Research: A Cornerstone Of The Beef Industry
Date: Tuesday, December 26, 2006Contact: Stephanie Darling 303/850-3359 sdarling@beef.org
Diane Henderson 303-850-3465 dhenderson@beefboard.org
Research: A Cornerstone Of The Beef Industry
New checkoff-funded Web site offers reader-friendly overview of current projects
CENTENNIAL,
A new Web site, www.beefresearch.org, showcases checkoff-funded research in fact sheets and summaries, graphics, extensive resource listings, related Web sites, staff contacts and even glossaries of terms. The site is basically reader-friendly, presenting facts and findings in layman’s terms.
Research presented on the site was managed by the checkoff-funded Center for Research & Knowledge Management (R&KM) at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, in four priority areas: human nutrition, beef safety, market research and product enhancement. Much of the information on the Web site, ranging from ethanol byproducts to anti-carcinogenic activity in beef, has stemmed from cooperative research efforts at some of the country’s leading university agricultural and meat-science programs.
The R&KM division usually has around 70 different studies under way at any one time and through the years, has completed numerous major research projects that have led to safer, more consistent and consumer-targeted beef products.
The Bottom Line:
What does this mean for producers? Checkoff research funded the development of Beef Value Cuts, which has added an extra $60-$70 value per head to fed cattle, according to CattleFax. The cuts are also gaining popularity in foodservice, which sold 169 million pounds in fiscal 2006. Some 10,000 retail stores now carry at least one of the cuts, up from just 321 in 2003.
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.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.