WASHINGTON (Oct. 20, 2011) – National Farmers Union and a coalition of organizations sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging him to take steps to make funding for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) more transparent and to ensure that more voices are heard when distributing checkoff dollars. The letter came as a result of a Sept. 27 meeting of ten agricultural organizations in Minneapolis.
“It is the recommendation of this group that seats be made available on all Joint Checkoff Committees for one representative from each national nonprofit industry-governed organization that would qualify as a checkoff contractor and desires to have a representative on the committee,” the coalition wrote. “These committee members would be allowed to engage in all deliberations of the committees; but would not have a vote on motions brought before the committee.”
