2002 News Archive
Operating Committee Approves 2003 Plan of Work
For immediate release
DENVER (Sept. 27, 2002) – The Beef Promotion Operating Committee this week approved a comprehensive $57 million beef checkoff promotion, research and information program for fiscal 2003, which begins Oct. 1, 2002. The program, which is built upon consumer purchase drivers including enjoyment, nutrition and beef safety, includes $45.5 million in national checkoff funds from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and an additional $11.5 million from the Federation of State Beef Councils.
In addition, the committee recommended approval of a $400,000 budget amendment that would allow additional funding for the checkoff program’s consumer advertising plan for the coming year. Money for that proposed amendment would come from the amount by which recently completed checkoff programs came in under budget.
Contractors whose program proposals were included in the approved plan are the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), the American National Cattlewomen (ANCW) and the Meat Importers Council of America (MICA) – all four of the organizations that submitted proposals for use of checkoff dollars during the coming fiscal year.
“This plan is the result of a comprehensive process that included input from producers across the country who are working to continue to increase demand for beef, especially in the face of continuing tough economic challenges,” said Dee Lacey, a California beef producer and the chairman of the Operating Committee.
Lacey, who also chairs the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, said the program includes a balance of advertising, research and information programs designed to help improve the marketplace for cattlemen’s products. The checkoff-funded programs aim to respond to consumer’s ever-evolving preferences, giving producers information they need to improve on-farm practices and maintain a safe beef supply that instills consumer confidence.
“The producers who volunteer to serve on the Beef Board and Operating Committee know firsthand the challenges that cattlemen are facing in terms of weak prices, general economic decline, drought and oversupply of beef and competing meats,” Lacey said. “They came together here to develop a program that they believe will bring producers the biggest return on their checkoff investment during fiscal 2003.”
The checkoff plan of work approved for fiscal 2003 includes:
· $ 32.1 million for promotion (including the additional $400,000 proposed through the amendment.) The promotion plan includes about $16 million for consumer advertising efforts, in addition to support for retail marketing, the National Beef Cook-Off, foodservice marketing, new product and culinary initiatives and veal promotion.
· $5.9 million for research projects focused on a variety of critical issues, including beef safety, product enhancement and market and nutrition research.
· $6.6 million for consumer information programs, including about $2.5 million for public relations, in addition to more than $1 million for compilation of nutrition information, plus programs focused on youth education and information.
· $3.0 million for industry information projects. This area includes investment in 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 groups such as animal-rights activists.
· $6.9 million for foreign marketing efforts managed by USMEF, including about $2.5 million for marketing of U.S. beef in Japan, and other promotion programs in regions including China, Central/South America, Europe, Korea, Mexico, Russia and Taiwan.
· $2.5 million for producer communications, which includes direct radio and print reports, Beef Board, beef and dairy communications, state beef council coordination efforts, and trade media coordination, as well as $10,000 for importer communications through the Meat Importers Council of America.
· $210,000 for evaluation of checkoff-funded programs and $125,000 for program development.
Programs authorized by the Operating Committee now must be approved by USDA before any money can be spent. In addition, the USDA and the full Beef Board (through a mail vote) must approve the Operating Committee’s proposed $400,000 budget amendment. Contractors of the checkoff dollars work on a cost-recovery basis and cannot profit from work they do on behalf of the Beef Board and state beef councils.
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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. 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, 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. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.
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