October Beef Briefs
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Look for Beef Briefs to be delivered the first of each month -- your snapshot of beef checkoff news affecting the dairy and beef industries. Editor’s note: please feel free to use these beef “blurbs” as space allows in your publication or online content. If you would like to expand on a certain topic, please e-mail Melissa Slagle at mslagle@beefboard.org.
In case you missed it…
… Funding approved for checkoff programs in FY09. Click here for full details.
… Round two of the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA) dairy profit seminars, brought to producers by the beef checkoff, through the Dairy Beef Quality Assurance (DBQA) program, is taking place. Producers can attend a seminar near them to learn how BQA practices impact the final beef product.
… CBB was on RFD-TV LIVE! Even though the live show is over, producers can still submit questions here.
Producer Profit Tips
Continued from September Beef Briefs -- The checkoff-funded 2007 National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality Audit shares additional “points of improvement” for producers:
- Maintain record-keeping systems to verify your “Best” management practices and reduce or eliminate potential for liability surrounding issues of food safety.
- Recognize and optimize the value of your market cows and bulls. Cows and bulls comprise a significant portion of your farm or ranch’s income – so they need to be managed and marketed in ways that add value – not subtract from it.
- Ensure the safety of your product. Cows and bulls must be free of chemical, pathogenic and physical hazards when you ship them for harvest.
- Continuously monitor herd health. It’s in your best interest to observe the health of your cow herd, and to ensure you market cows and bulls before they become too compromised to make the trip to town.
- Prevent quality defects. Things like bruises, injection-site lesions, improperly placed brands, dark cutters, or cattle that are too thin or too fat, have inadequate muscling caused by emaciation – are preventable.
“Beef producers must stop thinking of market cows and bulls as culls and start managing, monitoring, and marketing them as the important food source they are,” says Dr. Bill Henning of Pennsylvania State University. “Improved production of cull cows and bulls will help keep up with the American consumer’s love affair with beef.”
Producers who have questions should contact their state beef council or visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com or www.bqa.org.
BSE Web site Revamped
In an effort to provide the latest facts about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, commonly called “mad cow disease”), the beef checkoff-funded Web site, BSEInfo.org, recently was overhauled to include new and updated content and an easy-to-search Web structure. Although the United States hasn’t had a case of BSE since 2006, this disease remains important to the beef industry and the scientific community and frequently receives media attention. A highlight of the site is the Scientific Resource, which was reviewed by nine leading international experts in BSE and related diseases. A premiere Web site in its subject area, BSEInfo.org continues to be one of a very few sites to offer a comprehensive range of scientific information about BSE and related disease, typically hosting more than 2,000 unique visitors per week, many from other countries.
My Beef Checkoff Can
Beef and dairy producers are featured in new producer communications print ads running in national and regional publications. But that's only part of their story. Online, at MyBeefCheckoff.com, is additional information from these producers, including audio from the producers themselves. New radio ads, featuring cowboy poet Baxter Black, are also on the air waves. For more information, go to www.MyBeefCheckoff.com and click on Producer Communications.
The Holidays Already?
Too early to be thinking about the holidays? The beef checkoff doesn’t think so. That’s why there are autumn and holiday entertaining recipes on the Beef It’s What’s For Dinner site. Here you can also find supplemental roasting information - Roasting Guidelines include the comprehensive beef roasting chart, Holiday Roasts feature helpful hints and Carving Tips showcase how-to photos.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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