Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays is talking with the Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and Oklahoma Rancher, Jimmy Taylor. Hays and Taylor talk about the Beef Promotion Operating Committee meeting that took place in Denver on September 6 through 7.
The twenty members of the Operating Committee have zeroed in on the distribution of 38 million dollars for projects that will be part of the 2024 fiscal year plan for the beef checkoff.
“This was the culmination of several months of hard work by producers that are involved in the program,” Taylor said. “It started back in June. Our contractors turned in rough drafts of projects that we might like to look at, and then they were brought to our Summer Business Meeting in San Diego, where over 200 producers from across America listened to presentations of these projects from the contractors and then gave their thoughts on what was good, what was bad, what might need to be changed, and what might need to be pulled out.”
Through the month of August, Taylor said five different webinars were held where contractors were able to make tweaks to their projects. The most recent meeting in Denver, Taylor said, was looking at the final versions.
“We had a 20-member operating committee that listened to contractors present their final projects,” Taylor said. “We were able to ask questions and drill down deep and get the information we needed to determine which ones we were going to get the biggest bang for the buck.”
The Beef Board had a little under 38 million dollars to work with, Taylor said, and 49 million dollars in projects.
“We had to really drill down and get all the facts about each one so we could make the best decision for the beef industry,” Taylor said.
Some projects are continuing projects, Taylor said, like Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. Another project Taylor mentioned was the investment of work at the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
As 96 percent of the world’s population lives outside of the United States, Taylor said foreign marketing is critical. As different states begin to make their own rules and regulations, such as California’s Proposition 12, Taylor said it will become more difficult to market products in the U.S., so having the ability to market outside of the country is a great asset to the beef industry.
To see the full list of approved projects, click here.
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