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Beef Checkoff News
Your BEEF CHECKOFF NEWS
The Masters of Beef Advocacy program managed by NCBA, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, has recently updated advocacy training modules titled – MBA NextGen.
This update of the popular MBA training modules makes it easier than ever for a new generation of farmers and ranchers to share their story and advocate knowledgeably for the beef industry. Updated information and resources to help answer consumer questions are all accessible with the click of a mouse.
MBA NextGen consists of five self-guided, online lessons, open to everyone, and at no cost to participants. • Lesson 1 – The Beef Community
Context of raising beef from pasture to plate focusing on the community of people involved throughout the beef life cycle. • Lesson 2 – Raising Cattle on Grass
An introduction to the first step in the beef life cycle and the many benefits of raising cattle on our country’s vast grass pasture resources. • Lesson 3 – Life in the Feedyard
A discussion on the role of feedyards, including animal care, nutrition and environmental stewardship, at this important step in the beef life cycle. • Lesson 4 – From Cattle to Beef
An in-depth look at the slaughter process and the humane handling and safety measures in place at today’s beef processing facilities. • Lesson 5 – Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner
A primer on choosing and cooking the right cuts of beef in a healthy diet.
Started in 2009, the MBA has graduated more than 15,000 from the program. Once lessons are completed, advocates gain access to a variety of continuing education resources ranging, from online courses that delve deeper into specific topics, such as beef sustainability and nutrition, to in-person top advocate training and more. To enroll or find out more about the latest Masters of Beef Advocacy Program, visit their website at BeefItsWhatsFor Dinner.com.
Versatility was a strong driver for consumers making meal choices in 2020.
“During 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic, 84% of consumers were cooking at home, and 66% say they are going to continue to do that for the foreseeable future,” said Shawn Darcy, senior director of market research for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
In a typical year, Darcy said, a 1% to 2% increase in chicken, pork or beef sales is a good year. “We were seeing months of 40% to 50% higher retail sales of beef, and we’re still seeing months of 10% to 15% higher than last year,” he said.
“Beef consumption in 2020 was 59 pounds per person compared to 56.5 pounds in 2019,” Darcy said. “Food service typically represents 60% of the beef consumed, but it became more of a 50-50 split in 2020 with retail sales.”
Online behavior by consumers also continues to grow.
“People typically watch videos for 81 billion minutes per week, and that time jumped to 142 billion minutes during the pandemic because people are streaming more. These are the places we’re looking to be for promoting beef,” Darcy said. “The time people spent on apps and the web grew nearly 50 minutes from 2018 to 2019, and there was nearly another 50-minute increase
in 2020,” he said. “Now, consumers are on their phones for 4.5 to 5 hours on a daily basis.”
The growth of e-commerce occurring during 2020 is likely to continue.
“Now, 67% of consumers are at least occasionally buying groceries, and 86% are ordering food service,” he said. “And 70% of consumers said that increased or just started because of the pandemic,” Darcy added. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, e-commerce was predicted to be 4% of sales. “E-commerce in 2020 increased to 10% of sales, and that’s projected to grow by 2% to 3% per year,” he said.
To reach consumers while shopping for groceries online, the Beef Checkoff did a case study with Kroger.
“We placed online grocery advertising and gave customers recipe ideas to help entice them to put items in their cart,” Darcy said. “Through an app, we can give consumers a recipe and it puts the list of items directly in their cart, which is pretty cool technology.” A large majority of consumers eat beef weekly. “That number was at 67%, and it went up significantly to 72% in 2020. There were weeks above 75% during April,” Darcy said.
Retail beef prices increased during the spring of 2020.
“But consumers’ willingness to pay specifically for steak, even ground beef, continued to increase during the time prices increased,” Darcy said. “A lot of consumers were not spending as much on food service or activities out of the home, so they were willing to spend a little more on essentials for their household, whether it was buying more beef or trading up to a cut they might not typically buy.”
Talking Ag
with Chris Chinn
Agriculture Resiliency
This winter started out mild for most of Missouri. We saw rain in areas of the state that didn’t need it, while other areas were dry and would have welcomed the moisture. December and January came and went with mild temperatures and many farmers were growing concerned about the lack of moisture.
Spring plantings were on the minds of many of our farmers because the success of the upcoming growing season depended on more moisture for our soil. It’s no secret our livestock farmers and ranchers depend on a successful growing season for quality feed products. Anxiety was growing in farm country and many prayers were being said for a successful 2021 after the challenges 2020 brought for many of our farms and ranches.
And then it was February. We’ve all heard the old saying, “its Missouri, if you don’t like the weather wait a day or two and it will change.” And that’s exactly what happened in the second week of February. The groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter on Groundhog Day and his prediction did not disappoint.
Winter fell upon us fast and furious, and once again Mother Nature reminded us we were at her mercy. Ice, drifting snow and temperatures below zero were the norm for Missouri for over two weeks and it wreaked havoc for our farms and ranches that raise livestock. Our farmers who had contracts to deliver grain were challenged to deliver their grain on time due to treacherous road conditions. Our winter weather once again reminded us that agriculture is hard.
Some of our farmers and ranchers have modernized their facilities to be more resilient to the impacts of harsh winter weather like we saw in February. Modern livestock barns kept our poultry and pigs warm and dry with a continuous supply of dry feed. That was until the blowing snow closed roads and complicated feed deliveries for many of our farms and ranches. Rolling power outages also created challenges for our farms and ranches. Backup generators were on standby and many were needed to keep newborn pigs warm and alive.
For our cattlemen and cattlewomen the challenges were plenty. Frozen waterers which needed thawed multiple times a day, chipping ice in water tanks and rolling out extra hay consumed a lot of their days and nights. For those who have started calving, they spent many hours monitoring cows and moving them to barns before they
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calved. Drying off the newborn calves and keeping them warm required extra care in -10 degree weather with a wind-chill of -25 and beyond. I saw many pictures on social media of newborn calves being warmed up in laundry rooms of homes and the cabs of pick-up trucks.
What normally takes 10-11 hours to accomplish now took 15 or 16 hours in the harsh weather. Unlike cattle, our farmers and ranchers do not have thick skin and hair to keep us warm. Bundling up in multiple layers presents many challenges, especially when it comes to being able to move swiftly and quickly. Bulky clothing is loathed by many when physical labor is required to complete tasks. You warm up quickly when chopping ice so you remove layers, only to get chilled once the ice is broken. Many of our farmers and ranchers experienced frostbite but they kept going because their animals depended on them. This is the norm in agriculture, the needs of our livestock are always our first priority.
Living in rural America isn’t always picturesque with green grass and sunshine. The snow and wind we experienced created many challenges. We don’t have road crews with snow plows on standby to open up our farm drives and lanes. On our farm, our road crew on standby was my husband, Kevin. He wears many hats like all farmers do. He was up many mornings before 3 a.m. to start blading our driveways and county roads. Our county road crews could not keep up and several of our roads were impassable due to the blowing snow. And like many farmers, he didn’t just open up the county roads for our own use. We had neighbors who had been snowed in for days and were unable to get out of their driveways to go to town for supplies.
This story is not unique to my family farm, it happens all over Missouri because agriculture is resilient and we know the value of backup plans. We can’t wait for someone to come to our rescue, we are the emergency crew. Our livestock, our families and our neighbors depend on us to show up, even in the rain, snow and when the sun shines. This is what we do because this is who we are. This winter has reminded us that agriculture is resilient and this lesson in resilience and determination is what our ancestors prepared us for.
