Your Beef Checkoff — Setting the Record Straight EDITORIAL by Lucy Snyder Rechel I recently received a postcard from Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC slamming NCBA and urging the signing of the Petition for Referendum on Beef Promotion and Research Order. I have no quarrel with producers having differing opinions about policy. I have no quarrel with producers who wish to change things and make them better. These are the sign of a healthy democracy and a progressive business. I do object to the inaccurate blasting of NCBA. I object to the calling NCBA, “they.” I would like to remind Jack Payne that many stalwarts of the Nevada ranching industry have been and are leaders in NCBA for many years. They have generously given of their time, energy, money, and intelligence to listen to producers and strive to make policy that will better their business and their lifestyle.
Nevada Cattlemen’s Association assists with travel expenses as it can. Mostly, these leaders spend from their own pocket to travel to industry meetings, Carson City, and Washington D.C., to fight for policy they believe will benefit Nevada ranchers. The slamming of NCBA is slamming the likes of Tom Barnes, Steve Lucas, Sam Mori, Davey Stix, JJ Goicoechea, Ron Cerri. (Steve Lucas was actually not involved in the policy side of NCBA. He served on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and on the Nevada Beef Council for many years.) These people and many more like them are fellow cattlemen, my neighbors, and your customers. To disagree with their policy opinions is one thing. To publish non-factual information and insults about NCBA is to tell lies and insult your fellow ranchers. I have also spent many of my own dollars and much of my own time working to make sure that checkoff dollars are spent efficiently and effectively. I invite you to attend a Nevada Beef Council meeting and see the incredible work done on our behalf before you so vehemently lambaste the Checkoff.
Statement from postcard: “If you owned, bought, or sold cattle in a calendar year, YOU can sign the petition to investigate the Beef CheckOFF program.” Correction: Date is not calendar year. Cattle must be owned, sold, or purchased between July 2, 2020 and July 1, 2021.
Correction: The petition is not to investigate the checkoff. Wording taken directly from the petition is “… for the purpose of calling a referendum and an up or down vote on the termination of the Beef Promotion and Research Order…” Any producer should think twice before signing the statement on the petition stating that he has not been misguided into signing this petition.
Statement from postcard: “There are many things that are beyond our control but if you are tired of paying the Checkoff $ and tired of being misrepresented by Packer controlled NCBA then go online and sign the referendum.”
Correction: Nevada Beef Council directly controls $.50 of each checkoff dollar. Each and every member of the Nevada Beef Council is a producer. There are seats representing cow-calf, feeder, and dairy producers. When seats become vacant, Nevada Cattlemen, Nevada Cattlewomen, and Farm Bureau nominate members for the Nevada Beef Council. 6 JULY/AUGUST 2021
What is done with checkoff dollars is not “beyond our control.” Every producer in Nevada has the opportunity to step up and serve on the NBC. From the Nevada Beef Council, members are chosen to represent Nevada in the Federation of State Beef Councils. Through this avenue and directly by being nominated by the same three organizations, any producer in Nevada can also serve on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
First, it should be recognized that packers have no seats and no votes on the checkoff side of NCBA. As far as Packer control of NCBA policy, packers invest in seats on the product council or membership division of NCBA. (This is also how Nevada Cattlemen’s Association has voting seats at NCBA.) Policy at NCBA is set by committees, most of which are 100-150 members. Any packer that invests in NCBA can have a maximum of 2 seats on a committee. National, Cargill, and Tyson all are on the NCBA Product Council. This means that on any committee, there is only 6 possible votes by packers. It should be also noted that packers seldom participate in committee meetings at NCBA.
“Packer controlled NCBA.”
Statement from postcard: “Encourage your family and friends to do the same.” Correction: All family and friends cannot just sign the petition. They must meet eligibility requirements – which means owning cattle. Statement from postcard: “Why do we advertise in beef magazines?”
Answer: The Act and the Order requires that the checkoff spend a certain amount of money on producer information – in other words, keeping producers informed about the checkoff. As a person who has served on both our state beef council and the Federation of State Beef Councils, I work hard to ensure that the producer information money is wisely spent. The purpose of the ads is not to sell producers beef. Believe me, as a member of the Nevada Beef Council, I know darn well that I don’t need to sell beef to ranchers. However, we typically use the ads to share information that demonstrates to producers how their checkoff dollars are being spent. We focus on information that producers may be able to pass along to other consumers. For example, an ad including nutritional information may arm a producer to answer a question from a non-ranching consumer. And, once again, every producer has the opportunity to serve on the Nevada Beef Council, the Beef Board, or the Federation of State Beef Councils and thereby have a say in the control of the checkoff money. Statement from postcard: “Why aren’t they advertising in Sacramento, Atlanta, Phoenix, Tuscon and places like that?”
Answer: We are and we do. In fact, 90% of Nevada Beef Council promotion and consumer information funds are spent in the Reno and Las Vegas areas. While the Checkoff is operating on the same $1 per head that was assessed in 1985 when the CheckOff was initiated, advertising costs are skyrocketing. Using Jack’s postcard as an example, today’s cost was $.36. It would have cost $.14 to send in 1985. Much of checkoff funded The Progressive Rancher
advertising is done through social media apps that ranchers may not be using. As a member of Nevada Beef Council, for years I have carefully evaluated our advertising options and choose those I believe will be most effective in promoting the beef we produce. Statement from postcard: “Does it pay for fancy offices and lobbyists?”
Answer: As your representative on the Federation of State Beef Councils, I have been in NCBA offices as well as several state beef councils. None of those offices are “fancy” by any standard. They are a place in which we can meet with nationally known chefs and nutritionists, media representatives, policy makers, fellow cattle producers, and others with whom we do business, the offices are appropriate. I have been in the state Beef Council offices of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, California and Utah. They all qualify as frugal and some are downright cramped. We do not use checkoff money to pay lobbyists. We can use checkoff money to do research that NCBA lobbyists can use. For example, we can fund research on the benefits of beef in the diets of growing children which our lobbyists can use when dietary guidelines are being renewed.
Statement from postcard: “Keep in mind they are trying to raise the dollar to $1.50 or $2”
Answer: Once again, who is “they”? NCBA, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, and state Beef Councils cannot raise the checkoff. In some states, progressive and farsighted producers have initiated methods to increase the state portion of the checkoff.
Statement from postcard: “States like Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, California etc that have brand inspections are collecting most of the beef promotion for the whole nation. Cattle are bought and sold by the thousands east of Nebraska and since brand inspections are not required sellers are supposed to voluntarily send their $1 per head to NCBA.” Answer: Again, factual information would be nice. Total collections for 2020, according to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board annual report were $33,799,557. The total from brand inspection states was $13,604,229.
Additionally, no checkoff money is automatically sent to NCBA. Checkoff dollars are collected by Qualified State Beef Councils and, by law, 50 cents of each dollar must be sent to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. It is only sent to NCBA and other contractors to the checkoff on a cost recovery basis for completed work approved by the Operating Committee. If individual State Beef Councils choose to invest a portion of their 50 cents directly with other state beef councils, other checkoff contractors or the federation of state beef councils, the decision is made by the local state beef council board. As is detailed above, nearly every statement in the entire Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC postcard has a glaring inaccuracy. Before signing the petition, please take the time to learn what your Beef CheckOff, the Nevada Beef Council, NCBA, and Nevada Cattlemen’s Association has done for you.
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