Operating committee doing good job with limited resources

When the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, the group of 20 cattle producers representing all facets of the business who determine the direction of the beef checkoff, met in September to develop budget for 2007, they had some tough decisions to make.

They had more good projects to consider to build beef demand than they had the money to fund them with.

And that, according to Jay O'Brien, past TCFA president and current chairman of the Cattleman's Beef Board, was not the optimum situation.

Speaking at the 2006 Annual Convention of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and fall committee meeting of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Amarillo, O'Brien said he initially thought of giving the "we're doing great" speech, emphasizing the over 20 percent increase in beef demand in the years after 1998 and the $250 per head increase that means to cattle feeders.

Then came the September meeting and the $4.76 million in proposed projects that were turned down.

"We all saw the incredible success we had last summer working with retail on summer grilling. I would hate to see what our cattle would have brought without it," O'Brien said. "Yet we rejected $1.865 million in great work with retail outlets. We just didn't have the money to do it."

It didn't stop there. Other successful initiatives had to suffer cuts due to lack of money. "New products have been one of our real success stories with value cuts from the chuck and round bringing premium prices. Without work in this area, we wouldn't have the Flat Iron Steak, Petite Tender or Ranch Cut." Yet, he told TCFA and TSCRA members, the beef checkoff was short of money and turned down $450,000 in projects aimed at new product development. "If we would have had the money, we could have spent millions productively here," he said.

"Youth are essential and our research shows we are losing our future consumers. Still we cut $500,000 to work with health professionals getting new material targeting all school audiences and assessing the online youth environment related to diet. For the future of our industry, we should be investing $15 to $20 million in youth every year. We have lost one generation. We must not compound it."

O'Brien said that cutting great programs is not easy. "But let me promise you, we had better ideas that we did fund."

While inflation is eating away at the checkoff dollar, the beef industry is using 20 years of investing in its future as a foundation and is focused on long-term demand building, he told cattle producers. "I am proud of how the Operating Committee represents us, the people who pay the checkoff," he said. "Your checkoff representatives are committed to assuring that we get the best return on investment possible."

Date: 11/22/06

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