Voluntary beef checkoff lawsuit thrown out of court

The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide whether the mandatory fee on cattle sold in the United States is legal. Half of the money goes to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and half to state beef councils to help fund advertising, research, and education programs.

In January, though, a voluntary checkoff program set up by the Organization for Competitive Markets ended after a U.S. district judge threw out the group's lawsuit saying it lacked "subject-matter jurisdiction." The group filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), claiming the USDA, at the request of the NCBA, ordered auction houses to stop collecting the voluntary fees.