In a case that could determine the validity of all check-off marketing programs, the U.S. Supreme Court last month heard oral arguments in a lawsuit claiming the "Beef -- It's What's for Dinner" campaign unfairly taxes all cattle producers.Actually it’s a consolidation of two cases â Veneman v. Livestock Marketing Assn. and Nebraska Cattlemen Inc. v. Livestock Marketing Assn. â which themselves are countersuits against the Livestock Marketing Assn., the Western Organization of Resource Councils and several individual cattle producers from South Dakota and Montana. Those groups filed suit in federal court in December 2000, claiming the advertising campaign by the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board (the Beef Board), conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, violates their First Amendment right to free speech.