Checkoff News Archive
Contact: Stephanie Darling 303/850-3359 Sdarling@beef.org
Diane Henderson 303/850-3465 Dhenderson@beef.org
Carol Abrahamzon 507-724-3905 cabrahamzon@beef.org
BEEF AMBASSADOR PROGRAM, USDA TO PARTNER ON NEW STUDENT INTERNSHIP
National Beef Ambassadors “exceptionally qualified” for hands-on learning position with USDA
RENO, Nev.( July 10, 2006) –The USDA’s AMS Livestock and Seed Program and the American National Cattlewomen Inc.(ANCW) have joined to establish an annual USDA internship for a young student who has participated in the beef checkoff-funded National Beef Ambassador Program.
The National Beef Ambassador Program (NBAP), which began in1988, selects a team of five young people, ages 17 to 20, to train as future spokespersons and leaders in the beef industry. The ambassadors present a positive beef message at consumer events across the country where they can polish their knowledge and beef promotion skills. A survey two years ago showed that 80 percent of young ambassadors stayed in the cattle industry; some even continue to work for the USDA, said Carol Abrahamzon, NBAP project manager. By selecting from young beef ambassadors, the USDA knows it will be gaining an “exceptionally qualified” intern, she added.
USDA and ANCW have always worked cooperatively on the ambassador program. USDA previously offered three internships before making the opportunity formal, Abrahamzon said.
“In addition to their extensive agricultural backgrounds, these interns have proven to be equally impressive in their academic, extracurricular and personal endeavors, agreed Dr. Warren Preston, chief economist with the USDA Livestock & Seed Program/Agricultural Marketing Service office. “These are outstanding young scholars and we’re pleased to formalize this relationship on a continuing basis.”
“We’re proud of our efforts, and the support of USDA, in preparing the next generation of cattlemen,” said Nancy Stirling Neuhauser, ANCW President. “They will be better educated, more traveled and have a better understanding of the industry, from the ground up. It’s a checkoff investment that grows every day, every year, every decade.”
The internship will be located at USDA offices in Washington, D.C., or, if it works better for the student, at a USDA field office. The student’s responsibilities during the internship are “wide open,” Abrahamzon said. “The goal is to keep the experience flexible so the intern has the opportunity to learn as much as he or she can.”
Anna Groseta, a current beef ambassador and USDA intern, said her time with the agency has been filled with “endless possibilities,” including the opportunity to network with agriculture professionals and gain real work experience.
“Our lives are founded on agriculture, so I feel very lucky to be with an agency that is so determined to pursue agricultural achievement throughout the world,” she added.
The internship recipient will be announced at the Cattle Industry Conference in February 2007.
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 administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. 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.
Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the NCBA is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.