Ahead Of Schedule

Reporting from the Operating Committee and happy to say the group is ahead of schedule. You can see the wheels turning as committee members mull through pages of great funding requests, all-the-while, knowing that budgets are slightly down and they have a daunting task ahead of them to choose which programs to fund for 2010 in an effort to judiciously spend producer checkoff investments in areas where it can have the most impact on beef demand.

As you may remember, last year, cuts in program budgets were spread across various categories to minimize the overall effect of the budget reduction. Some deeper cuts were required, however, with the hardest hits in funding for producer communications, including the Beefmobile; youth education; and the Beef Ambassador Program.

The Beef Ambassador Program has once again come to the table with a request for funding; the National Beef Cook-Off has requested funding for 2009 post-event promotion and 2011 event planning (location to be determined); and, MICA has proposed funding for northeast and North Virginia public relations, retail marketing and foodservice programs.

As a reminder, the job of the Operating Committee is to listen to each program presentation and ask questions for clarification — the debate, discussion and voting will come later.