Volume X Number 4 September 2003
News & Views
A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Feed, Seed, Grain and Farm Supply Industries of Wisconsin
Corn Checkoff Referendum■ The Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board has recently
asked the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to conduct a referendum to the corn checkoff rate and procedures. The increase proposed would raise the rate from the current tenth of a cent per bushel rate to a half a cent per bushel. The proposed rate is in line with adjacent states and would be the first change since the Wisconsin checkoff's inception in 1983. In addition to the rate changes, two procedural changes are also proposed. The first is to make the Wisconsin checkoff apply to all corn sold in Wisconsin. This is a change from the current rule, which has the checkoff apply only on bushels grown in and sold in Wisconsin. The other procedural change would have all sales to licensed grain buyers be checked off. This would be a change primarily for those buyers purchasing the corn for their own livestock. Currently, sales to a farmer/livestock feeder are exempt from the checkoff. These two changes make the corn checkoff simpler for the grain industry in that, you no longer have to separate whether a farmer is in state or out of state, you collect checkoff on all corn bushels at the first point of purchase. And large livestock feeders would no longer be exempt from collecting the checkoff. The changes would make it simpler for dealers and put everyone on an equal footing. There will be three hearings seeking public comment to be held November 17, 18, and 19, in Madison, Darlington and Stevens Point, respectively. The referendum is tentatively scheduled for mid- to late February 2004. Eligible voters must have grown and sold corn subject to the checkoff in the last 12 months. The vote will be decided by a majority of those casting votes.
A Court Decision, ACCP & You■
by David A. Crass, Esq. Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

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