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Increase the investmentThe 2010 Cattle Industry Convention has come and gone, and it was a great one. Of course, any time you get 6,000 cattlemen all in one location, particularly after a long drought in profits with some indicators of "rain" ahead, it is sure to be good--but this was really good. I must dive into an issue that was not widely talked about, but I think we all must understand that it is time to invest more money in research, promotion and development. I cannot tell you how many people were talking about getting proactive in telling our story. I agree, and in the past 10 years have spent every day trying to find ways to be more proactive instead of always playing defense. Because I can see Cattlemen's Beef Board folks about ready to rise up and say, "Wait a minute Trent--we cannot use checkoff dollars for political purposes," before I go any further, let's clarify that checkoff dollars can only be used for research, promotion and development of beef, not for lobbying or political action issues. Issues management--correcting any misinformation in the press--however, is a different thing and does fit into the guidelines of proper use of checkoff funds. Basically, we are starving the system by not paying enough money into the beef checkoff to allow it to do the job it has been set up to do. The beef industry contributes from pasture to plate over $220 billion to the U.S. economy, by far the largest sector of American agriculture. We have over $50 billion in direct cattle sales, and yet we have less money available to tell our story than at any time in recent history. As one cattle feeder said, "Our cattle inventories are down by 12 percent, and I am still begging to get $83 per cwt. for my cattle. Something is wrong." As a quick reminder, the seller pays $1 per head for the beef checkoff each time an animal is sold. It stands to reason that with inventories low, the amount of money available is also going to be low. Take a look at the fiscal year 2008 expenditures for CBB: The total was $49,562,847, and the three largest areas of investment were $23,678,802 (47.8 percent) for beef promotion, $7,935,975 (16.0 percent) for research and $6,178,696 (12.5 percent) for consumer information. Honestly, if any business guru were to look at the meager amount we invest in marketing, research and development, I believe they would ask how we could maintain any market share. Businesses outside of this industry dedicate 5 to 10 percent of their total sales to product development and promotion--that would be about $2.5 billion for the beef industry! This leads me to the other discussion that needs to happen more often, which is increasing beef demand. The beef demand index has been extremely sad for quite some time and should be of concern to all of us. For those of you who have come to the party realizing that there are a few groups out there trying to permanently cripple animal agriculture, the answer does not lie in defending our production or harvesting methods. The rationale must be portrayed in the real reason we raise beef cattle to begin with. Cattle convert cellulose material that is not good for anything other than forest fires into the essentials of human life. Beef improves human lives not only nutritionally but also through the byproducts that we use in our daily lives, such as the steric acid in our car tires and the 84 life-saving pharmaceuticals that are used in hospitals every day. Yes, I believe the time was yesterday to begin investing more money in our future by increasing the beef checkoff. I, like everyone else, have more expenses than ever in my cattle operation, and while I don't want to increase my costs, I see this as an investment that is vitally important. Regulators, lawmakers and consumers alike are being told that the industry is destroying the environment and the public health. The only true way to combat that is by doing a better job of fighting fire with fire. "The truth shall set you free" comes to mind but so does "You don't know what you don't know." It is time we saddle up to spread the facts far and wide. One final thing--the checkoff funds are disseminated by a producer and industry committee. I believe that we need to invest more money in the checkoff programs, and I strongly believe that we need more cattlemen to invest their time to help determine how to best spend the dollars, rather than leaving it in the hands of just a few. If you pay, you need to have a say to make sure that this money is being put to the best use possible to promote our industry and help pave the way for its longevity and success. Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com.
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