Committee Approves 2004 Checkoff Program

The Beef Promotion Operating Committee Sept. 18 approved a comprehensive beef checkoff promotion, research and information program for fiscal 2004, which began Oct. 1. The program is built upon consumer demand drivers including enjoyment, nutrition and beef safety, toward building demand for beef through the checkoff funds of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.

A total of $47.7 million in projected checkoff revenue was available for program funding. Funding proposals surpassed that by more than $6 million, as 10 beef-industry organizations sought funds to carry out checkoff programs during the coming year. After a day and a half of presentations and discussions, the committee approved 46 programs from eight of those 10 organizations.

Contractors whose program proposals were included in the plan — which has since been approved by USDA — are NCBA, U.S. Meat Export Federation, American National Cattlewomen (ANCW), the Meat Importers Council of America (MICA), the American Meat Institute Foundation (AMIF), the National Livestock Producers Association (NLPA), the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA) and the American Veal Association (AVA).  Contractors work on a cost-recovery basis and cannot profit from work they do on behalf of the Beef Board and state beef councils.

“In my memory, there have never been so many solid checkoff proposals from so many organizations,” said Andy Tucker, a Florida cow/calf producer and Operating Committee chairman.

Fiscal 2004 Approved Projects

Promotion - $26.6 million. Includes about $14.6 million for consumer advertising efforts coordinated by NCBA; support for retail marketing; support for ANCW’s National Beef Cook-Off, foodservice marketing, new product and culinary initiatives and veal promotion. Also, $125,000 (to combine with $125,000 from the producer communications budget) to fund a “Beefmobile” proposal from NLPA; a beef van will travel to food retail and auction barn sites to share information with consumers and producers about beef checkoff programs.

Research - $6.3 million. Research projects focused on beef safety, product enhancement and market and nutrition research. AMIF will address the need for validating appropriate sampling and testing protocols to detect E. coli 0157:H7 in raw beef products.

Consumer Information - $6 million. Includes about $2.75 million for public relations,  about $796,000 for youth education and information, including production of a youth “Beef  Mag” by AFBFA.

Foreign Marketing - $5.2 million, managed by USMEF; about $1.9 million for marketing U.S. beef in Japan; promotion programs in the Caribbean, China, Central/South America, Europe, Korea, Mexico, Russia and Taiwan.

Producer Communications - $2 million. Includes direct and indirect communications with beef, dairy and veal producers through NCBA, NLPA and AVA, state beef council efforts, and trade media coordination; $5,000 for importer communications through MICA and $125,000 for the “Beefmobile.”

Industry Information - $1.5 million. Includes beef quality assurance programs, the National Beef Ambassador program, and issues management to get out positive information about the beef industry and to counter general misinformation from anti-beef groups.

A separate $12.3 million from the Federation of State Beef Councils will increase checkoff funding of the promotion programs by $5.4 million; research, $1.7 million; consumer information, $1.3 million; industry information, $718,000; foreign

marketing, $2.3 million; and producer communications, $868,000.