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Shakeup In R-CALF Leadership
By Jerry Hagstrom
DTN Political Correspondent
Washington (DTN) — The Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund-United Stockgrowers of America has changed presidents, lost a key consultant and seen one of its founders resign in the last two weeks.
Bill Hawks, the former USDA undersecretary who had been a consultant for R-CALF, resigned, President Chuck Kiker was replaced and R-CALF founder Leo McDonnell also resigned.
Hawks left in a blowup over letters sent to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in early January.
R-CALF, which was founded in 1998 because some western ranchers believed the National Cattlemen's Beef Association was too conciliatory toward imports and the meat processing industry, has had a long-term position against imports of beef and cattle from Canada. R-CALF opposed the imports on the basis that they allow U.S. meat processors to avoid paying higher prices for cattle and meat and on the grounds that Canada does not have sufficient protections against bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
On Jan. 7, R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard sent Johanns a letter stating the group's opposition to USDA's proposed rule to allow the importation of Canadian beef from animals 30 months of age or older. Hawks confirmed that he advised R-CALF President Chuck Kiker, a Texas rancher, that the letter was offensive. On Jan. 8, Kiker sent a letter to Johanns that some R-CALF board members found too conciliatory and deferential to Johanns' decision-
making power on the 30-month rule.
Kathleen Kelly, a Colorado rancher and R-CALF founder said in an interview, she started a movement to remove Kiker for cause. Kelly said the letter to Johanns "wasn't offensive" to the secretary but that "the secretary's feelings aren't as important as how offensive the 30-month rule is.''
Bullard said that R-CALF received no expression of anger from USDA over the Jan. 7 letter.
On Jan. 31, Hawks resigned and in a conference call the board voted to remove Kiker as president and replace him with Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian. R-CALF founder Leo McDonnell, a Montana rancher, and several committee heads also resigned out of loyalty to Kiker. Kelly said the internal battle was over R-CALF's culture and an attempt to change the organization from one that refused to be "acquiescers" to "posturing R-CALF as a kinder, gentler R-CALF.''
Thornsberry will assemble his own leadership team out of R-CALF's more than 15,000 members, Kelly said. R-CALF's annual "stampede" to Washington for visits to members of Congress and USDA began Feb. 13. According to published reports from the group's annual convention in Denver, over the past year R-CALF has lost about 3,000 members who did not renew memberships with the organization. R-CALF also showed a $276,000 financial loss for last year because of lower membership fees.
At that same convention Kiker was criticized by members for his work on the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the group that disperses beef checkoff dollars and is closely allied with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
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By Jerry Hagstrom
DTN Political Correspondent
Washington (DTN) — The Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund-United Stockgrowers of America has changed presidents, lost a key consultant and seen one of its founders resign in the last two weeks.
Bill Hawks, the former USDA undersecretary who had been a consultant for R-CALF, resigned, President Chuck Kiker was replaced and R-CALF founder Leo McDonnell also resigned.
Hawks left in a blowup over letters sent to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in early January.
R-CALF, which was founded in 1998 because some western ranchers believed the National Cattlemen's Beef Association was too conciliatory toward imports and the meat processing industry, has had a long-term position against imports of beef and cattle from Canada. R-CALF opposed the imports on the basis that they allow U.S. meat processors to avoid paying higher prices for cattle and meat and on the grounds that Canada does not have sufficient protections against bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
On Jan. 7, R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard sent Johanns a letter stating the group's opposition to USDA's proposed rule to allow the importation of Canadian beef from animals 30 months of age or older. Hawks confirmed that he advised R-CALF President Chuck Kiker, a Texas rancher, that the letter was offensive. On Jan. 8, Kiker sent a letter to Johanns that some R-CALF board members found too conciliatory and deferential to Johanns' decision-
making power on the 30-month rule.
Kathleen Kelly, a Colorado rancher and R-CALF founder said in an interview, she started a movement to remove Kiker for cause. Kelly said the letter to Johanns "wasn't offensive" to the secretary but that "the secretary's feelings aren't as important as how offensive the 30-month rule is.''
Bullard said that R-CALF received no expression of anger from USDA over the Jan. 7 letter.
On Jan. 31, Hawks resigned and in a conference call the board voted to remove Kiker as president and replace him with Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian. R-CALF founder Leo McDonnell, a Montana rancher, and several committee heads also resigned out of loyalty to Kiker. Kelly said the internal battle was over R-CALF's culture and an attempt to change the organization from one that refused to be "acquiescers" to "posturing R-CALF as a kinder, gentler R-CALF.''
Thornsberry will assemble his own leadership team out of R-CALF's more than 15,000 members, Kelly said. R-CALF's annual "stampede" to Washington for visits to members of Congress and USDA began Feb. 13. According to published reports from the group's annual convention in Denver, over the past year R-CALF has lost about 3,000 members who did not renew memberships with the organization. R-CALF also showed a $276,000 financial loss for last year because of lower membership fees.
At that same convention Kiker was criticized by members for his work on the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the group that disperses beef checkoff dollars and is closely allied with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
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