News Update
March 13, 2015
Keys Family Establishes Two Endowed Scholarships
Gordon and Robin Keys of Middleburg, Va., donated $52,000 to the Angus Foundation for the creation of two new scholarship endowment funds. Officially titled the “Gordon and Robin Keys and Family Angus Scholarships,” the generous donation will provide opportunities to Angus youth from Virginia and Maryland. Two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded during the 2015 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) in Tulsa, Okla.
“It has been our intention to recognize the Angus Foundation, and we wanted to demonstrate our support in a very personal way,” Gordon Keys says. “It seemed right to establish academic scholarships to help more youth achieve an education.”
Gordon also says the decision to establish these two scholarships was because of the family’s roots – Gordon is originally from Maryland, and his wife is from Virginia. For the past 20 years, their home has been Beaver Dam Farm, a 150-acre historic property in Virginia. Their children grew up participating in 4-H, exhibiting Angus cattle and being involved in the livestock industry, and continue to be successful with agricultural-based careers.
“The growing number of scholarships the Angus Foundation is able to present is due to generous supporters like the Keys family, who see the potential and believe in our Angus youth,” says Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president. “We appreciate everything the Keys’ and our other scholarship donors do to ensure the success of our Angus youth by helping them attend college.”
Investment revenue generated by these permanent endowments will provide for the scholarships in future years. To apply for these and other endowed scholarships visit www.angusfoundation.org. Deadline is May 1.
Look for Delegate Petitions in the Mail
Preparations are being made for the 2015 Annual Convention of Delegates this November in Overland Park, Kan. Forms to nominate delegates to the Annual Meeting will be mailed to every active life and regular Association member during the last week of March.
The nomination period is April 1-June 30. Each member is allowed to nominate one eligible active life or regular member who resides in the same state or district, including himself or herself. The candidate should be highly involved in the Angus business, willing to attend the meeting and able to represent Angus breeders.
Signed nomination forms must be received in the Association office no later than 4:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) June 30, at which time every qualified nominee will be included on a state ballot. State ballots will be mailed to the membership in July to vote for the final slate of state delegates. When you receive the petition, please return it promptly.
‘The Angus Report’ Interview with Curt Pate
Watch as the renowned animal handling expert Curt Pate explains the role of stockmanship, stewardship and social media in promoting the ranching way of life. Listen to his story of transition from bronc rider to cattle and horse handling professional.
Pate was featured during this week’s The Angus Report, which airs again at 1:30 p.m. CDT Saturday and a new episode at 7:30 a.m. CDT on RFD-TV.
National Beef Organizations Agree on Enhancements to National Beef Checkoff Program
March 13, 2015, seven national organizations, members of the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group (BCEWG), signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding agreed-upon enhancements to the national Beef Checkoff Program.
The Beef Checkoff Program is funded through a $1 per head assessment each time cattle are sold. Due to inflation, the $1 per head checkoff which was implemented in 1986 has deflated to 47¢.
Highlights of the revised MOU to enhance the national Beef Checkoff Program include:
- These organizations will support legislation to increase the current Beef Checkoff Program of $1 per head to $2 per head.
- Within a year of the legislation being signed into law, a referendum will be conducted among beef producers and beef importers to increase the assessment. If a majority of the Beef Checkoff Program payers indicate they would like to increase the checkoff, the assessment rate would increase.
- Assessments will continue to be collected as they are now and State Beef Councils will have the authority to retain 50% of the assessment.
- A refund of the additional assessment amount, but not the current $1 per head, will be available to beef producers paying into the checkoff.
- Every five years, the Secretary of Agriculture will publicize a 30-day comment period of time during which beef checkoff payers may request a referendum vote on the continuation of the Beef Checkoff Program and/or a change to the assessment rate. If 10% or more beef checkoff payers request such a referendum, a timely referendum will be held. The wishes of beef checkoff payers indicated by a majority vote in the referendum will be implemented. The current ability for the Secretary to conduct a referendum only on the continuation of the beef checkoff if 10% or more of beef checkoff payers sign a petition will remain in place.
- The new Joint Nominating Committee, which will recommend candidates to serve on the Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC), will include members from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, the Federation of State Beef Councils and other national organizations representing beef checkoff payers.
- The Cattlemen’s Beef Board will annually provide all interested eligible contractors information and training on the contracting process.
The group will continue its work to develop a road map for simultaneously recommending and advocating for the outcomes highlighted in the revised MOU.
For more information, please view the full release here.
‘Rev It Up’ Checkoff Contest Announced
The Beef Checkoff Program has a unique opportunity to encourage checkoff investors to share how they personally benefit from checkoff efforts, thanks to a generous donation from Yamaha of a 3-passenger Viking™ EPS 4x4 with specialized accessories valued at $21,728.07.
Starting March 16, beef and dairy producers can enter the “Rev It Up” My ROI Checkoff Challenge by visiting the MyBeefCheckoff Facebook page to share how the beef checkoff has impacted their operations. The Rev It Up contest will have two rounds: The first stretches eight weeks, with responses to weekly questions about how the Beef Checkoff Program has affected their cattle operations. On Monday of each week during Round 1, the checkoff will post a new question on the MyBeefCheckoff Facebook page. Participants are asked to simply answer the checkoff question in 250 words or less for a chance to be selected as one of eight finalists and win a weekly prize.
After all weekly winners/finalists have been chosen, Round 2 involves each of the winners from Round 1 producing a two- to three-minute video testimonial about a topic provided to them on May 13. All finalists will have the same amount of time — about a week — to create their video. Visitors to the Facebook page then will vote to select the grand-prize winner.
The grand-prize winner will be announced Monday, June 8. Watch a video here, explaining the contest. For more information about your beef checkoff investment, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com.
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