Tommy
Well-known member
by Herman Schumacher
R-CALF USA Co-Founder and Past Region III Director
Harreid , S.D.
(Note from R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson: Schumacher wrote this letter after former R-CALF USA Region I Director Dennis McDonald circulated a resignation letter that generated several sensationalized headlines about the future of the organization.)
Dennis has done many impressive things over the years. He retired at a pretty young age as a defense attorney in the Sacramento , Calif. , area and came to Montana to ranch. While he hasn't spent his whole life in the cattle business or depended upon it for his income – like a lot of us have – his sense of what was right and what was wrong with our industry was very good from the start. He and I roomed together back in Washington during R-CALF's anti-dumping case against Canadian cattle and shared many a meal. Dennis served us well on USDA's ATAC (Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee) and took lots of trips to Central and South America for R-CALF.
When we first started R-CALF, Leo McDonnell insisted that we keep focused on attacking the issues and that we not go after NCBA. The temptation to take that other organization on was just too much to bear a time or two, but we tried. Our eye on the issues made us win some tough fights. The one thing we never did was attack each other. It never got personal. Sure, we disagreed on lots of things, but we always came back together.
As a team, we started and supported action that other so-called producer organizations didn't have the courage to touch. Our first act as R-CALF was to file an anti-dumping petition against Canadian cattle in 1998. A tariff placed on Canadian cattle at the time helped give us a boost in prices. The plaintiffs in the Livestock Marketing Association's beef checkoff case (in which the checkoff was initially found to be unconstitutional) were all staunch R-CALF members. And in the Pickett v. IBP case in 2003, the three original R-CALF founders (Leo McDonnell, Kathleen Kelley and I) all testified. Leo's testimony opened the trial, and I was the last witness to testify for the plaintiffs. A few days later, the jury returned a $1.3 billion verdict on all seven counts for the plaintiffs. Though we later lost when the Supreme Court chose to hear a case concerning Anna Nicole Smith instead of ours, we ultimately proved the heavy-handed power of the packers! It helped inspire the Aberdeen , S.D. , price-fixing case, which just recently returned a favorable verdict for producers that the packers haven't been able to derail. While this case wasn't brought by R-CALF, once again, the plaintiffs were R-CALF members.
R-CALF's most prominent action for producers was our BSE litigation. Though Dennis McDonald wasn't on the board at the time, he fought our BSE litigation from the very beginning. It was his choice. But the majority of the R-CALF board supported it and we continued on. I sat next to Leo in the courtroom in Billings when Judge Cebull put the hammer down, giving us the injunction to close the border. I went out into the hall to call home and by the time I got ahold of the sale barn, they said the futures market had jumped $2. This case helped give us some of the strongest cattle prices we've had in years. We are cattle in this country, and those prices matter.
There has been much made recently about the so-called access to Washington offices for R-CALF. R-CALF has had access to high places from the very beginning. Leo picked both me and Kathleen because of our public service. I was a co-chair on the Agriculture Concentration Committee in 1996 and had met with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture several times. Kathleen Kelley was a co-vice chair of the National Commission on Small Farms in 1998. Leo, Kathleen and I met with the President of the United States twice when the other organization couldn't get through the door.
But the most important access or influence we ever had didn't come from a $10,000-a-month lobbyist or our own personal connections. It came from the thousands of faxes, letters and e-mails that flooded congressional offices, forcing elected officials to look at our issues. The most important influence came from our members. We never forgot that.
While there's been a lot of talk about the 'founders' leaving R-CALF, I'm staying. I know a lot of others who've been with us from the beginning who are also staying. We're with the members who borrowed money they didn't have to buy a membership in R-CALF USA . They are the true founders.
I have a lot of faith in, and respect for, the new president of R-CALF, Dr. Max Thornsberry, and I expect strong leadership from him. The board members who stayed also have my respect and loyalty. They won't sell out for anything less than a fair price and a fair market. I expect great things from them and will be there to help them.
Everyone who joined R-CALF did it because we've made bold moves. This board will continue that tradition. They will take action that other so-called producer organizations won't try. R-CALF's founding was based on doing something different than other organizations, like taking on tough issues. The issues facing our industry haven't gotten any easier. This board won't take it easy, either.
I want to wish Dennis McDonald and the folks who've chosen to leave R-CALF the best. I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for their accomplishments for R-CALF over the years. I look forward to the day when we can all work together again.
Sincerely,
Herman Schumacher
R-CALF USA Co-Founder and Past Region III Director
Harreid , S.D.
(Note from R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson: Schumacher wrote this letter after former R-CALF USA Region I Director Dennis McDonald circulated a resignation letter that generated several sensationalized headlines about the future of the organization.)
Dennis has done many impressive things over the years. He retired at a pretty young age as a defense attorney in the Sacramento , Calif. , area and came to Montana to ranch. While he hasn't spent his whole life in the cattle business or depended upon it for his income – like a lot of us have – his sense of what was right and what was wrong with our industry was very good from the start. He and I roomed together back in Washington during R-CALF's anti-dumping case against Canadian cattle and shared many a meal. Dennis served us well on USDA's ATAC (Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee) and took lots of trips to Central and South America for R-CALF.
When we first started R-CALF, Leo McDonnell insisted that we keep focused on attacking the issues and that we not go after NCBA. The temptation to take that other organization on was just too much to bear a time or two, but we tried. Our eye on the issues made us win some tough fights. The one thing we never did was attack each other. It never got personal. Sure, we disagreed on lots of things, but we always came back together.
As a team, we started and supported action that other so-called producer organizations didn't have the courage to touch. Our first act as R-CALF was to file an anti-dumping petition against Canadian cattle in 1998. A tariff placed on Canadian cattle at the time helped give us a boost in prices. The plaintiffs in the Livestock Marketing Association's beef checkoff case (in which the checkoff was initially found to be unconstitutional) were all staunch R-CALF members. And in the Pickett v. IBP case in 2003, the three original R-CALF founders (Leo McDonnell, Kathleen Kelley and I) all testified. Leo's testimony opened the trial, and I was the last witness to testify for the plaintiffs. A few days later, the jury returned a $1.3 billion verdict on all seven counts for the plaintiffs. Though we later lost when the Supreme Court chose to hear a case concerning Anna Nicole Smith instead of ours, we ultimately proved the heavy-handed power of the packers! It helped inspire the Aberdeen , S.D. , price-fixing case, which just recently returned a favorable verdict for producers that the packers haven't been able to derail. While this case wasn't brought by R-CALF, once again, the plaintiffs were R-CALF members.
R-CALF's most prominent action for producers was our BSE litigation. Though Dennis McDonald wasn't on the board at the time, he fought our BSE litigation from the very beginning. It was his choice. But the majority of the R-CALF board supported it and we continued on. I sat next to Leo in the courtroom in Billings when Judge Cebull put the hammer down, giving us the injunction to close the border. I went out into the hall to call home and by the time I got ahold of the sale barn, they said the futures market had jumped $2. This case helped give us some of the strongest cattle prices we've had in years. We are cattle in this country, and those prices matter.
There has been much made recently about the so-called access to Washington offices for R-CALF. R-CALF has had access to high places from the very beginning. Leo picked both me and Kathleen because of our public service. I was a co-chair on the Agriculture Concentration Committee in 1996 and had met with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture several times. Kathleen Kelley was a co-vice chair of the National Commission on Small Farms in 1998. Leo, Kathleen and I met with the President of the United States twice when the other organization couldn't get through the door.
But the most important access or influence we ever had didn't come from a $10,000-a-month lobbyist or our own personal connections. It came from the thousands of faxes, letters and e-mails that flooded congressional offices, forcing elected officials to look at our issues. The most important influence came from our members. We never forgot that.
While there's been a lot of talk about the 'founders' leaving R-CALF, I'm staying. I know a lot of others who've been with us from the beginning who are also staying. We're with the members who borrowed money they didn't have to buy a membership in R-CALF USA . They are the true founders.
I have a lot of faith in, and respect for, the new president of R-CALF, Dr. Max Thornsberry, and I expect strong leadership from him. The board members who stayed also have my respect and loyalty. They won't sell out for anything less than a fair price and a fair market. I expect great things from them and will be there to help them.
Everyone who joined R-CALF did it because we've made bold moves. This board will continue that tradition. They will take action that other so-called producer organizations won't try. R-CALF's founding was based on doing something different than other organizations, like taking on tough issues. The issues facing our industry haven't gotten any easier. This board won't take it easy, either.
I want to wish Dennis McDonald and the folks who've chosen to leave R-CALF the best. I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for their accomplishments for R-CALF over the years. I look forward to the day when we can all work together again.
Sincerely,
Herman Schumacher
