Presidents Thoughts

Andy Bishop KCA President

It was a balmy 22 degrees when I le the house this morning and you could almost see the life draining out of the blooms on the trees that prematurely thought Spring had arrived. I must admit with the 70-degree weather I had let myself dream of an early Spring and an escape from the grasp of winter. Nonetheless, here we are and let the hay feeding continue, but the green pastures still give a glimmer of hope that we are just around the corner from turning those cows out on fresh grass. I hope everyone has taken the time to pull soil samples to see what needs attention. If you are like me you may have cut fertilizer a bit short last year with the high prices and therefore may intensify the need for getting soils ready for new growth. Fortunately, much higher cattle prices are giving us the additional dollars needed for inputs as we move forward. e near future looks bright for the cow/calf sector and I would encourage you to remember the old adage that the best cure for high prices is high prices. Be smart this year and look at using some insurance to lock in prices with minimal cost. I remember 2014 when prices were high and the crash that soon followed with most people riding the market. My advice … don’t be that producer!

I wanted to use this month’s article to correct a misconception in the industry, one that even I had several years ago. I am currently serving as Vice Chair of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board(CBB) and the rst thing people say when I tell them that is “oh that’s NCBA”. I too, thought that same thing until I got involved as the Kentucky Beef Council Chair several years ago. e Cattlemen’s Beef Board IS NOT NCBA and as a matter of fact is independent of any individual cattle organization. e Cattlemen’s Beef Board was authorized by the Beef Promotion and Research Act to administer the national checko program. e Cattlemen’s Beef Board collects 50 cents of every Checko $1. e Checko was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill and falls under the oversight of the USDA. States keep 50 cents of that $1 under the Federation of State Beef Councils to use for local promotion while 50 cents goes to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and is used for Domestic and International Promotion and Research. Currently there are 8 contractors to the National Beef Checko that must meet stringent requirements to be a contractor. e Cattlemen’s Beef Board is made up of 101 members from across the U.S. that are appointed by the US Secretary of Agriculture. e Board is made up of 94 producers and 7 importers that pay into the checko . Each year contractors present Authorization Requests to producer led Checko Committees at Summer Business meeting. ose requests are analyzed, scored, and then passed on to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee who determines how funds are allocated. e Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) is made up of 10 CBB members who interview for a position and 10 Federation of State Beef Council Members (also elected producers) from across the country. e task of the BPOC is to take the Authorization Requests and determine what cuts are needed to balance the budget. is past year there were nearly $48 million dollars in requests for funding and the budget was slightly over $38 million. As you can see the BPOC has quite the task and with any business, tough decisions must be made. At the end of the day we are tasked with choosing which programs get us the biggest bang for the buck and have the largest impact. Did you know that the original $1 in 1985 is now worth $.42 cents? is coupled with a much smaller cow herd and rising costs makes the job of the BPOC even harder. Feeder calf prices in 1985 averaged $.56 cents, just imagine trying to take that and run a business today. at’s what the BPOC is dealing with! e 8 contractors to the checko are American Farm Bureau Foundation, North American Meat Institute, US Cattlemen’s, Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research, Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, Meat Importers Council of America, US Meat Export Federation, and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. NCBA is the largest contractor to the Checko but IS NOT the Cattlemen’s Beef Board which o en gets misconstrued. Just for clari cation NCBA has an o ce in Denver that handles all things Checko and has a clear rewall between Denver and it’s lobbying arm which is housed in Washington DC. ere are strict rules against using checko funds for lobbying activities and its important for producers to understand that the Firewall is in place for a reason and USDA makes sure that Firewall stays in place. Being in the trenches daily with Checko items, I can honestly say that the utmost caution is given to make sure all contractors adhere to the rules of the Act and the Order and there is no gray area.

Let me close with “What does your Dollar do?” I would encourage you to go to www.bee oard.org and not only learn about the checko but see what programs are out there and meet the producers that are involved on a strictly voluntary basis. We receive zero money for our countless hours of service and do it because we are passionate about this industry and ensuring it continues for future generations. As a producer, it will be rare for you to see marketing paid for by the Checko because we already have your vote. ose monies are better spent to reach the millions of consumers outside of agriculture in places like social media, Spotify, Tiktok, Pandora, and much more. Unless you hang out in those places you aren’t likely to see the messaging, so I encourage you to take the time to visit our website and see “What your Dollar does!”