The United States Department of Agriculture will commit to further action on the Hardwood Checkoff over the next year, according to the Hardwood Checkoff Committee, a pro-Checkoff group.
After a year of debate since the proposed program was published in the Federal Register for public comment, the USDA sent a request to the Hardwood Committee to commit to funding the agency’s work on the Hardwood Checkoff for another year.
The Hardwood Committee believes this effectively “green lights” the Hardwood Checkoff program.
“Our Committee believes this will bring us closer to the up-or-down referendum vote required to put a Checkoff program in place, and we are confident a majority of the industry will join in support,” said Jim Howard, co-chairman of the Committee, in a statement. “We will continue to reach out to those who have suggestions for changes in the details of the proposal and believe we can find common ground.”
If the USDA does fund work on the program for another year, it will be the third period of discussion and debate on the Hardwood Checkoff program, the anti-Checkoff program U.S. Hardwood Lumber Industry Coalition told woodworkingnetwork.com.
The program would require sawmills and kiln operation facilities with annual sales in excess of $2 million to fund industry-wide marketing efforts run by an industry-governed board coordinated through the USDA. Other Checkoff programs have included the “Got Milk?” campaign and the “Pork: The Other White Meat” campaign.
The companies would pay $1 per $1,000 in sales on raw product. Unfinished strip flooring, moldings, dimensional components, etc., will face a reduced rate of $0.75 per $1,000 in sales. Hardwood plywood mills with sales over $10 million would pay a rate of $3 per $1,000 square feet of production.
A total of 956 comments were submitted during the allotted time period last year.
