Agricultural News
Oklahoma Beef Checkoff Dollars Helping Sell Beef Globally
Thu, 07 Nov 2013 05:48:30 CST
The US Meat Export Federation's Strategic Planning Conference is underway in Ft. Worth- and several representatives of the Oklahoma Beef Council are representing Oklahoma cattle producers at this meeting. Executive Director Heather Buckmaster, along with OBC Board Chairman R.D. Farr of Bartlesville and Board Member Becca McMillan of Ardmore, are in Ft. Worth for the sessions- and Buckmaster told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays that the OBC Board decided a couple of years ago to dedicate more Oklahoma beef checkoff monies to the international market because "96% of the world's population is outside the United States." She adds that the checkoff resources are growing smaller because of inflation and smaller cattle populations- and that the money invested into the USMEF is leveraged several times to give the maximum bang for the buck.
While the OBC has supported the overall agenda of the USMEF, they have also dedicated specific dollars into specific programs- with one recent example the dedicated money that has gone to helping roll out US beef promotions in Japan as they eased their restrictions on US beef in the fall of 2012, almost a decade after the first case of BSE was discovered in the northwestern part of the United States.
The Commitment to the international market was reaffirmed by the OBC earlier this year as they planned for the new fiscal year that began on October first- Buckmaster saying they have allocated roughly thirty percent of the checkoff monies that the Beef Council is responsible for to international promotion of US Beef.
You can hear the full conversation with Hays and Heather Bucmaster by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below. The Strategic Planning Conference of the USMEF wraps up Thursday in Ft. Worth.
To learn more about the mission of the Oklahoma Beef Council, click here for their website.
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