Beef Board Approves
Fiscal Year 2011 Budget

The Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB) unanimously approved a $40.6 million budget for fiscal year (FY) 2011, down 7.4% from the FY 2010 budget and representing a decline of about 24% in the last five years.

The approval came during the Beef Board's meeting July 31 at the close of the 2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver, Colo. The 2011 budget still must be approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but includes the following budget components:

• $17.4 million for promotion, including advertising, foodservice, retail and veal promotion, and new-product development.

• $7.2 million for research programs, including beef safety, product enhancement, nutrition research, and market research.

• $3.3 million for consumer information programs, which includes consumer public relations and information, and outreach to nutrition influencers.

• $2.8 million for industry information programs, including beef and veal quality assurance and issues management.

• $5.5 million for foreign marketing, including promotion and public-relations programs in export markets around the globe.

• $1.7 million for producer communications, including trade advertising, media relations, and direct communications to producers about the results of their checkoff investments.

• $240,000 for evaluation of checkoff programs.

• $160,000 for program development.

• $263,000 for USDA oversight.

• $2 million for administration, which includes costs for board meetings, legal fees, travel costs, office rental, supplies, equipment and administrative staff compensation.

"With the dwindling funds, we're facing some real challenges as we try to fund the programs we need to promote our product and educate consumers about our industry," said CBB Secretary Treasurer Robert Fountain Jr., a producer from Georgia.

"Costs for these programs continue to climb as our checkoff revenues continue to decline with the herd population," Fountain continued. "We really have to be extremely creative to leverage every checkoff dollar to the greatest extent possible."

Funds from the Beef Board for national checkoff programs in FY 2011 will be augmented by about $9 million in voluntary contributions from state beef councils to their national Federation of State Beef Councils.

In other action at the summer conference, the Beef Board:

• Voted to reverse a recommendation from the CBB Executive Committee encouraging separation of the Federation of State Beef Councils from the policy division of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). The Board subsequently passed a motion to support Federation efforts to achieve a more independent, self-governed structure, but retain affiliation with the NCBA.

• Agreed to meet with NCBA in Orlando, Fla., in the summer of 2011 and in Denver in 2012.

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