New State Beef Council Leadership Attend April Checkoff Orientation

CENTENNIAL, CO (May 3, 2018) -- Sixty-two new state beef council board members and staff attended a State Beef Council Director Orientation at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) offices near Denver April 25-26. The leaders became better acquainted with the history, coordination, management and structure of the Beef Checkoff Program, and efforts of the Federation of State Beef Councils and the Cattlemen's Beef Board.

Attendees were also provided an overview of checkoff-funded research, information and promotion programs conducted by NCBA as a beef checkoff contractor, and toured facilities at the NCBA offices that help support those programs, such as the Culinary Center and Digital Command Center. The robust financial firewall between policy and checkoff spending was also outlined. 

 

"This was a great opportunity for those who are new to beef checkoff leadership positions to become immersed in the details of this important cattle industry self-help program," according to Dawn Caldwell, a Nebraska beef producer and Federation of State Beef Councils chair. "The grassroots nature of the Beef Checkoff Program has been key to its success since it was developed in the 1980s, and state beef councils are at the heart of that. Our spirited state and national partnership makes the Beef Checkoff Program one of the leading agriculture checkoff efforts in the country today."

 

There are more than 700 producers and other industry leaders serving on 44 state beef council boards throughout the country. South Dakota representation consisted ofDwight Hossle, SDBIC Director, Faulkton, SD; Darcy Krick, SDBIC Industry Relations, Highmore, SD; and Katie Knock, SDBIC Director, Willow Lake, SD. "When you get on any board, the first thing you need to do is understand the whole operation and what your responsibilities are," Dwight Hossle, SDBIC director, stated. "To do that, you need the proper information. The orientation did that for me. It helped me understand how things work." 

 

These councils collect the $1-per-head national beef checkoff, and their boards determine how 50 cents of each of those dollars is invested to help build beef demand. The other half of the dollar is remitted to the Cattlemen's Beef Board for national and international demand-building programs.