According to the Columbia-based Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC), Missouri Director of Agriculture Richard Fordyce has ignored the concerns of hundreds of Missouri cattle producers who oppose a new proposed state beef check-off and a process being promoted by the Missouri Department of Agriculture to implement another beef check-off tax on Missouri producers.
The MRCC said Fordyce approved a petition by the Missouri Beef Industry Council that is trying to establish a new $1 per head state beef check-off.
Missouri cattle producers are already paying over $2 million each year into the federal beef check-off. The MRCC said the proposed state beef check-off would double that amount and force Missouri cattle producers to pay over $4.5 million each year in beef check-off fees.
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