LINCOLN, Neb. - Cattle producers in Nebraska and other states are pushing for what would be the first significant changes to the national beef checkoff program since it started more than 20 years ago.
It's the program behind the popular "Beef, It's What's for Dinner" ads that feature the distinctive voice of actor Sam Elliott. At a dollar a head, the checkoff fee pools about $80 million annually for beef promotion, research and education, among other things.
But more than two decades of inflation have decreased the buying power of that dollar, say checkoff supporters. Some want to raise the checkoff to $2 and make other changes to the program, which remains much the same since Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to start in the mid-1980s, said Don Ricketts of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
The Colorado-based group administers many of the beef checkoff dollars.
"There are so many more issues today, and the dollar doesn't go as far as it used to," Ricketts said.
Some state chapters of the association want Congress to hike the checkoff to $2, while others want producers who pay the checkoff to vote on whether it should rise.
Ricketts said that under one proposal, future hikes in the checkoff would require only a vote of those who pay the checkoff and not approval from Congress. The association will meet in February to vote on checkoff proposals and then lobby Congress to approve the changes.
"Whatever happens, Congress has got to deal with it, anyway," said Wade Moser, executive vice president of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association. "If the industry wants to make any changes, we go to Congress and get those changes made and then there is a requirement that the producers vote on it."
Moser said TV commercials have become too expensive and more money is needed for research.
Share this story:
Google
Yahoo
digg
del.icio.us
facebook
Slashdot
