8 NATIONAL CATTLEMEN
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F E D E R A T I O N
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STATE BEEF COUNCILS
Building beef demand by inspiring, unifying and supporting an effective state/national checkoff partnership.
Feeders in Pennsylvania Get States Continue to Make Great BQA Encouragement Use of Federation Initiative Fund The Florida Beef Council and the Hawaii Beef Industry Council are among the state councils who have made tremendous use of Federation Initiative Funds recently. The FBC utilized dollars from their most recent grant to work with the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (FAND) on a tour specifically for registered dietitians among FAND leadership and staff. The tour included in-depth discussions of cattle genetics, cow/calf operations, ranching, cattle handling techniques, use of pharmaceuticals and more. Prior to the tour, 37 percent of the guests said they knew how cattle were raised either very or somewhat well; following the tour, 100 percent said they did! Also in the post-tour survey, 100 percent of participants said they were either extremely or very familiar with the health benefits of beef and high quality protein, with many saying they would use the information when speaking with their clients. Among the other benefits of the tour were the relationships built between FBC and FAND, and the relationship strengthening between FBC and local cattlemen and their organizations.
Meanwhile, nearly 4,800 miles away, the Hawaii Beef Industry Council was conducting a project called Simmer Sundays: Beef Fusion Recipes and Stories for Mothers in Hawaii. This project also received backing through the Federation Initiative Fund. HBIC worked on the project with Cookspace Hawaii, a cooking studio and event venue that offers cooking classes, tastings and other culinary experiences. Cookspace engaged chefs and mom bloggers to provide their favorite recipes that feature beef in a series of five demonstration videos. The recipes included healthy options such as Thai Beef Salad, classics like Chicken Fried Steak and upscale meals like Beef Bourguignon. In addition to the videos, which are being promoted on social media, a write-up was done in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and seven blog posts were done through Cookspace. Other blog posts and social media mentions were also made by participants and the HBIC, which was able to strengthen its relationships with the local culinary community through the project. Look for more reports on Federation-funded projects in future issues of National Cattlemen.
Cattle feeders throughout Pennsylvania were encouraged to participate in the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program in March through a BQA Feedyard Assessment March Madness campaign. The special effort, backed by the Pennsylvania Beef Council, Merck Animal Health and CattleFax, provided special awards, including a CattleFax subscription valued at $200, for some fortunate feeders who successfully enrolled in the BQA Feedyard Assessment by March 31. The BQA Feedyard Assessment is designed to help cattle feeders benchmark their operations in areas such as animal welfare, cattle handling, record keeping, and other practices. It was launched in the summer of 2015 and now includes 165
feedyards in 10 states, representing almost half of the industry’s fed cattle capacity. The database not only helps packers identify cattle sourced from BQA-compliant feedyards, it allows feedlots to maintain a constant evaluation of where improvements have been made, and where more should be made to continually improve their commitment to quality. This Pennsylvania effort helped recognize and encourage further BQA certification. The first eight Pennsylvania feedlots to complete and submit assessment documentation received the subscription to CattleFax, which is an information source and analysis service designed to meet the unique needs of the beef industry.
Kansas Beef Council Uses Facebook to Generate Interest Posts on Facebook in early 2016 by the Kansas Beef Council helped demonstrate how successful and costeffective these kinds of efforts could be. Targeting consumers in Kansas City and Wichita with quick, easy and educational videos to help keep beef top-of-mind, KBC put dollars behind the Beef Checkoff Program’s Two Steppin’ Tenderloin video to boost its presence in targeted consumer Facebook feeds for Valentine’s Day. The result was that 34,180 consumers were reached with the video
– and 12,694 watched it. In addition, 12,794 were reached through likes, shares, comments and other actions taken by those in KBC’s paid reach. The cost? A mere $0.015 per paid view. Free sharing of the videos is helping KBC reach an even broader audience. KBC also boosted videos in March for National Nutrition Month, and encouraged viewers to sign up for the Protein Challenge. Find these and other videos on www.youtube.com/ kansasbeefcouncil.
Effertz Named to North Dakota Agriculture Hall of Fame Federation Vice Chairman Jerry Effertz has been named to the North Dakota Agriculture Hall of Fame. Created in 1997, the Hall of Fame recognizes and pays tribute to individuals who have made significant contributions to agriculture in North Dakota. Effertz is a cattle producer and Limousin breeder who also operates an agriculture and nature tourism destination near Velva, N.D. He is a founding member of the North Dakota Limousin Association, and has been a member of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association for more than 50 years. He is also a member of the North Dakota Beef Commission and has served on numerous national checkoff committees. Among Effertz’s other honors are North Dakota State University’s Outstanding Agriculturist Aware, the AgriInternational Stockman of the Year Award and the Greater North Dakota Association Agriculture Award.
Nearly 70 beef industry leaders representing beef councils in 26 states attended an orientation at the NCBA offices in Denver, March 7-8. At the session, state board members obtained first-hand information on the structure, coordination and management of the Federation as well as the Beef Checkoff Program. Here, NCBA staffers John Lundeen and Colleen Moore explain elements of the checkoff’s consumer market research to attendees. The week after the orientation, a retail and foodservice workshop was held in the NCBA offices to explore additional ways of coming together as a state/national team to provide value for beef through these critical channels, generating ideas for both current and future retail and foodservice strategies, tactics and efforts. Twelve staff members representing 11 councils participated on site, while another 17 staffers from 15 states participated virtually via web technology.