Dairy group cries foul over new California Cattle Council

The California Dairy Campaign is criticizing the manner in which the California Department of Food and Agriculture established the newly approved California Cattle Council. The council will be funded by a $1 per head assessment on the sale of live cattle over 250 pounds to provide resources for defending cattle production practices in the state.Last week, CDFA announced the council was approved by 68% of those casting a ballot in a beef and dairy producer referendum.But the Dairy Campaign contends that vote does not represent the true sentiment of beef and dairy producers, who opposed a $1 increase in the beef checkoff in a 2012 referendum.The group has opposed the formation of the council and its $1 assessment from the start and urged its members to vote against it in the referendum. It is now taking issue with the referendum.Just 19% of all beef and dairy producers in the state voted in the referendum, Lynne McBride, the Dairy Campaign’s executive director, said.