“You’re looking at probably a legislation session, minimum, and then a year for a vote,” National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief Executive Officer Terry Stokes of Denver said about the process to change the checkoff.

Congress must change the act that established the checkoff, and beef producers would vote.

“It’s not an expense; it’s an investment,” Stokes said in describing the program that funds beef promotion and education projects.

Nebraska Cattlemen Exec-utive Vice President Michael Kelsey of Lincoln said it now takes $2.25 to buy what the $1 checkoff purchased when it started 20 years ago. Producers will be asked how much of an increase should be considered.

As part of a tour of Nebraska’s cattle country, Stokes and Kelsey stopped Monday at Platte Valley Feeders northeast of Kearney.

Feedlot owner/general manager Robert Beck III said that even though profit margins are tight, it might be the time to consider collecting more for beef promotions, “because spending that money will pay dividends later.”

Source: Kearney Hub