News Update
Sept. 23, 2010

Committee Approves Beef Checkoff Initiatives for FY 2011

The Beef Promotion Operating Committee this week approved investment of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget of $42.8 million on a total of 42 national checkoff programs and associated costs.

“Our September meeting is always a tough one, because there are certainly more valuable programs than we have funds,” said CBB and Operating Committee Chairman Dan Dierschke, a cattleman from Texas. “As a producer, however, I am pleased with the mix of excellent programs in which the Operating Committee chose to invest our checkoff dollars during the coming year.

“I think producers across the country can rest assured that the checkoff plan of work for Fiscal Year 2011 is a highly coordinated and integrated state and national effort that leverages our limited checkoff budget to the greatest extent possible,” Dierschke said.

At the 2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in July, CBB approved a budget of $40.6 million for FY 2011, which begins Oct. 1, 2010. Thanks to current checkoff revenues exceeding projections and an increase in next year’s projected revenues, the Operating Committee on Tuesday recommended an amendment that increased that FY 2011 budget to the $42.8 million. CBB’s FY 2011 budget is 2% less than the $43.8 million budget in FY 2010 and 20% lower than just five years ago. The amended budget must be approved by the full Beef Board, as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Members of the Beef Promotion Operating Committee — including 10 members of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and 10 members of the Federation of State Beef Councils — met Sept. 20-21 in Denver, Colo. They heard presentations of 48 proposals for checkoff funding in Fiscal Year 2011, asked questions about each, then voted on a FY 2011 Plan of Work that included 42 of those programs.

The approved plan of work funds promotion, research and information programs and is designed to build demand for beef using national checkoff funds. Contractors whose program proposals were funded — subject to approval by USDA — include the American National CattleWomen (ANCW), the Meat Importers Council of America (MICA), the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). The Operating Committee also reviewed the CBB’s program proposal for producer communications, which the Beef Board staff manages in-house.

To read the approved national checkoff programs for Fiscal Year 2011, click here.

— Release by the Beef Checkoff Program.

Patch Burning: A New Concept In Rangeland Management

A six-year research project is under way in Woodson County, Kan., where Kansas State University (K-State) scientists are working to determine how viable patch-burn grazing is for raising livestock.

Patch-burn grazing is a fairly new concept in rangeland management, but has been occurring naturally for hundreds of years, said Walt Fick, K-State Research and Extension range management specialist.

Historically, Native Americans purposely started prairie fires, and lightning did the same thing naturally. Bison and other native herbivores were attracted to the new growth that comes up after the land burned; consequently, these animals moved from grazing area to grazing area — searching out the most attractive areas of new growth, Fick said.

Some ranchers are mimicking that grazing pattern by sectioning a large pasture into three or more burn areas.

“Every year, one of those sections is prescribed burned, concentrating the grazing pressure in specific areas of the pasture,” he said. “The cattle are free-roaming over the entire pasture, but tend to gravitate toward the one-third area of the pasture that has been burned, because that is where the most attractive new growth has occurred.”

“When burning, producers may create burn boundaries (fire guards), but using natural breaks would be more efficient because of labor expenses,” he added.

The main purpose of patch-burn grazing is ecology-driven; it has a high potential to increase biodiversity and wildlife habitat.

“Through our research, we would like to determine how it affects livestock performance, if it will compromise the health of the prairie, and if it can control the highly invasive plant, Sericea lespedeza,” Fick said.

This year will be K-State’s third year with the project, completing one full cycle. So far, there has been no noticeable difference in cattle performance in the patch-burn pastures, according to the range specialist.

“Forage growth has shifted toward annual grasses and forbs, and there has been a decrease in basal cover. Sericea lespedeza plants have decreased in height because of the grazing pressure,” Fick said. “Most importantly for producers, though, is maintaining the long-term health of the pasture; with increased grazing pressures, the pasture may not be able to recover. We have three more years to determine this.”

Cade Rensink, K-State Research and Extension agent in Coffey County and a graduate student in agronomy, has been working with Fick on the research.

— Release by K-State Research and Extension.

Missouri Farmer Promotes Pork, Beef Overseas

Mound City corn farmer Morris Heitman returned Saturday from Tokyo, Japan, where he promoted U.S. beef and pork consumption as part of the 2010 USMEF Japan Red Meat Mission.

“The trade mission was a great opportunity to learn about our efforts to expand beef and pork imports into Japan,” said Heitman, a board member for the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council (MCMC). “The Missouri Corn Merchandising Council has been a partner with the USMEF for a number of years, realizing that a significant portion of corn produced in the U.S. goes to domestic feed. Growing the market for that domestic feed production helps both the price of corn and the price of beef and pork exported to foreign countries.”

While in Tokyo, the team visited two of the largest importers of American beef in Japan, attended various consumer events and toured the largest cold storage warehouse in the Far East. Also included in the six-day mission, the group met with several national retailers and observed U.S. beef promotions and pork merchandising taking place in Tokyo. The delegation also spoke with more than 300 Japanese meat industry representatives during a U.S. beef and pork trade seminar.

“The primary issue discussed was the age restriction on American beef imports into Japan because of the BSE situation several years ago,” noted Heitman. “There is a concerted effort to get these restrictions relaxed so the amount of imports cannot be as restricted as it is today.”

The Missouri Corn Merchandising Council is a longstanding supporter of the U.S. Meat Export Federation and its mission to increase the value and profitability of U.S. beef, pork and lamb. To learn more about Missouri Corn, visit www.mocorn.org. For more information on meat export efforts, click on www.usmef.org.

— Release by MCMC.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.