Heard at the Trough

Beef Checkoff Lawsuit. Two Missouri farmers with the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, filed suit against the Missouri Department of Agriculture to stop a referendum on the beef checkoff. The referendum would be a vote among farmers on whether or not to double the beef checkoff fee from $1 to $2. It is unknown how long this will delay any planned referendum.

EPA Lobby Illegal. The Government Accountability Office reported the EPA spent more than $64,000 lobbying for WOTUS (Waters of the U.S.) between February 2014 and February 2015. The agency is accused of violating anti-lobbying laws. National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) president, Tracy Brunner, said WOTUS "poses a significant risk to cattle producers and all land use stakeholders." The NCBA has highlighted WOTUS as a top priority for the group in 2016.

Environmentalists Sue. Cattle grazing public land in California are at the center of a lawsuit filed by a group of environmentalists in Marin County. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court, San Francisco, against the National Park Service. The groups contend park officials are in violation of federal law by planning to renew 20-year grazing leases to ranchers in the area without what they call an "adequate environmental review."

(VM/CZ

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