By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — As the catapult for the beef checkoff in the early 1990s, The “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner,” campaign launched the beef industry into uncharted territories as it created a new promotional tool for beef products through a series of print, radio and television advertisements.

More than 20 years following the creation of the Beef Promotion and Research Act and Order in 1985, USDA officials have asked the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) to reassess the producer-funded checkoff by seeking recommendations from cattlemen and women.
“I salute the Cattlemen’s Beef Board on this action, it’s critical to the success of the checkoff that we seek and listen to those whose opinions are most important in this industry, the producers,” said Julia Wickard, beef producer from Hancock County, Ind. and executive director of the Indiana Beef Cattlemen’s Assoc.

During the coming months, the Beef Board will request suggested improvements from more than 100 national industry organizations, state beef councils, certified nominating organizations and national breed organizations. Dave Bateman, beef producer from Oregon, Ill., and chair of the CBB said it’s a big information gathering process, “but many players have a stake in the beef industry and we want to hear from them.”

“As the program administrator, the Beef Board is authorized by USDA to provide information to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture that could be used to improve the program after 20 years of operation,” said Bateman. “So, the Board is asking industry organizations for their suggestions before it completes its report.

“The ultimate goal is to meet the needs of the marketplace through the Beef Checkoff Program and meet our obligations to producers in terms of giving them the most bang for their dollar invested.”

Bateman notes that should producers, hence the Board, make any significant changes to the Act and the Order, such as agreeing to an increase after more than two decades, producers would have to vote on this change. Currently, the checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle.

The information gathered will then come back to the Beef Board for analysis by the officers before turning it over to CBB’s administrative subcommittee.

The administrative subcommittee will compile the information, make recommendations to the executive committee, which will report to USDA Secretary Ed Schafer.

According to Bateman, the recommendation process is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2008.

As a new member of the administrative subcommittee Indiana representative and beef producer from Franklin, Ind. Virginia Davis said “we don’t have enough money to continue many of our programs, so we’re putting all kinds of feelers out there to see what programs producers want.”

“It’s more than 20 years later and we still have the same checkoff program,” said Davis, referring to the $1 checkoff cap per animal. “Meanwhile, the value of the U.S. dollar is declining rapidly so it’s important to make sure we’re using checkoff funds wisely. Our programs cost so much more money than they did 20 years ago.”

Davis, who was recently elected to serve on the 104-member Cattlemen’s Beef Board, will be closely involved in the recommendation process and said “we should know where to go in October and have our final recommendation for the ag secretary by the end of November.”

Originally established as part of the 1985 farm bill, the checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was officially approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote.

According to the CBB, the checkoff is collected by state-organized beef councils, which retain up to 50 cents on the dollar. The state councils forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which oversees the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.

The 104 members of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board represent all segments of the beef industry, including beef, veal and dairy producers, and are nominated by industry organizations and importers and appointed by the U.S. secretary of agriculture.
To submit comments or recommendations, visit www.beefboard.org
 or contact a state beef council or cattlemen’s association.

“People have to stand up and say something, by submitting an idea for what they want the checkoff and the way we promote our product to look like in the future,” stated Davis. “You have to say something to be heard, I hope people take that seriously.”

This farm news was published in the May 7, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.