CENTENNIAL, COLO. – Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) announced this week that it plans to invest more than $39 million into beef promotion and research programs which include consumer information, industry information, foreign marketing and producer communications during fiscal 2021.

The Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) approved checkoff funding for 13 grant proposals brought by nine contractors that will start on Oct. 1, 2021. The committee includes 10 producers from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and 10 producers from the Federation of State Beef Councils.

“Producers drive all the decisions that the BPOC makes during these important meetings,” said CBB and BPOC Chair Jared Brackett. “Cattlemen and women from across the US and importers carefully consider every proposal to determine where we should spend these Checkoff dollars with one primary goal in mind – increasing beef demand to provide producers with the best possible value for their Checkoff investments.”

CBB listed the following national beef organizations that will receive money from the budget:

  • American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture – $670,996
  • Cattlemen’s Beef Board – $1,689,915
  • Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education – $646,144
  • Meat Import Council of America / Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative – $497,034
  • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association – $26,442,207
  • National Institute for Animal Agriculture – $89,466
  • North American Meat Institute – $994,068
  • United States Meat Export Federation – $8,350,170

CBB also laid out the specific areas it will focus the money on. The group will invest $9 million in research programs that focus on re- and post-harvest beef safety research, product quality research, human nutrition research and scientific affairs, market research, and beef and culinary innovations. A little more than $7 million will focus on consumer information programs including a Northeast public relations initiative and national consumer public relations.

Industrial information programs will make up $3.3 million of the budget. Groups plan to use the money for “dissemination of accurate information about the beef industry to counter misinformation from anti-beef groups and others, as well as funding for checkoff participation in a fifth annual national industrywide symposium focused on discussion and dissemination of information about antibiotic use.”

Almost $8.5 million dollars was marked for foreign marketing and education in 80 countries and the following regions: ASEAN region, Caribbean, Central America/Dominican Republic, China/Hong Kong, Europe, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Middle East, Russia/Greater Russian Region, South America, Taiwan and new markets.

Finally, $1.7 million will be for producer communication. This includes investor outreach with national communications and direct communications to producers and importers about checkoff results.

Additionally, there will be development and utilization of a publishing strategy and platform and a state beef council content hub.