Your Checkoff Dollars Promote Beef!

Ohio’s checkoff dollars are spent under the direction of 15 Ohio cattlemen collectively known as the Ohio Beef Council

As you know, anytime we market a beef animal $2.00 per head is deducted from our check and submitted to what’s called the “Checkoff.” It’s collected on all cattle – beef or dairy, feeders, fed cattle, breeding stock and culls – that are marketed, and even our youth pay the Checkoff on the animals they market at the Fair!

Often times the question is asked, “What’s the checkoff, and what’s it used for?” Let’s take a minute to explore that question, and then look at a small example of what those checkoff dollars are spent on, including a project that Fairfield County’s cattlemen recently participated in.

By law, all producers selling cattle or calves, for any reason and regardless of age or sex, must pay $1-per-head to support beef/veal promotion, research and information through the Beef Promotion and Research Act created by the 1985 Farm Bill. As of March 2014, in the state of Ohio all producers selling cattle or calves must pay an additional $1-per-head through the Ohio Beef Marketing Program Referendum. Thus, in Ohio, $2.00 is deducted from the sale price of every beef animal when it is sold. This happens regardless of where the animal is sold . . . youth pay it for each of the project animals they sell, auction barns collect it from those who market beef cattle through their facilities, breeders who market seedstock through sale such as those held at the Ohio Beef Expo pay it, and even dairymen who market cull cows that ultimately become ground beef or Philly cheese steaks pay it.

In cooperation with the OBC Beef Families Care fund, several hundred pounds of ground beef was recently donated to Fairfield County food pantries.

The beef checkoff doesn’t own cattle, packing plants or retail outlets. It can’t control prices or singlehandedly turn around a bad market. The Beef Checkoff Program was designed to stimulate consumers to buy more beef. This is accomplished through a combination of initiatives including consumer advertising, research, public relations, education and new product development. The state beef checkoff enables the Ohio Beef Council to extend beef’s presence in Ohio’s schools, conduct more public relations outreach and farm tours for Ohio’s food professionals, directly connect with consumers through spokesperson training programs, provide nutrition seminars for health professionals and develop a greater statewide media presence through radio, print, and social media all which help to reach Ohio’s 11.5 million consumers with a beef message. It’s also important to note the law does not allow checkoff funds to be used for lobbying activities to influence public policy or government affairs.

Checkoff dollars are used to stimulate consumers to buy more beef

Ohio’s checkoff funds are spent for the benefit of all cattlemen under the direction of the Ohio Beef Council’s operating committee which is made up of 15 beef producers appointed by the Ohio Director of Agriculture. The operating committee’s main responsibility is to determine the best use of checkoff funds.

In an effort to keep Ohio’s cattlemen informed about how their checkoff dollars are being spent for their benefit, a bi-monthly update is sent to any who request it. This month that update includes details on the Beef Families Care fund that allowed the Fairfield County Cattlemen’s Association in cooperation with the Blue Ribbon Showmen 4-H Club, the Ohio Collegiate Cattle Association and Bay Food Market and their customers to donate several hundred pounds of ground beef to local food pantries.

For details about the Beef Families Care fund, the recent creation of the “Buying Freezer Beef” consumer handout, and the OBC Marketing Plan for 2021, see this month’s update linked here.

 

 

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