Beef Checkoff Deep Dive Social Toolkit

FarmSTAND has created this deep dive website as a resource to get people on the same page about the checkoff system. It is a one-stop-shop for allies in the movement, journalists, and policy makers who may be encountering this system for the first time or who have some familiarity and want to dig deeper into the issue.  

We use deep dives like this to disseminate information and learnings we’ve gained through our legal advocacy so it can be used to shift the narrative and effect wider change. With the checkoff deep dive, we aim to make clear that the checkoff system as it exists is not fair, serving the ends of Big Ag at the expense of independent producers. We also are driving home that this system is not inevitable—there is a movement fighting the checkoffs and change is possible, as we’ve seen in our legal fights against the beef checkoff and in the push to pass the OFF Act. 

Please use this toolkit to share the Deep Dive with your audience. We are releasing the resource in parts, with the first coming out on Monday, September 15. All parts of the Deep Dive will be available at farmstand.org/checkoff

Please uplift our posts on the checkoff, and tag us so we can uplift yours as well! 

Find us at:

• Instagram: @farmstandorg

• Facebook: @FarmStand

• Bluesky: @farmstand.bsky.social 

• LinkedIn: @FarmSTAND

For questions about the Deep Dive or media requests, please email aidan@farmstand.org.

Part Two Images

Please note that these images are intended to be posted as a series.

General Copy

Short

• Farmers and ranchers are forced to pay into checkoffs in the name of promoting everyone’s product—but the truth is checkoff money is often spent on ads that hurt independent producers and help big business. Learn more in this resource from our movement partner, FarmSTAND. farmstand.org/checkoff

• There’s a dark secret behind all those ads for beef (it’s what’s for dinner), pork (the other white meat), and the incredible, edible egg—a corrupt tax program that hurts farmers and ranchers. A new Deep Dive from our movement partner FarmSTAND explains: farmstand.org/checkoff

• Checkoff taxes force farmers to pay for industry advertising, but the money often ends up in the pockets of Big Ag lobbying and trade groups. Our movement partner FarmSTAND’s latest deep dive explores what checkoffs are, how they hurt farmers, and what we can do to fix it. farmstand.org/checkoff

Long

• You know the iconic ads—"Got Milk?" "Beef. It’s what’s for dinner,"—but do you know how the checkoff programs behind them help big agribusiness dominate our food system? Learn about how these programs spend farmers’ tax money to boost Big Ag interests in this resource from our movement partner, FarmSTAND. farmstand.org/checkoff

• Farmers and ranchers are forced to pay into checkoffs in the name of promoting everyone’s product—but the truth is checkoff money is spent on ads that hurt independent producers and help consolidated big business. 

Checkoffs mostly funnel money to the lobbying and trade organizations that boost only the largest corporate producers—like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which took home $34.5 million of checkoff money in 2023.  

Checkoff ads hurt independent, small and medium-sized farmers, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Research shows that simple changes to checkoff ads benefit all kinds of farmers, not just huge corporations. 

Our movement partner FarmSTAND created a new Deep Dive to explore what checkoffs are, how they hurt farmers, and what we can do to fix it. Learn more in Part 1, out now. farmstand.org/checkoff

Part Two Copy

Short

• (Thread Part 1/2) The beef checkoff has paid millions for research to justify its cost to ranchers. But that research is flawed and doesn't account for small producers. That means that independent ranchers are paying a tax and the money is being spent on shoddy research to falsely claim that the system helps them.

• (Thread Part 2/2) Our ally FarmSTAND conducted research to prove that a few reforms could make the checkoff genuinely helpful to small producers. Find out more in Part Two of their Checkoff Deep Dive, and stay tuned for Part Three. ➡️ http://farmstand.org/checkoff

Long

Our ally FarmSTAND is exposing how the checkoff uses bad research to mislead small ranchers in the newly released section of their Deep Dive.

The beef checkoff has paid millions for research to justify its cost to ranchers. But that research has flawed methodologies and doesn't properly account for small, independent producers.

That means that small ranchers are being forced to pay this tax, and the money is being spent on shoddy research to falsely claim that the system helps them.

FarmSTAND's independent research proves that a few reforms could make the checkoff genuinely helpful to independent producers. Find out more in Part Two of their Checkoff Deep Dive, and stay tuned for Part Three.

Read Part Two now ➡️ http://farmstand.org/checkoff