Wed, 21 Dec 2022 16:15:51 CST
Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with the Chief Executive Officer of the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion Board, Greg Hanes, about beef demand in 2022 and forward.
“If you look at the demand out there for beef, we are at a 30-year high,” Hanes said. “To me, I think that really shows testament to what the checkoff is doing.”
The Checkoff is designed to convince consumers to choose beef over other proteins, Hanes said, and there has been success even amid inflation.
“That demand for beef continues to stay strong even at those higher prices,” Hanes said.
International demand for beef, Hanes said, has set records once again this year.
“Last year, there was over 10.6 billion dollars of beef exported,” Hanes said. “We are on pace to exceed that again this year.”
Drought has been a big challenge for producers, Hanes said, but hopefully, that will lift for producers soon. One of the big issues being faced by cattle producers, Hanes said, is the question of sustainability.
“That scenario where the people who don’t necessarily like beef are really trying to leverage and put out that beef is causing all the global warming and that it is not good for the environment,” Hanes said. “The checkoff has been doing so much research in that area that really, I think we have got a quiver full of arrows that we are really getting out there and shooting that information out to show that is not the case.”
The Beef Checkoff, Hanes said, was involved in Climate Week, and having factual information about the sustainability of the beef industry is essential, so being at those functions is important.
“You are starting to see more and more articles now debunking that myth that beef is submitting all of these greenhouse gasses and is one of the main culprits of change, so I think that is important that we keep going forward with that,” Hanes said.
One of the beef industry’s biggest challenges, Hanes said, is the cattle cycle.
“With the drought, we have had a lot of liquidation, so the checkoff dollars coming in- the stream has been pretty consistent, but once we start rebuilding the herd, which we think will be happening next year, those dollars reduce as people are holding the cattle back.”
Hanes said the Beef Checkoff wants to be sure there is a plan going forward to ensure that programs benefitting cattle producers can continue to be funded at adequate levels.
“We have been working on that, and I think we have got some strategies to kind of keep that going as well,” Hanes said.
The Beef Checkoff, Hanes said, focuses on education, research, and promotion.
“Research is one of those areas that producers do not necessarily hear a lot because it is not front and center and not that marketing or the education that is out there all the time,” Hanes said. “But it is key because the results from all this education come out and become key components and pieces of the promotion and marketing efforts.”
The producers making funding decisions on how checkoff dollars are used, Hanes said, understand that research is a key component of the programs funded by the Beef Checkoff.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
Ron Hays Beef Buzzes with Greg Hanes of the CBB
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