Why We Need the Beef check-Off

I have been reading a monthly editorial for years and it finally happened - I agree with the writer. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in a flash to tell you who and what I agree with.I have been reading Steve Cornett's "Back Gate' and "Out to Pasture" beef issue editorials for a number of years and have found I rarely agree with his thoughts. I don't know if it's because we come from totally different parts of our great country. I'm not smart enough to understand his logic, or it's just a healthy disagreement. Some people would say it's because I'm not smart enough, but I don't think that's it - I found the school lunch room all by myself and I didn't even go to kindergarten. Mr. Cornett's ideas I agree with are in his latest writing that point out the reasons the beef industry must not let the beef check-off go away. Beef gets a bad rap at just about every corner. Oprah's "weekly eating plan" contains no red meat and since 1976 at the time our own United States Department of Agriculture started telling people what to eat, U.S. per capita beef consumption has fallen by over 25 percent. Other negative concepts of beef consumption come from animal rights groups, misunderstood diet and health concerns and the in vogue notion cattle production is one the environment's worst enemies. Mr. Cornett's feeling is only a well-funded beef chec-koff can provide the science to refute these negative images, and convince consumers the science is right, and that there should be no guilt felt for eating a product with so many impressive nutritional benefits. I couldn't agree more.