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National Sorghum Checkoff soon to be realityBy Jennifer M. Latzke The proposed National Sorghum Checkoff is steps closer to a reality, according to updates from U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Sorghum Producers staff during the 2008 Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Craig Shackelford, of the USDA-AMS, spoke to NSP delegates about the timeline for implementation of the National Sorghum Checkoff. Shackelford's office has analyzed the 221 comments gathered during the official comment period and found that 87 percent of the comments were positive for the checkoff. Elected officials, organizations, producers, and state organizations all commented. "Producers overwhelmingly supported the proposal," Shackelford said. "This sent a signal to USDA that you are ready to move forward." In an unheard of move, the Congressional delegation from Arkansas sent in a signed letter against the checkoff during the comment period. Shackelford said the office treated this letter as a comment because it made similar points as others. Other entities weighing in included the American Farm Bureau Federation, the U.S. Grains Council and the U.S. Feed Grains Association, all of which were for the checkoff. "We had seven states where there was not one dissenting comment, of all comments rolled together," Shackelford said. "Kansas and Texas showed overwhelming support for this thing." NSP and USDA staff hope to have a final rule published by the first part of April. After a final rule is published, a certification process will begin for organizations to become eligible to put forward names for the national checkoff board. USDA will then accept board nominations from the certified organizations. The Secretary of Agriculture will appoint directors to serve on the board from the nominations and then assessments will start to be collected. The target date for assessments to start will be July 1, 2008, which will allow enough time to educate first handler grain elevators about assessments. A board of directors will hopefully be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture by the first of November. NSP Chief Executive Officer Tim Lust told members that while change can be hard, the organization has to be willing to compromise on strategy for the good of the industry. And, while there are questions unanswered about how the NSP and National Sorghum Checkoff conduct business, setting up the initial structure will be vital to the results. "We will not be judged by our structure, but by the results it creates," Lust said. Lust described what he would hope the relationship between NSP and the Sorghum Checkoff would include, for example, the NSP may contract with the checkoff on an annual basis, but Checkoff employees will not be able to lobby or participate in legislative activities, per the legislation. Additionally, Lust sees NSP taking on more of a legislative role, while the checkoff would focus on research and education. A national sorghum checkoff will leverage private industry investment and create more partnerships with public and private research and development operations, according to the NSP. The NSP Board of Directors has worked for two years to establish a national sorghum checkoff. According to NSP, during the same period there has been an expanded interest in sorghum and increases in sorghum acres, yield and price. Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807 or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com. 3/10/08 Date: 3/4/08
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