Checkoff Survey Garners Interest at Cattle Convention

  PIERRE (February 8, 2007)--Twenty years after the beef checkoff went into effect, cattle producers meeting at the 2007 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville were encouraged by survey results showing that 70% or more of producers polled support  the $1-per-head assessment.

            Especially encouraging, say two South Dakota’s beef industry leaders, was the fact that a large survey of 8,002 producers by the Gallup Organization showed basically the same results as a survey of 1,225 producers conducted by the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board (CBB) this winter.

“The Gallup survey validated the smaller and less expensive survey,” says Myron Williams, Wall rancher and newly appointed member of the CBB. “The results were basically the same.” Williams was at the convention, along with seven other South Dakotans who represent South Dakota producers either on the CBB or on the Federation of State Beef Councils.

            The Gallup survey was conducted in late fall 2006, with oversight by USDA, as part of a settlement between the CBB and the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA). The settlement followed a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled the Beef Promotion and Research Act constitutional. LMA helped design the questions.

CBB has traditionally conducted the smaller survey twice a year to gauge producers’ economic moods and their expectations of checkoff investments, as well as checkoff program familiarity, strengths or weaknesses. Both the Gallup and smaller survey, conducted by Aspen Media & Market Research, were funded with checkoff dollars.

“Both surveys indicated very positive support of the checkoff,” says Merrill Karlen, CBB director from Oacoma, S.D. Karlen, who also serves as a director on the South Dakota Beef Industry Council (SDBIC), says the surveys did show that the majority of producers would like to see some changes in the checkoff, including that the dollars be used only to promote U.S. beef and that there be a periodic referendum on the checkoff.

Both of those changes, he explains, would require a change in the law which authorizes the beef checkoff. He added that in the survey, the respondents’ support for checkoff dollars being utilized solely for U.S. beef dropped when producers were told that the change would mean beef exporters would no longer be required to contribute to the checkoff. In 2006, checkoff assessments from importers equaled $8.8 million.

The Beef Board oversees collection of $1-per-head on all cattle sold in the U.S. and $1-per-head equivalent on imported cattle, beef and beef products. State beef councils may retain up to 50 cents of the money collected in their state, but at least 50 cents must be sent to the Beef Board. The Beef Board is responsible for approving the annual budget for its national checkoff-funded programs.

______________________

The SDBIC collects and administers the beef checkoff on cattle sold in South Dakota . Checkoff dollars are utilized strictly for promotion, education or research programs. Fifty cents of every dollar is directed to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board for programs on the national level. The SDBIC retains up to 50 cents, investing it in additional national or in-state programs.

 The SDBIC is comprised of three representatives from eight agricultural organizations: SD Beef Breeds Council, SD Cattlemen’s Association, SD Cattlemen’s Auxiliary, SD CattleWomen, SD Farm Bureau Federation, SD Farmers Union, SD Livestock Market Association, and SD Stockgrowers Association.