FY2010 Checkoff Plan of Work

It took plenty of debate over two long days, but the Operating Committee this week approved proposals for 30 checkoff programs to be funded with a $42.3 million Cattlemen’s Beef Board budget in Fiscal Year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, 2009.

Revenue from checkoff assessments for the current year has come in a little higher than expected during the last several months, and the Beef Board spent $120,000 less in administration than it had budgeted for the year. That combined for a $695,000 addition to the program budget allocated this week – up from the $41.7 million budget the Beef Board approved in July.

Recognizing the importance of issues-management programs to counter misinformation about farmers and ranchers, beef, and the beef industry in the media, Operating Committee members increased the budget in that area by a total of $100,000, and also increased funding in the area of retail marketing by the same, based on the abillity to use that venue to help channel sales of middle meats. Another beneficiary of that increase was the National Beef Ambassador Program, which many of you will remember was not funded by the national checkoff program in the current year. On Wednesday, the Operating Committee approved funding that program at $70,000 for FY2010.

Contractors who successfully submitted proposals for checkoff funding in the coming year include the American National CattleWomen, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, the Meat Importers Council of America, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

An overview of funding, by budget component, is as follows:
– $18.5 million for promotion, including advertising, retail and foodservice marketing, the National Beef Cook-Off, and veal marketing and communications.
– $6.2 million for research projects in the areas of beef safety, product enhancement, human nutrition, and market research.
– More than $4.8 million for consumer and nutrition-influencer public relations.
– About $3 million for indutry information projects, such as the National Beef Ambassador Program, beef and dairy-beef quality assurance programs, and issues management.
– Nearly $5.3 million for foreign marketing of U.S. beef around the globe.
– $1.8 million for producer communications, including paid media, direct communications with producers, beef and dairy earned media, communications through livestock markets, and an annual producer attitude survey.
– In addition to those program costs, the FY2010 Beef Board budget also allocates $220,000 for evaluation of checkoff programs; $130,000 for program development; $255,000 for USDA oversight; and $2.1 million for administration, which includes costs for all Board and committee meetings, as well as office rental, supplies and equipment, and salaries.

In addition to the Beef Board’s $42.3 million national budget, the Federation of State Beef Councils has allocated a separate $4.7 million to put toward national checkoff programs.

So the stage is set for another year of checkoff programming, though programs authorized by the Operating Committee still must be approved by USDA before any money can be spent.