October 15, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Decisions for Spending Beef Dollars | Checkoff Chat

Montana Beef CouncilQ: Who decides how to spend the checkoff dollars in Montana?

A: The Montana Beef Council Board of Directors administers the beef checkoff program in Montana. There is cross-industry representation on the board which allows for dynamic insight and collaborative goals. The board meets throughout the year to stay up-to-date and each September the board specifically meets to evaluate projects from the current fiscal year and hear funding requests from outside contractors seeking to promote beef or educate others about beef. Through a committee process, recommendations are then made to the full board on the various funding requests and the board collectively approves a comprehensive budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on October 1. The Montana Beef Council is always seeking new and innovative ideas for beef promotion, education and research and welcomes new proposals.

Meet the current board of directors on the Montana Beef Council website.

Checkoff Chat Montana Beef CouncilRead more about the Beef Checkoff Programs in our Checkoff Chat Series with the Montana Beef Council. Click here to submit your own questions to be answered in future posts.

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program (MyBeefCheckoff.com) was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. It 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 $1 and forward the other 50 cents to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The Montana Beef Council was created in 1954 by cattlemen as a marketing organization for the Montana beef industry and is organized to protect and increase demand for beef and beef products through state, national and international beef promotion, research and education, thereby enhancing profit opportunities for Montana beef producers.

October 12, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Beef Checkoff Seeking Producer Input Through Survey

beef checkoff logoIn connection with the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA), the checkoff is helping to distribute a producer survey about use of antibiotics on cattle operations. The survey was created with the help of Kansas State University, in response to comments from the checkoff’s Safety Subcommittee at the 2015 Cattle Industry Summer Conference.

NIAA has been a checkoff subcontractor to the National Livestock Producers Association, on authorization requests that have helped provide funding for a national symposium about use of antibiotics in food animals for each of the last five years. During their meeting in July, members of the checkoff’s Safety Subcommittee discussed the need for more producer information on the topic, possibly gathered through a survey about their use of antibiotics. With that, NIAA worked with KSU to prepare a survey for producers, and all Beef Board members and Federation directors are encouraged to participate in the survey and pass the link along to other producers, to achieve the highest participation possible!

Click here to go to survey – http://bit.ly/checkoff-survey

October 1, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Contracting with the Beef Checkoff | Checkoff Chat

BIWFD Checkoff ContractorsQ: Who can contract with the checkoff on the national level?

A: By definition, qualified checkoff contracting organizations are national nonprofit beef industry-governed organizations. The role of these organizations is to contract with the Beef Promotion Operating Committee to conduct promotion, research, consumer and industry information, foreign marketing and producer communications programs funded with beef checkoff dollars and under Agriculture Marketing Service Guidelines. See all the current national contractors and programs at BeefBoard.org.

Checkoff Chat Montana Beef CouncilRead more about the Beef Checkoff Programs in our Checkoff Chat Series with the Montana Beef Council. Click here to submit your own questions to be answered in future posts.

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program (MyBeefCheckoff.com) was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. It 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 $1 and forward the other 50 cents to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The Montana Beef Council was created in 1954 by cattlemen as a marketing organization for the Montana beef industry and is organized to protect and increase demand for beef and beef products through state, national and international beef promotion, research and education, thereby enhancing profit opportunities for Montana beef producers.

September 17, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Beef Emails Offer More Information | Checkoff Chat

Sign up for Checkoff Updates at BeefBoard.org today!

Sign up for Checkoff Updates at BeefBoard.org today!

Q: I never see information about what the checkoff is doing. Why not?

A: Updated information is always available at MyBeefCheckoff.com, where you can also sign up to receive regular e-mail updates. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Montana Beef Council are always looking for the most effective and efficient ways to share information and communicate with producers. Currently the Montana Beef Council works with news media, agriculture organizations, publications and other sources to disseminate information about checkoff investments. If you have suggestions for how you would like to stay updated on the checkoff, be sure to contact Montana Beef Council. Sign up for regular checkoff updates: at BeefBoard.org.

Checkoff Chat Montana Beef CouncilRead more about the Beef Checkoff Programs in our Checkoff Chat Series with the Montana Beef Council. Click here to submit your own questions to be answered in future posts.

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program (MyBeefCheckoff.com) was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. It 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 $1 and forward the other 50 cents to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The Montana Beef Council was created in 1954 by cattlemen as a marketing organization for the Montana beef industry and is organized to protect and increase demand for beef and beef products through state, national and international beef promotion, research and education, thereby enhancing profit opportunities for Montana beef producers.

September 3, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Educating Restaurants about Beef | Checkoff Chat

Checkoff programs conduct demonstrations for restaurant chefs to learn more about preparing beef cuts. Click to watch video.

Checkoff programs conduct demonstrations for restaurant chefs to learn more about preparing beef cuts. Click to watch video.

Q: Are national restaurant chains educated about beef?

A: Absolutely. In fact, in January the checkoff demonstrated cutting methods for the sirloin, loin and ribeye for a large national casual-dining restaurant chain, educating restaurant personnel about the flexibility of these middle meats when alternative cutting methods are applied. The training included discussion of menu concepts to add new and extend beef menu items. Participants included culinary research and development, marketing and procurement disciplines.

The checkoff will continue to support the chain as they evaluate and determine opportunities to promote beef on their menu. See what’s available for foodservice operators from BeefFoodService.com.

Checkoff Chat Montana Beef CouncilRead more about the Beef Checkoff Programs in our Checkoff Chat Series with the Montana Beef Council. Click here to submit your own questions to be answered in future posts.

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program (MyBeefCheckoff.com) was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. It 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 $1 and forward the other 50 cents to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The Montana Beef Council was created in 1954 by cattlemen as a marketing organization for the Montana beef industry and is organized to protect and increase demand for beef and beef products through state, national and international beef promotion, research and education, thereby enhancing profit opportunities for Montana beef producers.

August 21, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Dietetic interns participate in a beef from pasture to plate tour

2015 MDI Tour press release picBILLINGS – Earlier this week the Montana Beef Council hosted another successful pasture to plate tour for nearly twenty Montana Dietetic Internship (MDI) students pursuing a career as a Registered Dietitian. The tour was conducted in Two Dot, Montana with local ranchers Jed and Annie Evjene where the attendees were able to experience first-hand where and how beef is raised on the American Fork Ranch.

This year’s tour began at the historic ranch headquarters where the Evjene’s explained the family ranching operation and the history of the area to the interns to help them understand the importance of agriculture and specifically beef production.

“It is important for me to help you understand where food comes from,” Jed Evjene told the interns. “There is a lot of misinformation out there about ranching practices and we are here with our gate open for you to see real ranching practices first-hand.”

Throughout the tour the interns not only had the opportunity to see cattle and horses, but also calving facilities, rangeland and more. Jed shared his passion for maintaining the land and water as they are vital to sustainability. While touring around the ranch the interns learned about the entire beef cycle and that cattle spend the majority of their lives on pasture. Evjene’s also shared their experience of being chosen as Regional Environmental Stewardship Award recipients and the responsibility they feel to continue teaching others about ranching and their commitment to care for the cattle and natural resources.

Next, over a healthy beef lunch, the interns learned about beef nutrition from Registered Dietitian Lisa Murray, including lean cuts of beef, optimal protein levels in the diet, beef’s fatty acid profile, and new research showing beef’s positive role in heart healthy diet.

“Beef has 10 essential nutrients and just 150 calories per three-ounce serving and there are more lean beef choices today than ever before so you can feel confident in helping your patients keep beef in their diet,” said Murray.

Leaving the pasture, the tour headed to The Grand Hotel in Big Timber where Chef Amy Smith demonstrated multiple ways to cut beef as well as providing samples of recipes from The Healthy Beef Cookbook.

“Steak is cool,” exclaimed one intern after the presentation.

To complete the day, the interns then toured Pioneer Meats of Big Timber to get a back-of-the-house look at a custom butcher shop with owner Brian Engle. Brian’s passion for quality was evident as he detailed every aspect of their award-winning family-run processing facility.

The theme of the internship is a systems approach to sustainability and sustainable foods and Montana Beef Council has worked with Montana State University, Bozeman to provide this tour as a tangible learning experience during their internship. Following this tour, the interns will disperse across the state to continue their dietetic internship with rotations in clinical dietetics, community nutrition, and foodservice management.  Interns successfully completing MDI will obtain a certificate that qualifies graduates to take the dietetic registration exam.

–    # # # # # # #    –
The Montana Beef Council is organized to protect and increase demand for beef and beef products through state, national and international consumer marketing programs including promotion, education and research, thereby enhancing profit opportunities for Montana beef producers. For more information, contact Lisa Murray, RD at (406) 656-3336 or [email protected].

August 20, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Beef Staying Relevant in the Digital Age | Checkoff Chat

The 30 Day Protein Challenge is one example of the Beef Checkoff digital promotion efforts.

The 30 Day Protein Challenge is one example of the Beef Checkoff digital promotion efforts. Click here to learn more.

Q: Is the beef checkoff staying relevant in this digital age?

A: You bet. For example, in 2006 the Beef Checkoff was delivering beef enjoyment messages to consumers through a checkoff-funded national radio and print advertising campaign that reached 96 percent of targeted adults more than 18 times at a cost-per-impression of less than a penny.

Fast forward to the launch of the Beef Checkoff digital campaign in April 2014 to the end of the fiscal year, the new Checkoff digital advertising campaign has motivated over 1,700,000 consumers to visit the checkoff website, viewing over 3,500,000 web pages worth of beef tips, cooking techniques, nutritional information and recipes. This marks a dramatic increase in visitors to the site, rising 360% in terms of number of consumers and pages viewed compared to FY13 figures.  As a result, the “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” website is now the Checkoff’s most important avenue for disseminating beef info and recipes directly to consumers.

Further, through a paid social media advertising campaign over a five-month period, the checkoff has driven more than 1 million social engagements, defined as likes, shares, comments and retweets on the “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” Facebook and Twitter pages. Social advertising also contributed to more than 450,000 Facebook users engaging with beef checkoff content and recipes as well as drove more than 14,000 interactions on Twitter. The Checkoff’s Digital Advertising campaign also drove over 5 million views of online video spots, including over 1,800,000 video views on YouTube alone.

Checkoff Chat Montana Beef CouncilRead more about the Beef Checkoff Programs in our Checkoff Chat Series with the Montana Beef Council. Click here to submit your own questions to be answered in future posts.

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program (MyBeefCheckoff.com) was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. It 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 $1 and forward the other 50 cents to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The Montana Beef Council was created in 1954 by cattlemen as a marketing organization for the Montana beef industry and is organized to protect and increase demand for beef and beef products through state, national and international beef promotion, research and education, thereby enhancing profit opportunities for Montana beef producers.

August 6, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Consumers Demand Beef in the Meat Case | Checkoff Chat

Beef in the Meat Case Consumer Demand

Beef retains a 49% share of retail dollar sales in grocery meat cases.

Q: Do consumers still want beef?

A: Yes they do. Consumer demand for beef is strong. In fact, even with higher beef prices, demand for beef increased nearly 7 percent in 2014, and beef brought more sales for foodservice and retail operators than any other protein.

When it comes to price, consumer say beef is worth it. According the Beef Checkoff’s Consumer Beef Index, 70 percent say steaks are worth the price, and 83 percent feel this way regarding ground beef.

The signal is clear: Consumers want beef. Nothing delivers a satisfying meal quite like beef, and consumers remain willing to spend more for the beef they want, even more so than for other proteins. Read more from Beef Issues Quarterly.

Checkoff Chat Montana Beef CouncilRead more about the Beef Checkoff Programs in our Checkoff Chat Series with the Montana Beef Council. Click here to submit your own questions to be answered in future posts.

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program (MyBeefCheckoff.com) was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. It 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 $1 and forward the other 50 cents to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The Montana Beef Council was created in 1954 by cattlemen as a marketing organization for the Montana beef industry and is organized to protect and increase demand for beef and beef products through state, national and international beef promotion, research and education, thereby enhancing profit opportunities for Montana beef producers.

July 31, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Running Ranchers Bring Beef and Fitness to Television

Motnana Running Ranchers Ragnar 2015 VanIt’s been a busy week getting the word out about our Montana Running Ranchers relay team and the Team Beef program. This has included sharing the word in a few different television programs across the state.

On Tuesday, our friends at the Northern Ag Networkwere kind enough to include us in a segment on the Noon News which airs on CBS stations across the state. Lane Nordlund is a great person to work with and has been a great addition to the NAN team during the past year. Read our story on the Northern Ag Network site.

We then had a great opportunity to be featured on the statewide Wake Up Montana morning news, which is broadcast on ABC Fox Montana and KULR (Billings). Stephanie Ponte is a great reporter new to the area, and new to the topics of beef and ranching. There are morning people, then there are folks who are filled with tons of energy and enthusiasm before 6 a.m. It was great to meet Stephanie and we look forward to introducing her to even more Montana ranchers. Thanks for helping us share our story of beef and fitness in the ranching community and how everyone can include beef as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle! Read our story on KULR8.

Next up for many of the relay team members are the Bozeman Marathon and Half Marathon, September 13. Later that week, they’ll also be taking part in the inaugural Montana CattleWomen Ranch Run, a 25 mile relay on ranches in Lennep. We hope you’ll consider showing up, cheering everyone on and possibly even joining the races.

To learn more about the Team Beef Montana program, visit the Montana Beef Council’s website. Go ahead and fill out your application to join the program!

Be sure to follow the Montana Running Ranchers through Facebook! Running these 200-mile relays is so much more than showing up for 27 hours of fun. There are plenty of training runs, ranching adventures and races across Montana that team members participate in. Join the Facebook group, encourage team members and learn more about how beef is part of their training and competition.

July 28, 2015 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Montana Running Ranchers Take Beef Message on 200-Mile Relay

Montana Running Ranchers logoIn the world of running and fitness, challenges are king as obstacle courses and overnight-relay races have gained popularity in recent years by fitness enthusiasts and health-conscious consumers. Montana ranchers are taking part in the fun and using this scene as an opportunity to advocate for beef as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle.

On July 17 and 18, twelve members of the Montana Running Ranchers relay team took part in the Ragnar Relay Series Northwest Passage race. This event began in Blaine, Washington and covered 200(ish) miles, wrapping up in Langley. The team finished the race in just under 27 hours, placing 26th in the division, out of 354 teams.

This year’s course took the team along iconic sights of the northwest Washington coast. Right from the start near the Canadian border, team members ran in view of the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges, Deception Pass and the Puget Sound. The team ran through the night and completed the race on Whidbey Island northwest of Seattle.

The Montana Running Ranchers Relay team consists of members from the state’s ranching community, participating in large relay events outside the state and connecting with beef consumers from across the country. During previous years, the team has traveled to events in Colorado, Napa Valley and the Hood to Coast event in Oregon.

Motnana Running Ranchers Ragnar 2015 VanThe race events provide an opportunity for Montana Running Ranchers to connect with others who have similar interests in health and fitness. The teams vans were decorated in Team Beef logos and brands from area ranches who sponsored the trip. These brands (and steaks) do not go unnoticed by event participants, which often leads to opportunities to answer several questions about beef as part of a healthy diet, Montana’s ranchers and the cattle industry.

This year’s team members include team captain, Aeric Reilly of Great Falls, Ryan Goodman of Helena, Casey Coulter of Brusett, Sarah Nash of Harlowton, Billie Jo Holzer of Moccasin, Christy Gerdes of Huntley, Evelyn Halverson of Big Timber, Rachel Keaster of Belt, Christy Pletan of Harlowton, Rex Reilly of Stanford, and Ronnie Halverson of Big Timber. This year’s team also included an out of state recruit and Montana State alumnus from Ione, Oregon, Ed Rollins.

The team certainly appreciates support of local businesses and Montana ranchers who contribute to the opportunity for this advocacy effort. High Country Snack Foods supplied beef jerky and pemmican for the team to share with runners along the course. A special thank you to Western Ag Reporter for helping promote the team throughout the year.

Montana Running Ranchers Ragnar 2015 Blaine WashingtonBe sure to follow Montana Running Ranchers team members throughout the year as they compete in running events across the state and continue sharing their experiences with runners from outside the agriculture community. Follow the team throughout the year by joining the “Montana Running Ranchers/ Team Beef Montana” group on Facebook.

To learn more about joining Team Beef Montana, a consumer outreach program of the Montana Beef Council, visit montanabeefcouncil.org.

2015 team sponsors included the following Montana ranches and businesses:

  • Montana Beef Council
  • Montana Farmers Union
  • Montana Land Reliance
  • Western Ag Reporter
  • Silveus Insurance Group
  • Stockgrowers
  • U.S. Cattlemens
  • Dick and Cathy Holzer
  • Rance Gerdes
  • Indian Creek Ranch
  • Mick & Earline Gaettle
  • Jerry Jones
  • Earl & Glenda Stucky
  • Deegan Ranch
  • Walborn Cattle Co.
  • Neal & Janice Woldstad
  • John & Jeanne Mohr
  • Redland Red Angus
  • Sharon Livingston
  • Linda Grosskropf
  • Ehlke Herefords
  • Ginger Silvers
  • Mike & Debbie Hammond
  • 3C Cattle Company – Chad and Lacey Sutherlin