Checkoff History Class is Now in Session
There are a lot of famous quotes about history. A great one by Teddy Roosevelt says: The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.
Today, there’s plenty of misinformation zooming around about the Beef Checkoff. To combat this, it’s important to prepare yourself and know the “ins & outs” of your producer-led program. Equally important is why it is the way it is and what got us here to begin with.
One authority on the what, why and how of the Beef Checkoff is Wayne Watkinson, legal counsel for the CBB and U.S. Dairy Export Council. Watkinson was instrumental in creating the country’s Checkoff programs. He helped draft the legislation that created the Beef Checkoff and has deep knowledge about the program’s rocky road to adoption.
Check out Wayne Watkinson’s “History of the Beef Checkoff”, a new CBB audio-video presentation that just may fill in some blanks when it comes to your Checkoff knowledge. Class dismissed!
The Beef Checkoff program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff 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 may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
