Brenda Black, cow-calf producer and Cattlemen’s Beef Board member from Deepwater, Mo., is also a graduate of the checkoff’s Masters of Beef Advocacy Program (or MBA program). During graduation training, she learned more about the checkoff’s “Having the Beef Conversation” booklet which is available in a print, online and mobile version.
“So many people are far-removed from agriculture. There is probably, and I don’t mean this disrespectfully, there is probably more ignorance about agricultural business and the actual farming of food than there has ever been in the history of country. And it’s alarming, but it’s also challenging and exciting – it gives you a purpose for why we need to be out sharing what we do, and it validates the importance of what we do. We have to educate people and share those stories. And so I think twofold, it needs to be done because people are removed from the source of their food, and it has to be done because it helps us realize the value of what we do. And I think it makes us feel better about what we do and challenges us to do it even better.”
Black says using the checkoff's newly revised "flip book" of beef checkoff and beef industry facts and messages — and getting out there in the community — are easy steps to opening the lines of communication between producers and consumers.
“It’s a useful tool. Farmers, cattlemen, we know how to work with our hands. We’re thinkers, we’re planners, and this is just one more tool. It makes it easy to share the most pertinent information about hot topics and it’s handy! So I think beef cattle farmers that are already CEOs and nutritionists and mechanics and vets, and they’re conservationists, but here’s one more thing that they can put in their toolbox, and it’s one more hat that we need to wear – and that is to become conversationalists.”
Black says that with the many hats she wears, it’s sometimes hard to be an expert at everything.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why I love the booklet – I don’t have to memorize all of this because there are lots of little facts and stats that are documented that are very beneficial and convincing about the merit of the beef industry. But what I really like is how the booklet makes it where the facts and stats are presented in such a way that they are easily interpreted and applicable…and the suggestions for how to use that information. And so these potential scenarios that they present that we really face as beef cattle communicators are spot-on for this day and age.”
For more about your beef checkoff investment and to view the flip book, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Source: Melissa Slagle