2013 Cattle Convention Getting Under Way

More than 5,500 beef industry folks are gathering in Tampa, Florida this week for the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention. A handful of organizations meets during the convention, but we’ll follow your Beef Checkoff Program meetings and information here throughout the convention.

Start by checking out some of agendas for checkoff committees and the Beef Board by clicking on “Agendas, Minutes” in the top left corner of this blog page, or go there directly at THIS LINK. You will also find an abbreviated schedule for the convention at the top of that page.

The convention officially kicks off with the Opening General Session at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. Then, as the week goes on, you can come back here regularly to get highlights of activity through Saturday morning.

If you have questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below; or contact Diane Henderson at dhenderson@beefboard.org or 303-220-9890.

Access Convention Materials Here

Agendas and other materials for most checkoff committee meetings at the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention in Tampa now are available on this blog. Click on the “Agendas, Minutes” link on the upper left of this page, or go to this page directly at this link. If there are a couple that don’t have agendas yet, stay tuned and they’ll be there soon.

Remember, throughout convention, we’ll be posting information about the goings-on right here on the MyBeefCheckoff Meeting Blog. Each posting also has an option for commenting, in case you have any questions as you go. This year, you can also access the meeting on our brand new mobile meetings site by going to www.MyBeefCheckoffMeeting on your smart phone.

Of course, general information about the checkoff and the programs it funds is always available at www.MyBeefCheckoff.com, as well.

2013 Cattle Industry Convention in Tampa

Folks are getting saddled up for the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention in Tampa, Feb. 6-9.

We will be updating this blog with materials for the convention — including agendas and other committee information — as they become available, so stay tuned for more during these final weeks leading up to the meetings. In addition to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, other organizations that meet during convention include the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the American National Cattlewomen, CattleFax, and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation.

For starters, you can access an abbreviated schedule of meetings at the convention at 2013 Cattle Industry Convention, or peruse an interactive brochure of information at 2013 Brochure.

Operating Committee Adopts FY13 Plan of Work

Well, it was a tough couple of days, but members of the Beef Promotion Operating Committee clearly knew what they had to do, dug in, and made the tough decisions.

All told, the committee chopped about $2.9 million from the total proposals submitted for beef checkoff funding in FY2013, which begins Oct. 1, 2012.

Among the cuts in program proposals was a $300,000 cut from consumer advertising; $100,000 from nutrition research; a $275,000 proposal for programming about the beef industry on America’s Heartland on PBS; a $100,000 cut from the national Beef Quality Assurance program; and a total of more than $811,000 in cuts from various foreign-marketing proposals.

Seven national beef organizations, serving as checkoff contractors and subcontractors, had proposals approved by the Operating Committee (and the number of proposals and dollar amounts approved) are as follows:

• National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (20 programs totaling about $29.8 million)
• U.S. Meat Export Federation (13 programs totaling about $7.4 million)
• Cattlemen’s Beef Board (one program totaling $1.5 million)
• American National CattleWomen (two programs totaling about $600,000)
• Meat Importers Council of America (three programs totaling $475,000)
• North American Meat Association (two programs at $415,000)
• National Livestock Producers Association (one program at $25,000)

Read the full release at FY2013 Beef Checkoff Plan of Work

Tough Cutting Job

The Beef Promotion Operating Committee has had a rough task at hand as they met until after 9 p.m. last night and continued again early this morning to make cuts on proposed checkoff programs that will bring the budget into balance for the coming fiscal year.

We won’t even try to list what the cuts are until all decisions are final, because it’s a continuing process and changing by the minute… Stay tuned.

NCBA Presents 20 Checkoff Funding Requests

Checkoff program managers from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) now are taking their turns at presenting the Operating Committee with that organization’s proposals for checkoff funding in Fiscal Year 2013.

All told, NCBA is presenting 16 program proposals, plus four “implementation” funding requests to pay for implementation of those programs in the coming year — broken out as promotion, consumer information, research and industry information implementation.

 Following is a list of and links to the program Authorization Request (AR) titles that NCBA staff are presenting to wrap up the presentation portion of the Operating Committee meeting today:

• Beef Quality Assurance
• Beef Issues & Reputation Management
• Issues Management Crisis Reserve
• Beef Safety Research
• Beef Industry Food Safety Council
• Beef Sustainability Research
• Product Enhancement Research
• Nutrition Research
• Nutrition Influencer Program
• Consumer Public Relations
• Consumer Advertising
• New Product and Culinary Initiatives
• Retail Marketing
• Foodservice Marketing
• Market Research
• Veal Marketing and Communications

Beef Safety at the Fore

The North American Meat Association (NAMA) brought two research proposals before the Beef Promotion Operating Committee this afternoon, seeking $390,000 of beef checkoff funding for beef-safety post-harvest research and another $25,000 for a Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo) project that would communicate the council’s food-safety messages on a regional basis.

NAMA was formed earlier this year through a merger of the National Meat Association and the North American Meat Processors Association — two organizations established in the 1940s — making it one of the largest players in international meat trade. NAMA CEO Barry Carpenter (pictured) presented the group’s research proposals to the members of the Operating Committee. The goal of the post-harvest research, he said, is to get ahead of the issue of salmonella in beef by focusing on innovative ideas to reduce it in the post-harvest sector of the industry.

Significant progress has been made in addressing the E . coli 0157 threats to beef safety, Carpenter said, but the industry’s progress in addressing salmonella in beef has been minimal. Stepping up the research about ways to minimize its presence in beef and beef products will help keep it from becoming a fiery issue in the minds of consumers. The project calls for hosting an industry think-tank meeting, comprising salmonella authorities from industry and academia and focused on identification of strategies to address the post-harvest side of the issue. To read the details of the proposal, visit post-harvest research.

The second proposal from NAMA aims to protect beef demand by maintaining, enhancing and communicating the safety of beef to help ensure the future of the beef industry. It calls for developing regional outreach and collaboration about the messages from BIFSCo, funded in part by the beef checkoff and an organization that the predecessors of NAMA have been involved with since its beginnings.

On the ground, the proposal calls for the checkoff to host at least three meetings across the country to reach industry representatives who do not attend the annual BIFSCo Safety Summit, toward providing a more intimate training opportunity. In addition, it calls for development of at least one associated educational tool for print and/or online distribution through www.BIFSCo.com. Access a copy of this second NAMA proposal at regional safety efforts.

A Dialogue for a Common Purpose

In light of consumers’ intense and growing interest in the safety of the beef they eat, the National Livestock Producers Association (NLPA) is proposing a symposium to develop communications initiatives that improve consumers understanding of beef and beef production.

In the end, the goal is to increase consumer confidence in the safety of beef. The proposal builds on the first such symposium that the checkoff helped fund in the current fiscal year, with the FY2013 program aimed at messages about antibiotics and cattle, titled “A One Health Approach to Antimicrobial Use & Resistance: A Dialogue for a Common Purpose.”

NLPA CEO Scott Stuart also presented a second Authorization Request to the Operating Committee this morning, mapping out a partnership with the Emmy award-winning  America’s Heartland television program to reach consumer influencers with important information to help them tell the beef story nationwide. The program reaches more than 1 million viewers on more than 240 PBS stations across the country, comprising primarily urban consumers, in addition to the more rural audience of RFD-TV. The program also includes social-media elements, a website, a blog and other message-delivery methods, such as YouTube, which has garnered 5.4 million views in its first eight years. 

Food safety, animal welfare and modern beef production are among topics the program can address with these viewers. The messages will be delivered by way of personal stories and anecdotes directly from cattle farmers and ranchers. The proposal calls for producing and distributing up to 10 new episodes of America’s Heartland focused on beef, beef producers and beef production; producing and distributing 20 special segments highlighting beef cooking tips and recipes; achieving up to a combined 1 million television impressions per month; creating an additional dedicated full half-hour program about beef to air on RFD-TV; and creating up to four customized video presentations for the beef checkoff, using America’s Heartland’s vast library of high-definition footage of beef producers and production.

To view the two proposals from NLPA, visit Antibiotics Symposium and America’s Heartland.

Telling the Beef Story

Sarah Bohnencamp manages the “Telling the Beef Story” program that is funded by the Beef Checkoff Program and conducted through the American National Cattlewomen (ANCW). That is one of the programs that Sarah and other ANCW representatives are presenting to the Operating Committee this morning, in the form of Authorization Requests (ARs) for checkoff funding again in Fiscal Year 2013, which begins Oct. 1, 2012.

The Telling the Beef Story checkoff program aims to get good news about beef out to consumers nationwide by training and engaging state and National Beef Ambassadors, as well as cattle producers and other industry representatives, to communicate with consumers in a variety of venues upon request for beef information and/or speakers. This includes speaking engagements in schools, at community events, health expos, food festivals, and more. They share personal experiences and science-based facts to combat anti-beef messages and misinformation.

The ambassadors and CattleWomen who represent the beef industry story volunteer their time, which keeps checkoff program costs to a minimum. To review the proposed Telling the Beef Story program for FY13, as well as ANCW’s proposal for a National Beef Cook-off in the coming year, visit the Operating Committee page on this blog.

Promoting Beef Internationally

Greg Hanes, assistant vice president of international marketing and programs, and Dan Halstrom (pictured), vice president of of international marketing and programs for the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), are presenting proposals for checkoff funding of global beef marketing efforts to the Operating Committee this morning. Hanes and Halstrom followed presentations for national producer communications and a Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative aimed at consumers, retailers and foodservice operators in the heavily populated Northeast region of the country.

All told, USMEF is seeking checkoff funding for 12 different proposals, or “Authorization Requests (ARs),” to continue growing demand for U.S. beef across the globe. USMEF combines checkoff funding with matching funds from the USDA Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development funds to achieve the international marketing efforts.

Following are the countries or regions covered in the USMEF proposals: ASEAN region; Carribean; Central America/Dominican Republic; South America; Europe; Middle East; China/Hong Kong; Japan; Mexico; Russia; South Korea; and Taiwan. During his presentation, Hanes cited econometric modeling indicates that the median increase in beef industry revenue due to programs managed by USMEF is about $46.3 million per year. 

Take a look at the foreign-marketing ARs — as well as those presented for producer communications and the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative presented this morning – via the Operating Committee page of this blog.

Operating Committee Meeting Under Way

The Beef Promotion Operating Committee meeting is under way in Denver this morning, as producer leaders gather to make decisions about how to invest beef checkoff dollars in Fiscal Year 2013, which begins Oct. 1, 2012.

Representatives for beef organizations proposing programs for checkoff funding in the coming year will present their suggested plans to the Operating Committee — including 10 members of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and 10 members of the Federation of State Beef Councils — throughout the day. Committee members will listen to presentations and ask questions today, but not debate or vote on the programs until tomorrow.

To see the same proposals that the committee is reviewing today, visit the Operating Committee link on this blog, under the “Agendas, Minutes” button at the top left of this page.

Getting to Know Beef Board Members

Brett Morris is a third-generation Oklahoma dairy farmer, who also has a cow-calf and stocker operation. He partners with his father on the family farm. He chairs the Retail Committee.

Brett says the work of the Retail Committee is very important, as the members partner with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) staff to look at what works and what doesn’t for retailers. The work must be paying off, as he says that some areas are seeing a $39 return on investment for every $1 of Beef Checkoff dollars! He encourages other producers to get involved in educating the general public by partnering with retailers to highlight beef in their stores.

Listen to my interview with Brett here: Interview with Brett Morris

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Auditing and Compliance Procedures

The Cattlemen’s Beef Board goes to extraordinary lengths to make sure that the money invested by beef producers is handled and spent wisely. In the last year or so some additional and new procedures have been put into place to make sure that this continues to be the case.

To explain all the auditing procedures Katherine Ayers, Beef Board CFO, gave a report at the closing business meeting this morning.

Listen to Katherine’s report here: Katherine Ayers Report

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Beef Board Business

Weldon Wynn is the Vice Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. He opened up the second general session at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference and then made himself available to talk with the media who are attending.

Weldon says “We’ve got a lot of things already accomplished,” when it comes to the work of the Beef Board here at the conference, including approving the committee restructuring proposal. He says it will be good for the industry. There will be a transition period but he says that for now it’s business as usual. I also got Weldon’s thoughts on how the drought is affecting the industry.

Listen to my interview with Weldon here: Interview with Weldon Wynn

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Explaining The New Committee Structure

Polly Ruhland, CEO of the Beef Board, is making a point in answer to a question during the first Beef Board business session in this photo. I spoke with Polly to get a better understanding of the new committee structure that was approved during that session.

Polly explains the process that led to the proposal for restructuring that was presented here. She says that “What the working group came up with was a structure that relies on the industry long range plan and consumer demand drivers.” It was a big step forward in focusing Checkoff work on consumer demand. Learn more about this in my interview with Polly.

Listen to my interview with Polly here: Interview with Polly Ruhland

For a copy of the Special Committee report and explanation of the new committee structure, go to Special Committee Report, and for a visual matrix depicting the structure, visit Committee Matrix.

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Summer Meeting Financial Report

The Cattlemen’s Beef Board held its closing business meeting July 28 at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. Providing the financial report was Kim Brackett, Secretary/Treasurer.

Kim is a cow-calf/stocker from Castleford, Idaho. She has been an active member with the Idaho Beef Council, serving as chair, vice chair and treasurer; Idaho Cattle Association, serving as committee and sub-committee chair; and the 71 Livestock Association.

Listen to Kim’s report here: Financial Report

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

New Method to Elect Nominating Committee Members

During the Cattle Industry Summer Conference Beef Board members used a new method to elect members to the Nominating Committee. I visited with Chairman Wesley Grau to learn more about it.

Wesley says that when the by-laws were updated at the winter convention they re-constructed the way nominating committee members are selected. He says there were 17 members who were on the ballots with between 2 to 3 per region. He says the process went very smoothly.

Listen to my interview with Wesley here: Interview with Wesley Grau

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Producer Support of Beef Checkoff Remains High

The Chairman of the Producer Communications Committee is Hank Maxey, seen here during one of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference meetings. I talked with him about the most recent survey of U.S. beef and dairy producers to determine their thoughts about the Checkoff.

Hank says, “The study is very similar to studies in the past. Producers still have confidence in the Checkoff.” He says it means money is being spent in the right places and by doing that they’re helping beef demand. Here’s some information from the survey.

Checkoff support, at 74 percent – about even with January 2012 findings – remains at historic highs.

Two in three beef producers believe the checkoff is well managed.

Listen to my interview with Hank here: Interview with Hank Maxey

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Beef Excellent for Offsetting Age-Related Muscle Loss

The Beef Checkoff funded a research project conducted by Stuart Phillips (pictured during a video interview), McMaster University, Department of Kinesiology, Hamilton, Ontario, that focused on nutrient-rich proteins in offsetting age-related muscle loss. Basically, Stuart says they compared 4 oz. of beef with 4 oz. of soy protein and beef performed much better.

Another interesting finding is that the optimal amount of beef is 6 oz. to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. This research will have significant impact on diets for aging well as we better understand how different protein sources perform.

Listen to my interview with Stuart here: Interview with Stuart Phillips

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Beef Flavor Research

How important is flavor research to the Beef Checkoff? Very, according to Executive Chef Dave Zino. I spoke with Dave about some newly completed Beef Flavor Research that was conducted with Beef Checkoff funds. The primary objective was to help the Beef Checkoff develop a better understanding of consumer preferences for beef preparation and consumption and the types of flavors preferred to accompany beef products.

Dave says this research was first done in 2002 and then again in 2005. With this latest update he says we now have a really good benchmark to determine recipe development, what people are eating with beef and how they cook it. One of the interesting findings is that between 2002 and 2012 there are more people eating steaks in the medium rare to medium range which pleases him because they’ll get the best beef eating experience. The research shows that there have been a lot of positive developments in recent years and he believes it will go a long way in helping create beef demand.

Listen to my interview with David here: Interview with Dave Zino

2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album