industrywide vote could come early next year.
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