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KLA refutes OCM accusations

The Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) refutes accusations made by the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) that the KLA is misusing funds.
Aaron Popelka is the attorney for association, “Those allegations are completely false and we actually have documents, evidence, to show that they’re false.”

Joe Maxwell, with the OCM, and the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association released a paper earlier this month saying the KLA obtained funding through an improperly close affiliation with the Kansas Beef Council, “Our year long research indicates that not all the dollars can be accounted for in Kansas. And we’re calling on full transparency.”

Maxwell says the Kansas Beef Council is nothing but a brand name for the KLA, “And we’re calling on Secretary Perdue and the National Beef Board to disqualify them as the state collector of the taxes until such time as the state legislature and the governor adopt a fair, transparent system as other states have.”

But, Popelka says the state Beef Council is a qualified division of the Kansas Livestock Association, “The beef council has segregated funds so that NO checkoff funds are ever used for lobbying. That’s against federal law. It hasn’t happened. It will not happen.”

Popelka says independent audits show funds are being spent appropriately.  He calls out OCM for its association with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) which KLA says attempts “to create discord among cattle producers and accomplish the ultimate goal of ending animal agriculture.”