Agricultural News
Ok Beef Council Promoting Beef through Local to Global Projects
Fri, 21 Nov 2014 18:27:41 CST
From Oklahoma to Japan, the Oklahoma Beef Council is working to make sure producer get the best value for their checkoff dollar. Oklahoma Beef Council Executive Director Heather Buckmaster said in 2015 the state beef council will continue to work with Oklahoma teachers to talk about where beef comes from along with expanding international beef marketing in offering beef education in key global markets.
In 2015 the Oklahoma Beef Council will continue to support and work with teachers through the Ag and the Classroom program. Buckmaster said they will continue to support teachers tours along with offering a screening of the documentary film Farmland for teachers and will hold a panel discussion afterwards.
The Oklahoma Beef Council will continue their collaboration with the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians. Buckmaster said they are bringing in a speaker to discuss the use animal health products in food production.
The beef checkoff will continue to target millennials, the generation born between 1980 and 2000. This is the largest demographic of the United States on-line. Buckmaster said its important to reach this demographic. On a daily basis millennials initiate about five million on-line food related searches each day. She said this is an excellent opportunity for the checkoff digital marketing campaign.
Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays interviewed Buckmaster on the marketing plan for 2015. Click or tap on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to the full interview.
With 96 percent of the world's population outside the United States, Buckmaster said it's important to continue to supporting international marketing efforts. She said as incomes growing around the world, we are seeing more people looking for other protein sources and we are there to provide them a high quality protein with US beef.
Over the last couple of years the Oklahoma Beef Council has invested in projects in Japan and United Arab Emirates. Buckmaster said in 2015 one project will focus on beef education events in Japan.
"Japan is such a high value market, so the more that we can work to grow that US share of that market, we feel that is a very effective use of Oklahoma beef checkoff dollars," Buckmaster said.
State beef checkoff dollars help support the efforts of the US Meat Export Federation. Buckmaster said USMEF is an important partner as checkoff dollars can be matched three and four times through government and industry resources. A investment study taken from 2006 - 2013 found checkoff investment in the export market drove an additional 6.4 percent increase in international demand for US beef. She said USMEF efforts influence a producer's bottomline.
"In the export market right now its adding about 300 per head of added value to fed cattle," Buckmaster said. "That's a huge step from where it used to be even a couple of years ago."
With the start of the 2015 fiscal year, the state's beef checkoff will invest about one-third of producer's checkoff dollars on marketing in the state of Oklahoma, one-third goes towards national beef promotion efforts and the remaining one-third goes toward international marketing.
Ron Hays will be joined by Buckmaster on the "In the Field" segment Saturday morning at 6:40 on KWTV News9 in Oklahoma City.
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