R-CALF Claims Win Over Montana Beef Checkoff

R-CALF is claiming a win stemming from last week's federal court ruling against the beef checkoff program. The organization alleges that the involuntary collections of beef checkoff funds from producers in Montana were in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The United States District Court for the District of Montana put in place a preliminary injunction prohibiting the private Montana Beef Council from retaining beef checkoff funds without the payers' consent. J. Dudley Butler of the Farm and Ranch Law Group says of the ruling that: "For too long the big meat packers and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association have used their allies in Washington to squelch the voices of rural America,” adding that the group hopes the court ruling is a “step towards fairer treatment of farmers and ranchers and a more accountable food system.”