From staff reports Tanner Beymer, Senior Director of Governmental Affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, discussed the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act during the National Association of Farm Broadcasters’ Washington Watch Event last week.
The OFF ACT, part of the Beef Checkoff, is seen as an effort to slow down meat consumption and is not currently included in the Farm Bill proposal, yet some are concerned that OFF Act supporters may try to add the bill in during negotiations.
“The deceptively titled Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act is a continuation of legislation that tends to get introduced at least once every Congress,” Beymer said. “Unfortunately, because this is a Farm Bill year and because there is so much pandemonium unfolding on Capitol Hill right now, we cannot afford to take threats like this lightly. This effort has really been picked up by these radical activist animal rights groups because, if you think about it, what is the most effective marketing tool for U.S. beef in the world? It is the beef checkoff.”
Beymer said the NCA has worked with livestock industry allies to push back on this narrative.
“We are anticipating there will be an effort made in the Farm Bill, but there was a test done during the appropriations bills that were being debated here several months ago,” he said. “An amendment from Victoria Spartz out of Indiana was kind of a ‘test balloon’ for the OFF Act. That amendment was defeated on the floor by a vote of 49 to 377. In a town that is divided as this one right now, we are going to call that a pretty good win.”
While Democrats have been the typical supporters of anti-animal agriculture groups, Beymer said recently that more moderates and some Republicans have become sympathetic to the messaging.
“I think part of the reason for that is these animal rights activists have gotten more creative, and they are using some of these shell groups, and using what they think are cattle producers, and dressing them up in a costume and sending them up to Capitol Hill saying, ‘I’m a farmer, and by golly, I want you to kill the Beef Checkoff,’ or ‘I want you to allow California to implement Prop 12.’ Things that no farmer or rancher in their right mind would ever ask for.”
Because this act has been promoted by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and animal rights groups, Beymer said educating those in Washington, D.C about this issue is critical.
“We have to constantly be thinking about where our vulnerabilities are with folks on Capitol Hill so we can make sure we can push back on these harmful narratives,” he said.