Producer Involvement Is Key To Checkoff Success
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Suggested Lead: We recently caught up with Ted Greidanus (Gr-eye-dan-us), Cattlemen’s Beef Board member who feeds bull calves in the heart of dairy country: Tipton, Calif. Ted has worked on his family’s calf nursery since 1977, spent time on the California Beef Council, and joined the Beef Board last year. A busy man, Ted still finds his volunteer time on the Beef Board to be very gratifying.
Greidanus 1: “I have been having a very good experience being a Beef Board member. I am serving on a couple of committees that I’m really proud to be on – I’m honored to be an Operating Committee member, so I am very engaged in the activities of the Beef Board and I find it to be rewarding to be one of the stewards of the monies that are collected and invested by producers. I take our fiduciary responsibility very seriously to make sure these dollars are being spent appropriately.” (25 seconds)
Ted says the Beef Board unanimously approved a $40.6 million budget for Fiscal Year 2011, down 7.4 percent from last year’s budget, representing a decline of about 24 percent in the last five years.
Greidanus 2: “Every time you have budget restraints – dropping revenue – it is a challenge. But we need to make adjustments to our programs and the way that we spend our money to make sure we’re getting the biggest bang for our buck on the investment of producers and doing everything that we can to promote beef.” (15 seconds)
But this is a “job” Ted doesn’t take lightly. For many producers, the best place to get involved is to attending state board meeting or even become a member of the Board. Ted agrees that the checkoff allows for producer views to be represented – IF you get involved.
Greidanus 3: “I would recommend anyone that wants to be involved, to get involved. I started off as a California Beef Council member – that was my way here to get onto the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. But if you care about your dollars that are spent on checkoff money, I would highly encourage you to get involved and participate in this organization. It is great.” (18 seconds)
For information on other efforts being funded with your beef checkoff investment, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com.
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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