Dear Editor:
I am a fourth-generation farmer, born and raised in Callaway County. Agriculture is my passion and helping others is my purpose. This letter is to inform beef producers about the Missouri Beef Checkoff referendum.
I stand against this proposal because it takes additional money directly out of Missouri producers' pockets with no tangible benefits or accountability.
I spoke against this proposal at a recent public hearing held by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. I have visited with many cattle producers and not one was in favor of this proposal. Few were aware of how the funds would be used or the voting procedure. I want to inform as many as possible of the detrimental long-term effects of the proposed checkoff system.
If passed, the referendum would double the amount Missouri producers would pay in checkoff fees to two dollars per head every time we sell a cow or calf-this will amount to over $2 million more in checkoff fees from Missouri producers, placing Missouri among the states with the highest checkoff fees in the nation. Given our difficult farm economy, it is a poor time to force another expense on the producer.
Producers should not be asked to pay more into an ineffective program that clearly has not helped producers, our families or our operations. Beef consumption is down 31 percent nationally and Missouri has lost 40 percent of our producers since the 1980s.
Missouri beef producers must register to vote before March 4. Vote "no" on this money grab by MBIC.
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