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R-CALF founder has passion for cattlemen's rights
Leo McDonnell has a ‘fire in the belly’

By Billie Jo Jannen, Wallowa County Chieftain – Thursday – October 26, 2006

If you ask Leo McDonnell to name the biggest issue facing beef producers in the United States, he would be hard put to choose among the many issues currently under the microscope of R-CALF USA - from proposed price hikes in the cattle checkoff program to the odds stacked against U.S. producers in the international marketplace.

These were among the topics aired by McDonnell at a dinner and fund-raiser in Enterprise, last Saturday night, Oct. 21, when he emphasized the importance of presenting a united lobby in Washington D.C. to promote such programs as mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL).

"This is an industry that has seen a lot of injustice," McDonnell said. "Where is the fire in the belly of the cow-calf producers?"

McDonnell, co-founder and past president of Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, may have enough fire for several ranchers.

In 1998, McDonnell, a Montana rancher, teamed up with Kathleen Kelley of Colorado and Herman Schumacher of South Dakota, to form R-CALF and bring suit for trade violations by Mexico and Canada. McDonnell said the resulting hearings made him realize that not only were cattle growers' interests not being represented, but in some cases, "…they didn't tell the whole story."

What's more, he added, cattle growers were relying on other agriculture interests to represent them, and that this was a mistake because some of those interests are counter to those of cattle producers. Slaughterhouses, for instance, benefit financially from keeping beef prices down - and have done so by using beef from Mexico, Canada and Australia, he said.

"The challenge of starting R-CALF was to build a national voice to represent just this (beef producers) segment," McDonnell said.

The foundation was opened to general membership in 1999 and has since grown to include 18,000 members, a number McDonnell hopes to swell from among the ranks of Wallowa County ranchers and those of other small communities throughout the West.

He spoke to an intently interested group of about 40 local ranchers after a dinner and auction organized by local R-CALF Region III membership director Vicki Fleshman. The meal was prepared and served at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Enterprise.

Particularly interesting to local growers was R-CALF's efforts to get COOL is implemented.

Currently, beef is sold in the United States after inspection by USDA - and that's what the label says on grocery store meats. McDonnell observed that most people assume that "USDA inspected" means the product is U.S. beef. Currently, however, there is a trade deficit of nearly two to one, so it is far more likely that the meat came from imported cattle or carcasses.

McDonnell said global market experts at a high-level trade meeting he attended several years ago actually cornered him during a break and accused him of lying about this until he proved his point.

"And if they were that angry about being deceived…what do you think the average consumer will feel?" McDonnell said. "U.S. beef will never be the cheapest," he said, but added that he believes there is a strong market for it to an educated consumer.

Congress, in its 2002 session, passed COOL, but according to a recent R-CALF position paper, the USDA has delayed implementation until 2008, citing high costs to producers and USDA. The real reason, however, is aggressive lobbying by meat packers, processors and retailers, the paper states.

Also related to the promotion of U.S.-grown beef is the R-CALF position on a recent proposal to raise the national beef checkoff fee from $1 per cow, paid each time the animal changes ownership, to $2.

The fee goes to a fund administered by the 108-member Cattlesmen's Beef Board on behalf of USDA. The money is used to promote beef and beef products through various advertising, research and other outreach programs.

R-CALF, among other reforms it suggested, wants to see a portion of that money going to promote U.S.-grown beef, specifically. While that suggestion was not incorporated into the CBB reform package, McDonnell said R-CALF hopes to get it into the 2007 farm bill.

It is battles like these that McDonnel exhorts cattle growers to support, warning that "Globalization is coming, whether we like it or not…we need to make it work FOR us."

"You're not winning," he said. "75 percent of the 2005 trade deficit was cattle and beef."

Editor's note: Cattle producers and consumers may learn more about R-CALF and beef industry issues at (www.r-calfusa.com). Vicki Fleshman, R-CALF USA Oregon Region III Membership Chair is a Joseph resident. She may be reached at (541) 432-8635.

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                            This page was last updated on Monday, June 02, 2008.