Beef producers seek statewide checkoff

Missouri Ruralist
www.FarmProgress.com – March 2014
11
MISSOURI NEWS SCENE
Beef producers seek statewide checkoff
By MINDY WARD
M
ISSOURI beef producers are being
asked to consider a state checkoff
in an effort to increase promotion
and education efforts for beef. However,
it will take legislative maneuvering and
membership approval to establish the proposed 50-cent, state-only checkoff.
Currently, funding of statewide promotional programs come from the national
beef checkoff, which started in 1988. The
$1 national checkoff is split equally between the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the
Missouri Beef Industry Council, or MBIC.
Key Points
■ Missouri beef producers seek first
state-only checkoff since 1985.
■ A 50-cent increase would bring the total
checkoff paid by producers to $1.50.
■ Legislation change and a farmer vote are
needed for checkoff approval.
may already be registered and vote in
MBIC elections, they will need to re-register to participate in the Missouri beef
checkoff referendum. Deering says any
producer can register to vote on the statewide checkoff. “If they have marketed just
one head, they are considered a beef producer,” Deering says.
Farmers can register with forms avail-
able from the MCA or at their local Farm
Service Agency. Beef producers can also
register online at the Missouri Department
of Agriculture’s website, www.mda.mo.gov.
If the proposal clears all of the hurdles,
beef producers can expect to pay $1.50 to
the beef checkoff, with $1 staying in the
state to further beef promotion and education efforts.
Funds falls short
The MBIC points to a couple of reasons
for the suggested voluntary increase.
First, there are fewer cattle, which in
turn means fewer actual dollars. Projects
funded through MBIC for promotion and
education over the past five years totaled
$1.9 million. According to an MBIC report,
because of lack of funding during that same
time, an estimated $2.1 million in projects
went unfunded.
Then there is buying power. The 50
cents from 1988 does not go as far in 2014.
Just like input costs on the farm, the cost
of promotion and education have risen.
No longer is it a few billboards scattered
in towns and across the countryside. In
order to reach Missouri consumers, the
beef industry must invest in growing media
outlets, like digital, and that costs money.
The proposed checkoff dollars would
promote beef in a number of areas. The
MBIC would like to see more social media
advertising. It would also use the funds
to expand the running program known as
Team Beef, increase farm tours, renew statewide producer radio and print campaigns,
create a smartphone app and update
Missouri’s Beef Audit, to name a few.
Lose the language
The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association,
or MCA, supports the efforts to enhance
the national checkoff with a voluntary
Missouri beef checkoff, according to Mike
Deering, MCA executive vice president.
“Actually, the state approved its own
checkoff back in 1985 before the national
checkoff was enacted,” he says. But when
the national checkoff went into effect, the
state legislature issued language that stops
and prevents a statewide effort.
Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 275,
Commodity Associations, states “If a national referendum among beef producers
passes and a federal assessment on beef
producers is adopted pursuant to federal
law, no state fees shall be collected under
the provisions of this chapter, in excess of
a commensurate amount credited against
the obligation to pay any such federal assessment.” This language blocks state beef
producers from collecting any funds while
the national checkoff is in effect. Without
removal of the language, the state-only
checkoff cannot move forward.
Registration required
In addition, Missouri statutes require that
a simple majority of the cattle production
of the registered cattle producers approve
a checkoff referendum. Tentatively, the referendum date is set for June 1.
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