November 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…
… The 2009 Beef Ambassador Team has been announced.
… The beef and dairy industries are working together to tell the nutrition story. Click here to view the video news release.
… The Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program, funded in part by the beef checkoff, recently released the “Train the Trainer” manual in an effort to standardize BQA practices across the United States and improve the quality of the final beef product for consumers.
U.S. Reaches Net Beef Exporter Status
One of the main goals of the Beef Industry Long Range Plan came to fruition this summer, when the value of U.S. beef exports surpassed the value of imports, making the U.S. a net beef exporter for the first time since the discovery of BSE closed most international markets to U.S. beef in December 2003. Since the summer cattle industry meeting, August beef plus beef variety meat exports surpassed July totals by almost 15 percent, and set a new, all-time monthly record in terms of value. The record total of $416 million exceeds the previous record of $387 million - set in June 2003 - by 7.5 percent. Year-to-date, beef exports have recovered 93 percent of value and 75 percent of volume when compared to January through August 2003.
Mexico and Canada continue to perform remarkably well for U.S. beef, as they combined to account for about 60 percent of beef export volume and 63 percent of export value in August. Beef exports to Japan over the first eight months of 2008 totaled 113 million pounds valued at $265 million, representing an increase of 64 percent in both volume and value over last year. Beef exports to Russia are being adversely impacted by global currency trends. January through August exports to Russia totaled 63.8 million pounds valued at $67.5 million, and August exports set a new monthly value record at nearly $25 million; beef exports have gained traction in South Korea, with August totals of 27.3 million pounds valued at $62.7 million; and exports to the ASEAN region set a new record in August with a volume of 11.9 million pounds valued at $17.5 million.
Secret Shopping?
According to the Unilever 2008 Winning Shoppers in Turbulent Times study, the economy is affecting many aspects of grocery store customers' lives. Fear and uncertainty about the economy are the current motivators behind customer shopping approaches. More than 43% of U.S. primary shoppers say that they feel worse off economically than they felt one year ago. In response, more than 30% are eating at home more and eating out less as one way to save money. While an overwhelming 93% of consumers worry about rising food prices, the fresh meat and seafood category demonstrates a loyalty rate of more than 98%, indicating that customers won't stop purchasing fresh meat, even during tough times. More than 72% are ready to reduce spending, and while consumers agree that meat is one of the categories they may reduce spending in, it falls to the bottom of the list. The beef checkoff continues to assist retailers in creative marketing plans to keep beef at the front of the plate. For more information, visit www.beefretail.org.
2009 Cattle Industry Annual Convention
This year’s Cattle Industry Annual Convention will be held Jan. 28-31, 2009 in Phoenix, Ariz., at the Convention Center. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) invites all producers to be a part of the decision-making process for the beef checkoff. Meeting highlights include: CBB Administration Subcommittee Meeting, CBB Executive Committee Meeting, CBB Update Session, Dairy Producer Communications Forum, Joint Industry Committee/Subcommittee Meetings and much more. During the winter meeting, CBB members will review and evaluate checkoff-funded programs aimed at increasing demand for beef, and will begin setting priorities for a national checkoff budget for Fiscal Year 2010. They will also review recommendations from their CBB Executive Committee for possible improvements to the checkoff, elect new officers, Operating Committee and Executive Committee members for 2009. For more information about the beef checkoff, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com.
Become a Master of Beef Advocacy
It’s the MBA – the Masters of Beef Advocacy Program – launching this fall by the beef checkoff program. The newly designed MBA program is an e-learning opportunity developed to assist producers across the country in becoming effective spokespersons for the industry. The program consists of six, 1-hour core courses for the 2009 fiscal year: beef safety, beef nutrition, animal care, environmental stewardship, modern beef production and the beef checkoff. The complete program entails a reading exercise, followed by a short “your story in your own words” essay assignment, and concludes with an open-book quiz. At the end of the MBA program, producers are given a homework assignment to complete one of three exercises – with media, online or public speaking. MBA alumni will be encouraged to conduct team outreach on issues management topics. Producers who complete the program will be added to a weekly e-newsletter that gets them further involved through action items. For more information visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com or contact Daren Williams (dwilliams@beef.org).
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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