R-CALF REQUESTS SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN BEEF CHECKOFF CASE: Politico morning Arriculture report

R-CALF REQUESTS SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN BEEF CHECKOFF CASE: R-CALF USA is asking a Montana federal court for a summary judgment in its case against the USDA over the Beef Checkoff program. The lawsuit, filed in May, argues the USDA violated Montana beef producers’ First Amendment rights by forcing them to pay a $1-per-head fee every time one of their cattle is sold to support a marketing program that doesn’t distinguish between domestic and imported beef. Earlier this month, USDA filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing it was working on a new rule that will resolve R-CALF’s complaints by allowing “producers in most states to petition their respective state beef councils to redirect checkoff dollars away from those private state councils and to the federal Beef Checkoff program, which is operated under the direct supervision of the USDA,” R-CALF said in a statement. But the group said that proposal is “woefully inadequate.” “There is no reason to continue unconstitutionally taxing America’s independent ranchers when the government already admits it should have never happened in the first place,” says David Muraskin, an attorney with Public Justice who is representing R-CALF. Read more: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-agriculture#ixzz4IjoW8Xmd Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook