Last week (Sept. 20, 2023), Platte Livestock Market hosted a calf sale fundraiser that raised around $14,000 for R-CALF USA. Platte Livestock Market has been a part of the community for over 80 years and credits its customer relations, honest business, and fighting for the independent farmer for helping continue to build its legacy.
The recent fundraiser saw a robust crowd, as a full barn gathered to celebrate Platte Livestock Market’s annual barbeque sale. R-CALF USA President Brett Kenzy gave an organizational update to the crowd, and R-CALF USA members and perennial calf sale donors, James Fulwider and Kevin Talsma, both of Iona, South Dakota, donated a yearling steer for the fundraiser.
“We have strong cattle prices now, but we have to be able to hold at this level or higher to keep producers in business,” Fulwider said. “We need mandatory country of origin labeling on beef to keep demand for our American cattle.”
Mandatory country of origin labeling or MCOOL is the law that would require beef to be labeled with its country of origin at retail sale. Fulwider said he wants MCOOL so that the cattle industry is being honest to the consumers buying their beef.
R-CALF USA helped pass mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) in 2002 and because of the organization’s continuous efforts, it was in 2013 that MCOOL for beef went into full effect and consumers knew the country of origin of beef at grocery stores across the country. And soon after 2013, U.S. cattle prices increased to historically high nominal levels.
The group’s ongoing work to reinstate MCOOL for beef after Congress repealed it in 2015 has led to three MCOOL bills now in Congress, and the organization is hard at work to include MCOOL for beef into the 2023 Farm Bill.
“R-CALF USA became well-known among cattle producers in the early 2000s for stopping Canadian cattle imports while multiple bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreaks were still occurring in Canada,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “It was R-CALF USA’s forceful legal action that significantly reduced the risk of BSE in the United States cattle herd. And as a result, U.S. cattle prices increased.
“Cattle producers support R-CALF USA because they know we are capable of winning these big issues that impact their profitability, and through our actions we’ve demonstrated to them that it can be done,” said Bullard.
In 2019, the organization filed a historic class action lawsuit against the four largest meatpackers alleging that they unlawfully depressed prices paid to U.S. cattle producers.
“R-CALF USA was formed to advocate for the issues affecting American cattlemen and women,” Kenzy said. “It was a wonderful surprise to see not only strong support from cattlemen and women but also such strong community support from the Platte area.
“Rural America is a special place worth fighting for, it’s about community,” Kenzy added.
“We would like to thank all the businesses and individuals who supported this fundraiser,” said R-CALF USA Field Director Karina Jones. “The team effort behind this fundraiser’s success is a testament to the fight to save the independent cattle industry and help rural America thrive.”
Kenzy concluded that calf sale fundraisers are a tool that R-CALF USA relies on to maintain a strong and growing membership base. R-CALF USA is now scheduling 2023-24 Calf Sale Fundraisers. Auction markets that would like to host a fundraiser or producers who would like to donate an animal should contact R-CALF USA at (406) 252-2516 or r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com.
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