2001 News Archive
CHECKOFF AMENDMENT FUNDS PROMOTION, PRODUCER COMMUNICATIONS, RESEARCH
DENVER (Dec. 17, 2001) - The Beef Promotion Operating Committee has recommended a $5.257 million fiscal 2002 budget amendment to support checkoff-funded beef promotion, research, consumer information, foreign marketing and producer communications. Funding for the budget amendment approved at the committee’s meeting in Las Vegas is derived from two sources: the amount by which the Beef Board’s FY2001 revenue exceeded projections and the amount by which expenses came in under budget.
The committee’s recommendation calls for allocating $2.757 million in funding for promotion, $480,000 for research, $290,000 for consumer information, $1.37 million for foreign marketing, and $360,000 for producer communications. The recommendation must be approved by the full Beef Board and the USDA before allocations can be made.
“The amendment for fiscal 2002 will allow the Beef Board to invest in programs that focus on stimulating demand for beef,” said CBB Chairman Dan Hammond. “With food-safety issues overseas cutting into exports, and general consumer confidence in the U.S. slumping in the wake of the terrorist attacks and a weak economy, we want to boost demand to move beef in this time of record supply.”
The recommended budget amendment includes $715,000 apiece for two separate promotional projects focused on convenience and nutrition messages and $480,000 for a food-safety program, which will be leveraged with a $500,000 challenge grant from McDonald’s and $120,000 from the Federation of State Beef Councils to address BSE issues, pre-harvest pathogen intervention and other beef-safety issues.
The Beef Promotion Operating Committee also recommended expenditure of an additional $360,000 for producer communications to help continue publication of quarterly magazine inserts summarizing checkoff programs, and allocated $55,000 for foreign marketing program implementation and $1.315 million to fund a crisis-management plan aimed at restoring consumer confidence in the wake of the discovery of BSE in Japan. Finally, the amendment allocates $1.617 million in Beef Board funds to pursue a summer 2002 beef grilling promotion and public relations.
Another $1 million in allocations from the Federation of State Beef Councils further increased funding to the convenience and nutrition projects ($185,000 apiece), the food-safety program ($120,000), producer communications ($90,000) and the grilling promotion and public relations ($420,000).
The checkoff program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill and assesses beef and dairy producers and importers $1 per head at the time of sale. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which oversees the national checkoff program, including planning, budgeting and evaluation programs. The board also collects assessments, assures compliance with the Beef Promotion and Research Act and Order and certifies state beef councils, and is subject to USDA oversight.
The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote. The 110 members of the Beef Board represent beef, veal and dairy producers and importers, and are appointed by and held accountable to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.
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Created by the Beef Promotion and Research Act, the Operating Committee reviews and approves national checkoff programs and contracts with national industry-governed organizations to implement programs. It consists of 20 volunteers who pay the checkoff. Ten represent the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board and 10 represent the Federation of State Beef Councils.
Checkoff programs are conducted on a cost-recovery basis only, with contractors not profiting from work they do on behalf of the beef checkoff.