October 13, 2003 - Role of Beef Promotion Operating Committee Explained

Beef producers may think their checkoff operates with a complex structure.  But the U.S. legislature tried to keep it simple back when it instituted the checkoff in 1985.  The Act and Order created the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, a 20-person group comprised equally of producers from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef council.  Jan Lyons is a beef producer from Manhattan, Kansas, and a past chairman of the Beef Board.  She says the process actually starts with producer committees that review potential checkoff programs.   

Cut #1     :15        Outcue: "...projects will be funded."

Lyons says the it’s the producer committees that first see the projects.

Cut #2     :13        Outcue: "...will be attributed."

According to Lyons, the current president-elect of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, all of the national checkoff funding must go through the Operating Committee.

Cut #3     :34        Outcue: "...forward in those areas."

Lyons says the availability of dollars doesn’t match the needs of the industry.

Cut #4     :18        Outcue: "...healthy for our industry."

The Beef Promotion Operating Committee met to determine what checkoff projects would be conducted in fiscal year 2004 on September 17 and 18.  The fiscal year started October 1.