Is USDA Stalling the Checkoff Vote? / Straight Talk by Martha Stevens

Martha Stevens is livestock farmer who lives and farms near Hatfield, Missouri. This article is part of an ongoing series by Martha Stevens - Straight Talk - commenting on the life and politics of farming in Missouri and the U.S. as a whole.

Is the USDA deliberately stalling the validation of producer signatures on petitions calling for a vote on the mandatory pork and beef checkoffs? Are they using the best possible method to provide fro quick disposal of the validation process? Those, and a lot of other questions are being asked by producers these days as the validation process drags on and on and on.....

I have a real problem with the USDA hiring a telemarketing firm to call producers with a variety of questions, including personal financial information. Financial information should not enter into the validation process.

Casting the issue of questions aside, the use of telemarketers in this capacity is certainly not in the interest of producers. I do not talk to telemarketer; I am sure that much of rural America is of like persuasion. When my Caller ID shows "private line" in place of a phone number, I rarely answer. When I do, as soon as I get a hint there is a telemarketer on the other end, I hang up. I most certainly would not give him/her any personal information, be it financial or otherwise. To do so could court disaster.

Of course, we must also remember, that many of those working at the USDA have a vested interest in delaying this vote as long as possible since that department plays a part in overseeing the administration of those funds. In the meantime, producers already hard hit with low prices and a threat of losing the family farm, are being forced to pay--off the top--into the bottomless pit of the checkoff coffers.

USDA should accept the mandate of the vast numbers of producers who signed those petitions and call for an immediate vote--on both checkoffs. Personal financial data has no bearing on whether or not the petition was legally signed; their only job is to validate--or invalidate--signatures. Any other demand by USDA or their telemarketers is a tactic that smells of intimidation and cannot continue. A simple "Did you sign the petition? Are you a pork (beef) producer?" Should suffice. A reply of "YES" would indicate that the signature is valid and of a legitimate pork/beef producer, entitled to vote on the referendum. The USDA seems to have forgotten their part in this scenario. Their job; their ONLY job is to verify that the signatures are valid. Period. Finis.

Petition signatures must be of actual pork (beef) producers, I confess to being a little suspicious of USDA motives and the ramifications that their questionable tactics may bring. Will USDA’s foot-dragging continue until even more producers are no longer in business? Would such dropping from the scene then make those producer signatures invalid, after the fact?

The Livestock Marketing Association which launched the petition drive on behalf of beef producers urges those producers who desire to vote on the referendum to contact USDA Sec. Dan Glickman at (202) 721-3631 or by e-mail at agsec@usda.gov and tell him you want to vote NOW. Given the methods currently being employed regarding the pork checkoff, producers would be well advised to head the LMA on this issue.

Today’s Quote: "To deny this massive request for a vote on the basis of procedures that the department would not apply to any of its other constituencies would be a grossly unjust denial of due process."--Jim Schaben Jr., LMA President