Agricultural News
Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Believe Out-of-State Activists Defeat the Oklahoma Beef Checkoff Referendum
Fri, 10 Nov 2017 05:55:12 CST
The group that led the effort to collect signatures and then was charged by the Oklahoma Department of Ag to conduct the referendum, the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, released a statement after the results were announced that included a headline that stated "Out-of-State Activists Defeat the Oklahoma Beef Checkoff Referendum." The OCA statement quoted both President Weston Givens and OCA Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey:
"As a rancher, I face challenges every day," said Weston Givens, rancher and President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association. "Unfortunately, those daily challenges are nothing compared to the growing challenges that our industry faces such as: aggressive anti-meat activist groups trying to remove beef from the menu and misleading claims about food safety and animal care. It is disheartening that the Oklahoma Beef Checkoff was defeated, but I'm still proud of the strong collaborative effort of the Vote Yes Coalition and our grassroots campaign."
"This is an unfortunate loss for the beef industry here in Oklahoma," said Michael Kelsey, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice President. "Investing in a state-level beef checkoff would have greatly increased the opportunities to market, promote and educate consumers about beef and beef producers. We ran a good campaign that worked hard to reach out and educate beef producers, but ultimately we were defeated today by the same out-of-state activists that defeated State Question 777 last fall."
On Thursday afternoon, we caught up with President Givens, and you can hear his comments by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...