Industry Information
Tracking Beef’s Shrinking Footprint
The checkoff is continuing to share the story of producers as everyday environmentalists, as highlighted in the checkoff-funded Cattlemen’s Stewardship Review and associated communications. In fact, research by Jude Capper, Ph.D., Washington State University – which found that raising a pound of beef in the United States today uses significantly fewer natural resources, including land, water, feed and fuel than in the past – was published in this month’s Journal of Animal Science. The news release highlighting the study, as well as supporting fact sheets, are available on www.ExploreBeef.org.
Getting Social With BQA
The checkoff’s Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program is taking advantage of one of the fastest growing forms of communication ever by going “Social.” The checkoff has an increasingly active BQA presence on social-media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in an effort to expand message outreach to producers nationwide. In 2011, BQA videos drew 15,679 YouTube views, with the most-viewed videos including: “Processing – The Bud Box”, “Loading”, “Unloading”, “Loading Dairy Cattle”, and “Master Cattle Transporter”. Nearly 700 people have “liked” the BQA Facebook page, and visitors have viewed 195,761 pages so far this year. Meanwhile, the checkoff’s BQA Twitter handle (@NationalBQA) has garnered 650 followers. If you haven't taken the opportunity to visit our social media pages, take a look – and share the messages with other cattlemen who can make use of them in their role to help maintain a positive reputation for beef and beef producers! For general information about BQA, visit www.BQA.org.
For additional information, check out these sites:
Foodservice professionals, including those in school foodservice, can go to www.beeffoodservice.org for with information about beef safety, cuts, facts and trends, as well as recipes and training materials.
Professionals in foodservice, retail and manufacturing industries can go to www.beefinnovationsgroup.com to find beef product ideas and tools to make new products successful in the market.
Beef retailers can turn to www.beefretail.org for beef cut and product information, marketing research, and tips, instruction and tools for merchandising beef.
The beef production story is told through www.explorebeef.org, a site which offers information, photos, graphics, facts and figures, personal accounts and other resources that combine to tell the story of how beef gets from producers pastures to consumers’ plates.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is a misunderstood but potentially serious animal disease. For the most accurate information, turn to www.bseinfo.org, an informational site housing current information regarding for consumers, producers and beef industry representatives.
To address the nutrition and health challenges facing today’s youth, www.school-wellness.org provides a resource for a variety of tools to help teachers, school-wellness leaders, health professionals and families.
Addressing beef nutrition with a focus on the classroom, www.teachfree.com offer materials to order or download; serves as a resource for teachers with a large selection of free posters, brochures, and teaching kits about beef and human nutrition.
According to the Beef Act, industry information means information and programs that lead to development of new markets, marketing strategies, increased efficiency, and activities to enhance the image of the cattle industry. Checkoff programs focusing on industry information include beef, veal and dairy quality assurance; issues management; and the National Beef Ambassador program.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
SOCIAL MEDIA