Agricultural News
Chuck Coffey Says Check-Off is Important to Help Producers Promote Great Beef
Tue, 04 Feb 2020 18:03:11 CST
Chuck Coffey is a fifth-generation rancher who grew up on a ranch in the hill country of Harper, Texas. He proudly earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in range science from Texas A&M University and now has three children, all of whom attend Oklahoma State University. Coffey currently serves as Chairman of the Cattlemen's Beef Board.
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director visited with Chuck Coffey at the Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio, Texas. This is Coffeys last meeting as the chairman, and he says the thing he appreciates the most is the people, "The thing I'm going to take with me is all the people I've gotten to know, on this board. We're a 99 member board, so I know people from all over the country in every state in the Union if you will, and just getting to know them, and what kind of operations are in different parts of the country, that's been great. The biggest takeaway for me is that it's been very humbling to serve like I have and to get elected into the officer role, and just to be able to give back to the industry and truly understand what the check-off does for us as cattle producers."
This year the check-off saw good results from the return on investment study and Coffey says he wants producers to know they are getting a good return on their investment with the check-off, "Over the last five years, and cattlemen's beef board had an $11.91 return on investment, which was up a little bit from the previous five years to that. We would have liked to have seen more obviously, but the thing that thrills me the most is we still have good demand, even in the face of record supplies of beef, pork, and poultry, beef demand still remains pretty good right now."
It has been an up and down year for our exports, but Coffey says the Japanese agreement will put us back on a level playing field, "We already see increased exports to Japan. They are the largest importer that we have of US beef. Maybe not always the largest. But as far as dollar value goes, they are the biggest player. So we do get back on a level playing field now, and we're going to be able to compete with the other countries that export to Japan."
Coffey mentioned right now it's very important to let the public know about the sustainability of beef, "When you think that we have a third less cattle today. And we're producing record supplies of beef, you know, the footprint of carbon, of everything we do, you know is much improved. We're much more efficient than we've been in the past. Sustainability, you know, you want to talk about economic, ecological, and social, you know, we're doing a lot of things to try to appeal to the public right now and show them that we have a safe, wholesome, preferred product, and they can feel good about consuming beef."
Coffey says the message he wants producers to know about the dollar-head beef check-off is the fact that it helps producers promote their product, "I would take them back to the late 80s early 90s when we didn't have the check-off and look what beef demand was doing back then, it was falling through the floor. In my opinion, without the check-off, beef demand would not be where it is today. Obviously, I never feel like I get enough money for my cattle, but what would it be like without? Because I don't have the time as a rancher to go out and promote my product, the way it needs to be. I'm too busy fixing water troughs, or fixing fence, or feeding cows, or pulling a newborn, those kinds of things. I just want to kind of be left alone to do my job, but we live in a global environment, and the check-off is even more important to us today I think, than it has been in the past, and will be even more important, moving into the future."
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the complete interview with Chuck Coffey as he talks With Ron Hays.
The Picture above is Chuck with his Wife Ruth, who was honored as Beef Promoter of the Year by the American National Cattle Women.
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