Majority of Producers Continue to Support Beef Checkoff

NASHVILLE (January 30, 2003) – A majority of beef producers continue to support the Beef Checkoff Program, according to the results of an independent survey released today at the 2003 Cattle Industry Annual Convention in Nashville. 

The research indicates that 60 percent of producers approve of the checkoff and 13 percent consider their position neutral, while 27 percent disapprove. At the same time, however, 77 percent of producers said they believe that the Beef Checkoff Program has value, even when the cattle market is down. The level of support for the checkoff was 66 percent in the June/July 2002 survey. 

Conducted for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) by Aspen Media and Market Research, Boulder, Colo., the research was completed in December 2002 and January 2003. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.  The semi-annual survey is demographically representative of U.S. beef and veal producers and dairymen. 

Results of the new survey suggest that many of the producers who previously were unaware of the checkoff program altogether seem to have heard about it in recent months, with self-reported awareness of the checkoff up 10 points to 67 percent, because of a deluge of negative information and misinformation circulated by checkoff opponents.

With those findings in mind, the lead researcher on the survey project for Aspen Research said he wasn’t surprised to see support for the checkoff soften.

“While the research shows a significant increase in the number of producers who reported hearing news coverage of the checkoff, it also shows that nearly half of all checkoff coverage was perceived as negative,” said Aspen’s Hank Schaller. About 33 percent of the negative information reported by producers through the survey was related to beef checkoff litigation.

“It’s very disheartening to see that the litigation that faces our checkoff is not only robbing the industry of valuable resources but also seems to be clouding the delivery of accurate information about programs,” said Dee Lacey, 2002 CBB chairman and beef producer from Paso Robles, Calif.

“The Beef Checkoff Program is required by law to report only the facts, while opponents of the program are free to use emotional pleas and misinformation,” she said. “And with all of the negative and inaccurate information flooding the media, producers are bound to get confused about what’s true and what’s not.”

Even still, an overwhelming majority of the producers surveyed support the specific strategies that the checkoff program has in place to build demand for beef and believe that the program does benefit the industry.

“The checkoff has a positive story to tell in the areas of food safety research, consumer education about beef nutrition and in the development and promotion of new convenient products,” Lacey said. “In fact, the study indicates that 75 percent of producers believe that the checkoff has contributed to a positive trend in beef demand over the years.”

In other survey findings, the independent research found that 45 percent of producers believe the industry is headed in the right direction, while 40 percent feel the beef and dairy industries are on the wrong track.  Since the June/July 2002 research, this is five-point increase in optimism levels, which tend to track closely with cattle market conditions.

Other key findings include:

·       Three-quarters of producers believe that the checkoff helps beef producers compete with the aggressive promotion programs of poultry and pork producers.

·       When asked, “If there were no beef checkoff program, whom do you think would pay to promote beef to consumers nationwide?” half of the respondents said either “no one” or said they could not think of a group or entity that would pay.

·       Of the 1,225 producers surveyed, 91 percent said it was important to them to know how their checkoff dollars are being invested and what the results of those investments are.

####