Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with Rancher and Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Jimmy Taylor. Hays and Taylor talk about the work that the Cattlemen’s Beef Board has been doing to spread the word about the benefits of eating beef.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion Board is responsible for collecting and investing the dollar per head Beef Checkoff on behalf of the cattle industry. Taylor said volunteers who make up the beef board are committed to getting the most ‘bang’ for the dollar per head Beef Checkoff, and one of the things they struggle with is having many great ideas to invest in, but not enough dollars to spend.
The dollar per head Beef Checkoff is different than some of the other commodity checkoffs, in that it is a fixed amount that is collected each time an animal is sold.
“The Checkoff was born in the 1985 Farm Bill, and it was set at a dollar a head,” Taylor said. “Well, there is no room for that to fluctuate, so as inflation happens and the dollar value changes, that dollar does not. So, we are operating on 1985 dollars. Our dollar today is worth about 41 cents of what it as in 1985.” (Editor’s Note- once lawmakers added the Checkoff into the Farm Bill- it was approved by a vote of cattle producers.)
Not only has the value of the dollar changed, Taylor said, but because of improved genetics, today’s producers are producing the same amount of beef on about one-third fewer cows.
“We are trying to figure out ways to stretch that dollar and get the most bang for the buck and keep the same quality services that we have in years past, which gets tougher to do every year because of inflation and that dollar shrinking,” Taylor said.
Taylor also talked about the role that education plays in the dollar per head Beef Checkoff.
“Education is a big part of what we do, especially when we get away from cow country, we send dollars from our area where there are a lot of cows and less people up to the northeast,” Taylor said. “That is one of our projects that we do.”
Educating consumers, doctors, health professionals, and more in that area about the nutritional value of beef, Taylor said, is a priority because of the large population.
To learn more about the many ways checkoff dollars are invested, check out drivingdemandforbeef.com
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.
