Beef Checkoff Program

 Governor Otter just signed a bill that’s going to cost anyone selling a cow commercially in the State of Idaho 50 cents…that’s 50 cents on top of the dollar that was already imposed by legislation back in 1985 as part of the beef checkoff program. The interesting part is that representatives for the beef producers are happy about it and Traci O’Donnell, Executive Director of the Idaho Beef Council tells us why. “The additional funds will allow us to dive deeper into our priorities to continue to raise the demand for beef and the opportunity for producer profitability. With the additional funds, it will allow us to get back up to par, we’ve had the same dollar for the past 20 years, since the 1985 farm bill went into effect. This additional 50 cents will allow us to continue to invest in promotional programs such as advertising, retail and food service partnerships, consumer information programs, research, producer communications and the main areas that we have been investing in in the past will allow us to further invest in those areas that continue to drive the demand for beef. The checkoff programs increase profit opportunities for producers by keeping beef top of mind with our consumers.”