Agricultural News
R-CALF USA CEO Files FOIA Request to Determine Possible USDA Role in Meeting Ban
Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:10:41 CDT
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard filed a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and/or Privacy Act (PA) for copies of all records of communications between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the eight groups that have banned R-CALF USA from participating in the meeting of the Beef Checkoff Industry Input Group (Checkoff Industry Group) to be held Sept. 24, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. USDA representative Craig Shackelford is scheduled to make a presentation at the meeting.
The eight groups that banned R-CALF USA from participating in the upcoming meeting include: National Cattlemen's Beef Association, U.S. Cattlemen's Association, Meat Importers Council of America, American National CattleWomen, American Farm Bureau Federation, Livestock Marketing Association, National Livestock Producers, and National Farmers Union.
"The purpose of this Freedom of Information Act and/or Privacy Act request is to ascertain the U.S. Department of Agriculture's role or involvement, if any, in the scheduling of or planning for the meeting to be held on September 24, 2012 . . . This request is necessary because a decision was made by the Beef Checkoff Industry Input Group and/or the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ban me or any other representative of R-CALF USA from participating, in any way, at the meeting," Bullard wrote in his request.
Bullard's request continued: "This request is inclusive of all communications and contacts between USDA officials and the aforementioned organizations during the entire period August 10, 2012 through September 20, 2012 regardless of whether such communications or contacts are directly or indirectly related to the upcoming, September 24, 2012 meeting . . . because the organizers of the September 24, 2012 meeting (i.e., the eight organizations listed above) asserted that the basis for excluding R-CALF USA from the meeting included a lawsuit that was filed against the USDA on August 10, 2012."
"We hope USDA was not involved in excluding R-CALF USA, but given USDA's refusal to take any remedial action after learning that NCBA (National Cattlemen's Beef Association) had misused hundreds of thousands of producer checkoff dollars, it's not a far stretch to suspect that USDA is complicit in trying to stop us from restoring the credibility of the Beef Checkoff Program," Bullard commented.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
