Checkoff and BASF Team Up
I’m Susan Allen this is Open Range, with all the focus on everything global it’s easy to forget that here in the US we still do the majority of things better than other countries, and that’s especially true when it comes to raising cattle. Stay tuned for the story. The beef industry has a history of re-inventing the wheel in fact cattle today bear little resemblance to those 60 years ago. In an effort to continue the integrity of the industry the Beef Checkoff Program is partnering with BASF Corporation to take a long hard look at the state of the beef industry in this era and then prepare a roadmap for the future with an emphasis on today’s hot buttons; sustainability and traceability. Previous Checkoff research was able to demonstrate that due to innovations in cattle husbandry, beef’s carbon footprint in the US States decreased 18 percent over the last thirty years meaning that today we are able to raise more beef on less land with less environmental impact. The initial step with BASF will be what is called a “hot spot” analysis to understand how the beef industry is perceived by producers, once complete they will then assess the whole life cycle of the cow with the goal to develop projects s that will help producers embrace new era tenets of cattle raising. This BASF Beef Checkoff program is projected to be completed over the next few years and Open Range will continue to report on the progress.
