RENO, Nev. ― Cattlemen’s Beef Board members from Wisconsin provided direction for the Beef Checkoff at the 2022 Summer Business Meeting in Reno.
Wisconsin was represented by its four members on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB): Arin Crooks, Lancaster; Daphne Holterman, Watertown; Steve Springer, Linden; and Tammy Wiedenbeck, Lancaster. Rosie Lisowe of Chilton, Wis. also attended and joined committee meetings as a Federation of State Beef Councils member, and Tammy Vaassen acted as an ex-officio committee member as the executive director of the Wisconsin Beef Council.
“The Summer Business meeting is where rubber hits the road,” Springer said. “CBB has contracts to fulfill with our goal of having consumers eat more beef. During those meetings, the contractors bring proposals forward, and each one of the committees reviews them and how they relate to beef’s Long Range Plan that was developed by beef influencers.”
Committees are made up of beef industry producer leaders from the CBB and the Federation of State Beef Councils. The focus for the Beef Checkoff committees at this meeting is to evaluate and score projects from national contractors. There are six national Beef Checkoff Committees: Consumer Trust, Domestic Marketing, International Marketing, Nutrition and Health, Safety and Product Innovation, and Stakeholder Engagement. Each committee heard from several contractors, including the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA), and North American Meat Institute (NAMI).
“Ranking those proposals takes all day to do, and it is taken very seriously,” Springer said. “We’re sitting with fellow beef producers from across the country who are seeing what will benefit our industry the most. It is an important responsibility that the four members from Wisconsin have to the livestock producers in the state. I take that personally.”
After hearing presentations from the proposed contractors, committee members had the opportunity to ask questions, discuss how the projects fit with the Beef Industry Long Range Plan and make suggestions on how the projects can be modified. The projects are ranked by committee members, and the rankings and comments are forwarded to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) for consideration in funding for the upcoming fiscal year. The BPOC will meet in September to set the checkoff budget for the fiscal year 2023.
Producers looking for access to timely national, state, and contractor Beef Checkoff news can sign up for The Drive. It is a free monthly e-newsletter or quarterly newsletter delivered by mail. Information about The Drive can be found at beefboard.org.
