2005 News Archive

 

Contacts:             Diane Henderson        303-850-3465         dhenderson@beef.org

Donna Moreno       303-850-3357          dmoreno@beef.org

‘THE BEEF CHECKOFF: BUILDING BEEF DEMAND’ SET TO DEBUT ON RFD-TV

Satellite broadcast highlights Beef Checkoff Program this week

CENTENNIAL, COLO. (Sept. 19, 2005) – Nearly 20 years ago, the nation's beef producers and importers joined together in an unprecedented self-help effort – the Beef Checkoff Program.  “The Beef Checkoff: Building Beef Demand” is a 30-minute television program that takes a look at what initiated the mandatory beef checkoff, what beef producers say about the program today, and the impact the beef checkoff has had on the beef industry in the United States. 

“The Beef Checkoff: Building Beef Demand” premieres on RFD-TV tonight – Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 – at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (7 p.m. CDT, 6 p.m. MDT, 5 p.m. PDT), and includes comments from beef producers about how the checkoff and increases in beef demand have impacted their livelihood.

“Demand today is high, and that leads to higher profitability for every segment of the beef industry – and checkoff dollars have gone into making sure that happens,” said 2005 Cattlemen’s Beef Board Chairman Al Svajgr, a Nebraska beef producer, in an interview featured on the special television program.

Svajgr is joined in the program by seven other beef producers who have served over the years as chairmen of the Beef Board, including Jo Ann Smith, a Florida beef producer who served as the first Beef Board Chairman in 1986-88.

The 30-minute broadcast includes highlights from various beef checkoff projects in the key program areas of promotion, research, consumer information, foreign marketing, and producer communications.

The RFD-TV broadcast may be viewed on:

DISH Network Satellite Channel 9409
DirecTV Satellite Channel 379
MediaCom Cable Systems, Check Local Listings
NCTC Cable Systems, Check Local Listings

Repeats of the program will air on RFD-TV on:

• Tuesday, September 20  – 4 a.m. Eastern
• Tuesday, September 20 – noon Eastern
• Sunday, September 25 – 2 a.m. Eastern

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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 administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.