News Update

News Update
March 6, 2006

Checkoff Program Reaches Agreement with LMA

The Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board (CBB) announced Friday that the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have reached an agreement aimed at keeping discussions about changes to the beef checkoff program out of the courtroom.

According to CBB, pursuant to a settlement agreement between the parties, a stipulation of dismissal was filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in South Dakota, dismissing the claims of most of the plaintiffs in the case, including LMA.

“This agreement resolves all outstanding claims in this action…and the settling Plaintiffs hereby release and dismiss all claims set forth in their Third Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, and any other claims arising from the facts set forth therein,” notes the agreement signed by counsel for LMA, CBB and USDA.

According to the agreement, USDA will use beef checkoff dollars to fund an extensive survey of at least 8,000 U.S. cattle producers to “assess producer attitudes toward the beef checkoff program.”

“The producers who pay the checkoff need to have an important role in recommending how those dollars are spent — and they need to know that those investments are based directly on their end desires,” CBB Chief Operating Officer (COO) Monte Reese stated in the release.

Range Beef Cow Symposium Coverage Expands

Angus Productions Inc. (API) has updated its coverage of the 2005 Range Beef Cow Symposium, available at www.rangebeefcow.com. Coverage of the biennial symposium, which boasts practical production management information, now includes Web video presentations.

To access Web video of the presentations from the site’s welcome page, click here. The service is provided by the Market Journal television unit of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Communications and Information Technology Unit.

For further coverage, visit the newsroom for presentations summaries, available as downloadable PDF files.

Printed copies of the proceedings can be ordered from Ivan Rush, University of Nebraska Panhandle Extension and Research Center, 4502 Ave. I, Scottsbluff, NE 69361.

TV Show Looks at Progress of Rural Communities

RFD-TV, with producer Osborn & Barr Communications, will premier a show tonight focusing on rural America’s rapidly changing landscape. Titled “Prospering in Rural America: An Inside Look at the Progress of Today’s Rural Communities,” the special report provides an inside look at the issues, challenges and progress happening throughout rural America. The 60-minute show will emphasize renewable energy, quality of life and telecommunications. Farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson will interview three special guests during the show, including Thomas Dorr, undersecretary for USDA Rural Development; Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.); and Bob Young, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) chief economist.

The initial live broadcast of the show will be at 8 p.m. EST, March 6, on RFD-TV. The network is carried by satellite providers DirecTV (channel 379) and DISH Network (channel 9409), and on cable providers Mediacom and NCTC Cable Systems.

Check local listings for additional airings.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, Angus Productions Inc.