ISSUES POLICY
National Beef Checkoff is a Successful Grassroots Program
By Richard Thorpe III, fi rst vice president, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association
I
N 1985, THE U.S. CONGRESS PASSED THE FARM BILL, WHICH in turn created the Beef Promotion and Research Act. Creation of this Act gave American beef producers
the ability to create a mandatory national beef checkoff program, if they so desired. Producers from all sectors of the beef industry be-
lieved that investing in the future of the beef industry and increasing demand for the product was essential. Therefore, these producers held a nationwide referen- dum, which passed overwhelmingly with 79 percent of producers voting in favor of making the checkoff program mandatory. When the checkoff was enacted in 1985, I was just
beginning my own cattle operation; nevertheless, I knew the program was extremely important for the success of my new business. Cattle raisers across the country asked for the pro-
gram to be built on several key principles. They asked that all producers and importers pay the equivalent of $1 per head each time a beef animal is sold. These funds are collected at the state level by each qualifi ed state beef council. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which consists of 103
beef producers, collects 50 cents of each $1 for national programs, and 50 cents is retained by the state beef councils. Each beef council has producers who sit on the board to determine how much should be invested in local, state and national programs. Through the checkoff, we have made great strides in
promoting the beef industry. It has given us the resourc- es to better promote high quality U.S. beef, increase demand in foreign countries and create product-en- hancement and beef-safety research programs to address
102 The Cattleman February 2015
important safety and quality issues. The program has
allowed us to invest an average of $4 mil- lion annually in beef-safety and product-technology research. Furthermore, it has enabled producers to implement a national radio and print advertising cam- paign to deliver positive beef industry messages to consumers. Further, the checkoff has allowed the beef industry
to invest more in important research relating to the nutritional value of beef. This reliable research proves that American cattle raisers produce one of the healthi- est and most wholesome food products worldwide. Additionally, the program has helped the beef indus-
try identify successful management practices through Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) to strengthen consumer confi dence in beef, and it has allowed us to introduce new products into the marketplace over the years. In fact, since 1996, more than 2,500 new beef products addressing consumer preferences have reached the market. You might notice that there is a trend with the way
the national beef checkoff program is set up. The pro- gram was invented by, implemented by and is overseen by producers. This bottom-up, grassroots approach is what has made the program a success. Recently, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Secretary Tom Vilsack announced he planned to imple- ment a new checkoff program, under the Commodity, Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996, which would have effectively turned the program upside
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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