Agricultural News
Beef Industry Soon to Launch New Campaign Leveraging Consumer Interest in the BQA Program
Fri, 06 Sep 2019 10:06:32 CDT
Rethink the Ranch is a social media effort that has been undertaken by the beef industry, one of many strategies used to connect with consumers and effectively share the story about how beef is produced today. Alisa Harrison with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association says that in conjunction with this campaign, considerations are being made about how to enhance the impact of that message by leveraging the positive aspects of an existing program known as the Beef Quality Assurance program (BQA). While BQA is well-known among producers and industry stakeholders, many consumers are unaware of the program's contribution to the overall quality and safety of American beef. During a recent interview with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, Harrison explained how this process in turning a program geared toward producers is being shifted to include a consumer-facing component as well.
"Consumers responded very well to it. Once they learned about the program and the steps that producers go through to produce healthy animals and use resources wisely - it makes them feel so much better and it answers their questions," Harrison said. "We're trying to be transparent, so if consumers have questions about beef or beef production, we're going to provide the information to them."
This campaign has been in development for some time now and is scheduled to launch later this fall. Harrison describes the idea behind it, comparing it to the car commercials often aired on TV that highlight a specific model's ranking on a scale or performance test used and recognized primarily by those within auto-industry. Much like that, consumers are typically not totally familiar with what exactly it is, but they have a general understanding of it and it makes them more confident about the product - knowing that it has met certain industry standards.
"BQA is the same concept there. It's not 100%, but they like knowing that there is continuing education that producers go through," she said. "They like knowing it's voluntary and so entrenched in the industry It's actually been one of the most positive consumer responses we've ever had."
Listen to Harrison talk more about how the BQA program is being leveraged as a marketing tool for beef, on today's Beef Buzz with Ron Hays.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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