Volume XCVII, NO. 4
Huron, SD
Apr. 2014
South Dakota
Union Farmer A PUBLICATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA FARMERS UNION
FARMERS UNION MEMBERS TRAVEL TO CHILI AND PERU
NFU MEMBER PROFILE: CONVENTION DALLAS TONSAGER PAGE 10 PAGE 3
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A Victory for Country-of-Origin (COOL) Labeling South Dakota Farmers Union President, Doug Sombke issued the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reaffirmed the District Court’s ruling denying a preliminary injunction on the implementation of Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations. “The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia continues to illustrate that South Dakota Farmers Union and National Farmers Union are on the right side of COOL,” said Sombke. “Our livestock producers have long advocated for COOL and have been supportive of this process from the start. We truly believe that our consumers have the right to know where their food comes from.” This decision is the latest setback for plaintiffs who filed the case in an effort to have the revised COOL regulations invalidated. The
case was filed on July 8, 2013, by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, American Meat Institute, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canadian Pork Council, North American Meat Association, American Association of Meat Processors, National Pork Producers Council, Southwest Meat Association and Mexico’s National Confederation of Livestock Organizations. “We have faced strong opposition from the packer-producer groups and foreign competitors who continue to challenge COOL’s constitutionality,” Sombke said. “Today is another step in the right direction for the independent livestock producers of our great country.” National Farmers Union, with the support and encouragement from South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU), along with the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, American Sheep Industry Associa-
tion and the Consumer Federation of America, became intervenors in the lawsuit on Aug. 19, when the court entered an order granting their motion to intervene in full, permitting the groups to participate in the preliminary injunction hearing as well as the remainder of the litigation. Today’s ruling affirms a Sept. 11, 2013, decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that also denied the request for a preliminary injunction. As a result of today’s decision, the revised COOL regulations will remain in place while the case is pending. COOL was first enacted in the 2002 Farm Bill and the United States Department of Agriculture implemented the final rules for COOL on December 11, 2013 that provide customers with information about where their meat was born, raised and harvested. ■
Sec. of Agriculture Addresses National Farmers Union Convention “We do it because we care about every farmer. We care about all size operations. We do it because we don’t deem the smaller operator less important than a commercial size operator. We don’t deem that their family is any less entitled to opportunity than any other family inrural America. We do it because of the value and importance and the contribution that those farm families of all sizes make to the rest of us. We do it because of the securities I’ve mentioned. We do it because every single person in this country has been given a gift, an extraordinary gift and it’s unrecognized and it’s the gift of freedom to do what you choose with your life.” See page 10 for full story