September 2009
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Look for Beef Briefs to be delivered the first of each month -- your snapshot of beef checkoff news affecting the dairy and beef industries. Editor’s note: please feel free to use these beef “blurbs” as space allows in your publication or online content. If you would like to expand on a certain topic, please e-mail Melissa Slagle at mslagle@beefboard.org.
In case you missed it…
… June 2009 was a good month for beef in the grocery store meat case.
… TIME magazine editor prints “yellow” journalism
… Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner just went mobile
U.S. Beef Now Entering EU under New High-Quality Beef Quota
Containers of U.S. beef began entering the European Union on Aug. 14 under the duty-free, high-quality beef quota that was negotiated earlier this year. The quota is part of a compromise agreement intended to address the long-running dispute over the EU’s ban of beef from cattle raised with growth promotants.
The final hurdle for U.S. beef shipments entering the EU under the new quota was cleared when the EU corrected the erroneous address it had published for FSIS in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Click here for more information about the checkoff’s foreign marketing program.
Beef Nutrition Team Held New York Media Deskside Tour
The Beef Checkoff Program’s Nutrition PR team met with editors at eight national magazines in New York City during the first week in August. Shalene McNeill, PhD, RD, NCBA’s Executive Director of Nutrition Research and prominent protein researcher Nancy Rodriguez, PhD, RD, FACSM, professor at the
The meetings provided the opportunity to educate key nutrition and health media on beef nutrition messages, while building and strengthening relationships with them, and opening the door for potential media coverage. The nutrition team will continue to share new animal protein/beef information via Beef Nutrition News e-newsletter updates and News Bureau outreach to maintain contact with these influential members of the media. Click here for more information about checkoff-funded consumer information programs.
Veal Sweeps Still Going Strong!
As of mid-August, the new checkoff-funded veal sweepstakes on VealMadeEasy.com had generated more than 107,000 entries for free groceries for a year. The sweepstakes ends Sept. 15.
Beef Cook-Off Held This Month
The checkoff-funded Beef Cook-Off will be held in beautiful Sonoma, Calif., Sept. 21-23. Recipes this year focus on a “Sonoma Style” theme and were entered in four categories:
- Live Well with Fast & Convenient Grilled Beef Recipes
- Teens Cooking with Beef
- Lean Beef in Nutrient Rich One Dish Meals
- San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento Counties “Best of Beef” Chefs
Fifteen Home Cook finalists will compete for $70,000 in total prizes with the grand prize winner receiving $25,000, and six Professional Restaurant Chefs will compete for prizes totaling approximately $5,000. Watch for the winners to be announced!
Log On To The Blog
Sept. 15-16 brings the Beef Promotion Operating Committee to Denver, Colo., for an important meeting where all checkoff program areas will be presenting their FY2010 Authorization Requests – or requests for funding. Stay tuned to the MyBeefCheckoff Meeting blog for by-the-minute updates.
Visit With The Checkoff
National checkoff producer communications representatives are joining the Wisconsin Beef Council for World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisc., Sept. 29 - Oct.3. CBB members Jenny Senn and Nancy Thomas, Federation of State Beef Councils Director Chuck Adami and a handful of other beef industry representatives will be on hand to help share the beef checkoff message one-on-one with dairy producers at the Expo. In addition, the Board members will post daily blogs (watch for blog information in the coming month) and participate in on-site interviews with ag trade media representatives. For more about checkoff producer communications efforts, visit Producer Communications. If you attend this year’s Expo, stop by booth EH4508 and talk checkoff!
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.
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