09/12/06 Task force says hike beef checkoff

American Rancher September 12, 2006 The Industry-Wide Beef Checkoff Task Force has developed four recommendations for strengthening the Beef Checkoff program, providing more stakeholder input and making it more inclusive. Conclusions of the 18-member group were reached following extensive fact finding and discussion, and finalized at a meeting in Kansas City, Mo., last week. Scott VanderWal, co-chair of the Task Force, says one of the recommendations is to increase the Beef Checkoff from the current one dollar per head, to two dollars. VanderWal: "And what that does is bring us up basically to where inflation would put us on an equivalent basis to 1985 when the checkoff was put in place." VanderWal explains the process needed to increase the assessment. VanderWal: "It would probably have to go through the congressional process and then the members of the Task Force felt that even if it is not required it should go through the referendum process to let the industry approve that. That is a big enough change it would need approval from the stakeholders in the industry." Other recommendations address revising the beef referendum process giving producers the opportunity to petition every five years for a referendum on continuing the checkoff, enhancing the identity of the Federation of State Beef Councils, and allowing newer non-profit industry groups to contract with the Cattlemen's Beef Board making the program more inclusive. I'm Bob Hoff.