Page 18 - November 2020 WCA Ketch Pen

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Real. Facts.
About the Beef Checkoff
By: Patti Brumbach, WSBC
Questions about how the Beef Checkoff is structured are often a subject of conversation
among beef farmers and ranchers who invest in this successful beef demand building program. There is also considerable misinformation circulating, but the facts are just a click away and we encourage you to learn more at beefboard.org and wabeef.org. Below is a primer on common questions about how your Beef Checkoff works and the kind of information you will find on Beef Checkoff websites.
How Do I Pay the Checkoff?
Under state and federal law, all producers selling cattle or calves, for any reason and regardless of age or sex, must pay $1.50 per head to support beef/veal promotion, research and information through the Beef Promotion and Research Act and RCW 16.67. In Washington State, the $1.50 Beef Checkoff is collected each time cattle are sold by brand inspectors, packers, or auction markets.
Do Importers Pay the Beef Checkoff?
Importers also pay the national $1.00 Beef Checkoff at US Customs on every animal entering the United States or the boxed beef equivalent. When imported animals are sold in Washington State (e.g. at packing plants or feedlots) an additional $1.50 is collected.
What is the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB)? Who serves on the CBB?
The Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board oversees and manages the $1 per head Beef Checkoff program nationwide. It was established in the Beef Promotion Research Act as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. There are currently 99 members of the CBB who are individually nominated by certified nominating organizations and appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Ellensburg rancher Marty Stingley is the current representative for the NW Unit comprised of Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska. Seats are determined by cattle numbers.
Who pays into the Beef Checkoff?
By law, all producers selling cattle or calves, for any reason, are required to pay $1.50 per head to support beef/veal promotion, research, and information.
When the Beef Act was passed as part of the
1985 Farm Bill, many State Beef Councils, including the Washington State Beef Commission formed in 1969, were already working together and conducting Checkoff-funded programs through the Beef Industry Council. The Act recognized these state efforts and by law,
allowed for half of the
dollar to remain in
the state to be used
for state programs
and promotion. Then,
to ensure state and
national programs
were coordinated,
the federal Act
created the Beef
Promotion Operating
Committee to make
funding decisions
about programs and
to contract with
organizations to do the work.
Who decides what programs to fund and which contractors to hire?
The Beef Promotion Operation Committee is unique in that its 20 members come from two different entities: 10 of its members are elected to serve by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, while the other 10 are selected by the states through the Federation of State Beef Councils – the Beef Industry Council’s successor organization. No program or contractor is approved unless two-thirds of the members of the Operating Committee vote to accept it.
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
Ellensburg Rancher Marty Stingley is Washington’s current representative on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
November 2020