Beef Briefs - March 2010
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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…
… Producers show continued approval of the beef checkoff.
…One foodservice Beef Backer award winner shares his experiences.
… Be sure to check the calendar of events to see when checkoff representatives will be in your area.
Since the Cattle Industry Convention the last week in January more than 300 new students have enrolled in the beef checkoff Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) program, pushing current students to more than 1,300. More than 100 students graduated in the first three weeks of February (788 total since March 2009) and it is anticipated that more than 150 will complete the courses by the end of the month.
With MBA commencements planned in
Since 2003, one annual event has brought every segment of the beef industry together in one room to help bring better focus on beef safety. This year’s Beef Safety Summit, which is partially funded through the beef checkoff, will be held March 3-5 in Dallas, Texas.
Jeff Clausen is a beef producer from Carson, Iowa, and chairman of the industry’s Joint Beef Safety Committee. He says the summit is important because safety of beef products is absolutely critical to both beef consumers and the people who help produce it.
According to Clausen, the summit’s sessions are heavy with information, and there isn’t much need for additional motivation for attendees. “People are motivated because it’s their livelihood. If we don’t provide a safe product, then our businesses are in jeopardy, because of the beef demand. The motivation is just to better their operations and to provide that safe, nutritious and enjoyable product to the consumer, and that they can be confident that it is safe.”
Checkoff dollars, which have been in shorter supply in recent years because of a shrinking cattle supply, are efficiently used through this safety summit and other beef safety efforts. For more information on the industry’s beef safety efforts, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com, or go to the Beef Industry Food Safety Council’s Web site at www.bifsco.org.
On Tuesday, Feb. 17, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) launched www.HumaneWatch.org, a new resource for keeping tabs on the nation’s largest and richest animal rights activist group – the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
HumaneWatch features a blog by CCF Director of Research David Martosko, a reference document library that includes 2008 HSUS tax returns, a listing of the numerous HSUS-affiliated organizations and background on the top HSUS employees. HumaneWatch also has a corresponding Facebook page that boasts a rapidly growing fan-base that currently totals 2,693.
CCF promises the HumaneWatch resources will shine a light on things like how HSUS really spends its money ($250,000 in annual salary to its president); who works for HSUS (it has more than 500 employees); and the true number of HSUS “supporters” (it’s not 11 million).
The beef industry, including many Beef Board members, have become fans of the Facebook page to “watch” and reference the data from the site when speaking with fellow producers and consumers about the animal rights movement.
March is National Nutrition Month and specifically, the 10th is Registered Dietitian Day. The beef checkoff continues to focus nutrition communications efforts around the following topic areas: The American Weight Crisis, Hot Topics in the Nutrition Environment, Professional Development, Food Production & Trends, Health Promotion through the Life Cycle, Nutrition and Disease Prevention and Management, The Power of Protein and Family-Focused Nutrition. Americans are loving lean beef. Fifteen of the top 20 most popular cuts of beef sold at retail meet government guidelines for lean, including top sirloin steak, strip steak and T-bone steak. So while they may not realize it, most of the beef consumers are choosing today IS lean. This month, encourage people to visit BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com for fact sheets, protein research, recipes and ads.
This month, the beef checkoff is partnering with Heinz® Classico and New York Brand® Texas Toast for a Beef Bolognaise recipe promotion. Watch the papers on March 14 for a $1.50 off beef coupon with the purchase of two Classico pasta sauces. For more information about retail beef promotions, visit www.BeefRetail.org.
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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