Daniel D. Owen – Polsinelli Shughart PC
August 10, 2012 | Filing Date for Complaint for Permanent Injunction
MICHAEL P. CALLICRATE, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (PDF)
Mike Callicrate is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit filed against the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) and the CBB’s Beef Promotion Operating Committee. Callicrate is a cattle producer and the owner of a meat packing facility and retail market called Ranch Direct Foods in Colorado Springs, Colo. He also is president of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM).
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the NCBA receives a large majority of checkoff funded projects. The lawsuit alleges that the CBB operating committee awards the contracts to NCBA while the CBB is controlled by NCBA. Callicrate alleges that NCBA is approving their own funding from the CBB for their own benefit and for the purpose of promoting an industrial model of beef production, processing and distribution – harming both producers and consumers.
IN THE NEWS ON AUGUST 10, 2012:
Lawsuit claims beef checkoff paying for lobbying
August 10, 2012 | Real Clear Politics | Roxana Hegeman
Organizations unite in suit over Beef Checkoff funds
August 10, 2012 | Meat & Poultry | Meat & Poultry Staff
Lawsuit claims beef checkoff paying for lobbying
August 10, 2012 | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Associated Press
Odd Allies Fight for Beef Industry’s Future
August 10, 2012 | Daily Yonder | Bill Bishop
Organization for Competitive Markets Takes On HSUS Help
August 10, 2012 | Farm Futures | Staff
Suit filed against beef checkoff program
August 10, 2012 | The Kansas City Star | Mike McGraw
“It’s (Beef Checkoff) the most corrupt thing I have ever seen in my life.”
– David Wright, ICON President and Beef Board Member of Nebraska
