The OFF Act would restore transparency and accountability to a billion-dollar government program funded by payments extracted from farmers.
Famous promotional campaigns like “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner” and “Pork. The Other White Meat” are the product of government-mandated checkoff programs, which have long been plagued by corruption and controversy.
Started as a way for farmers to voluntarily pool their money to boost the overall sales of their products, checkoff programs are funded through a mandatory fee that many U.S. farmers, ranchers, and producers pay every time they sell any of 22 commodities, including beef, pork, milk, corn, and soybeans.
Due to decades of lax oversight by the USDA, nowadays checkoff programs are shrouded in secrecy while funneling farmers’ money to trade and lobbying organizations — representing the world’s largest meatpackers and grain traders — which promote policies that benefit large monopolies and harm family farmers and ranchers.
There is a bill in Congress right now that would make the checkoff work efficiently for farmers and ranchers: the bipartisan Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act. Developed by farmers in partnership with its sponsors, the OFF Act was introduced to the 118th Congress by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in the Senate (S.557) and is co-sponsored by Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
It was introduced by Representatives Nancy Mace (R-SC-1) and Dina Titus (D-NV-1) in the House (H.R. 1249).
The OFF Act would not end checkoff programs; it would increase program transparency and accountability and keep checkoff funds out of the hands of organizations that lobby on agricultural issues.
Here are just a few resources to help lawmakers understand the need for this common sense legislation.
Visit our partner Farm Action to learn more about the history and controversies of checkoff programs — and why we need to reform them.
Farm Action Fund is working with a large coalition to pass the bipartisan OFF Act, which is supported by more than 130 organizations — led by farm groups representing more than 200,000 American farmers and ranchers.
Farmers, ranchers, and advocates are calling for the OFF Act in newspapers around the country:
The incident clearly illustrates why checkoff money shouldn’t go to any groups that lobby on agriculture policy, said Farm Action Fund’s Joe Maxwell.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers support the OFF Act, which would restore transparency and accountability to checkoff programs.
NCBA purports to be the voice of the cattle industry even as they lobby for meatpackers. Less than 3% of cattle ranchers in the U.S. are members of NCBA.