ASA, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council and National Milk Producers Federation announced their joint opposition Monday to the Spartz amendment to the House Agriculture Appropriations bill attacking commodity checkoff programs. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), aims to prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture from using any tax dollars to administer commodity checkoff programs. However, no taxpayer dollars are used in administering checkoff programs, which are funded entirely by the producers who pay into them.
The four commodity groups were also joined by 21 others Monday in sending a letter to the House Committee on Rules, arguing that the checkoff amendment is not germane to the appropriations bill and should not be allowed to come up for a vote.
Yesterday, Rep. Spartz took the floor during a procedural hearing on the House Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 4368) to defend her amendment, where she repeatedly claimed commodity checkoff boards lacked transparency. However, each national checkoff program follows rigorous auditing and financial documentation required by USDA and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. View the United Soybean Board’s annual and financial reports here and a database of checkoff-funded research here. In a media release shared by the organizations and featured in Politico, ASA President Daryl Cates (IL) shared his surprise at Rep. Spartz’s amendment, especially as U.S. soybean farmers remain unequivocally supportive of the Soy Checkoff. “Just 708 of our nation’s 500,000-plus soybean farmers requested to vote on whether to continue the soybean checkoff during the most recent request for referendum back in 2019. That’s just over 1/10th of 1% of soybean farmers. That means hundreds of thousands of farmers continue to support the Soy Checkoff,” said Cates. “They understand the significant role the checkoff plays in developing and protecting markets for their crops, conducting research and promotion to sustain their livelihoods and the environment, and keeping U.S. soy available domestically and competitive globally.”
