South Dakota

The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association (SDSGA) took part in industry meetings and discussions during Cattlemen's Day in Billing, Mont., Nov. 11 and 12, sponsored by the Montana Cattlemen's Association and R-CALF USA.

SDSGA Past President Ken Knuppe, Buffalo Gap, spoke, along with other panelists regarding the current beef check-off, and the changes supported by SDSGA members.

"The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association would like to see a vote of the producers every five years. This ensures that the program is governed by those who pay--the producers," said Knuppe.

According to Knuppe, the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association policy simply states that the members do not support the checkoff program in its current form, and that a vote should be held every five years. "There are changes that need to be made, and our members recognize that," said Knuppe. "I'm not opposed to promoting beef and I'm certainly not opposed to fundraising in order to better our cause. What I do have a problem with is the current system, which promotes foreign beef as though it were equal to USA raised beef. As a U.S. cattle producer, I would be insane to voluntarily contribute to a promotional program that helps my competitor. Yet with the checkoff, I am being forced to do just that."

"Personally, I hope to see the checkoff be held accountable to producers, I'd like to see the checkoff promote USA beef instead of advertising for our competitors in foreign countries and I'd like to see checkoff funds being used for research that benefits U.S. cattle producers, as well as for lobbying efforts," said Knuppe. "Times have changed, but the checkoff hasn't. When the checkoff was implemented 20 some years ago, the United States imported far less beef and cattle than we do today. Yet, the checkoff continues to promote beef in a generic way, just as though all the beef in the U.S. is of U.S. origin, and that's simply not the case. The U.S. cattle industry is involved in a global marketplace, and in order to be successful, we must differentiate and promote our superior product. We'll never have the cheapest product, but we've got the highest quality product in the world. We just need a program to promote it. The checkoff doesn't do that right now, but with a few improvements, it could."

Knuppe says that representatives from Montana, Colorado, Washington and Nebraska, who joined him on the panel discussion regarding the checkoff, all agreed that change is needed. "We were in agreement that the checkoff is not serving U.S. cattle producers like it was set up to do. We just want to be sure that we're getting the best bang for our buck, which is good business."

SDSGA District 7 Director Mike Maher, Isabel, also participated in Cattlemen's Day, attending a meeting of the Cattlemen's Competitive Market Project (CCMP). Maher represents SDSGA on the CCMP Council, which directs the use and promotion of the USA Raised Beef logo, along with other projects to improve competition in the U.S. cattle industry. CCMP donations are used strictly for the betterment of U.S. cattle market conditions.

According to Maher, the meeting was held to discuss producer communication as well as public promotion of the USA Raised Beef logo. Representatives from the Organization for Competitive Markets, R-CALF, Cattle Producers of Washington, Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska took part in the meeting as well.