Possible checkoff change previewed in Australia
By Walt Barnhart
| Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Cattle producers curious about the future of their beef checkoff assessments should take note of what their peers in Australia have done with theirs. The Australian beef levy (or checkoff) increased from $3.50 to $5.00 AU (about $2.60 to $3.75 U.S.) Jan. 1, 2006.
An increase in the U.S. beef checkoff assessment will be one of the changes contemplated by the 17-member industry-wide Beef Checkoff Task Force as it looks at the program’s structure, funding level and process this summer. The assessment has been at $1 per head since the program began in 1986.
Australia’s increase was a two-year effort, according to Scott Hanson, general manager of industry affairs and communications for Meat and Livestock Australia. It started with a 10-member committee established by the country’s policy groups – the Cattle Council of Australia (representing the cow-calf industry), the Australian Lot Feeders Association and the Meat Industry Council (which represents processors and retailers). Each group had a representative on the committee, which also had producer members with no affiliations to any groups.
For one year the committee met to determine what kinds of resources the beef industry would need to meet its future challenges. The Australian levy had been at the $3.50 AU level for a dozen years.
With their recommendations, committee members hit the road to communicate with producers about their findings and prepare them for a vote on the issue. The vote provided guidance to the Australian Agriculture Minister, who would make the final decision on whether to raise the rates.
Hanson, who helped orchestrate communications with producers about the change, says it was a painstaking effort, made possible because the group had done its homework and had compelling and straightforward facts about the need for an increase. An aggressive one-year media campaign and personal presentations at 35 industry meetings by committee members helped lay the foundation for a vote by producers, with the proposal passing by a margin of 57 to 43 percent.
Easier there than here?
U.S. producer leaders considering their own strategy would be well-advised to recognize the differences in the two countries’ industries, however. There are approximately 70,000 to 100,000 producers in Australia – about one-eighth the number of U.S. producers. A total of about 10,000 producers participated in the non-binding vote.
Communication with Australian producers is also made easier by the fact that there is only one major Australian newspaper chain reaching producers (Rural Press), and one rural radio station (ABC).
The differences in the voting procedures were also significant. To provide a “degree of equity,” as Hanson puts it, producers were able to cast votes based to a degree on how many cattle they owned. So instead of a “one-man, one-vote” system, as the U.S. had 20 years ago, the larger Australian producers had more of a say in the outcome of the election.
The Australian levy also has a sunset provision, which brings the program up for review again in 2011. At that time, the three policy groups will get back together to evaluate the success of the program and determine what further changes are needed, if any.
Rough water ahead
Hanson has a word of caution for cattle industry leaders in other countries (like the U.S.) who might be considering the same kind of assessment increase.
“Don’t underestimate what’s required, or assume a level of knowledge,” he says. “The consultation phase is so important.” Hanson says they had a year to get the facts out to producers, “and we could have used twice that.”
The U.S. has a larger producer base and a checkoff history that couldn’t be considered a sea of tranquility. There’s no question those who want to expand the U.S. Beef Checkoff Program have their hands full.
Walt Barnhart was on staff of the National Live Stock and Meat Board during the voluntary checkoff and executive director of the Wisconsin Beef Council when the mandatory program began in 1986. He served for five years as the director of trade media for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association beginning in 1998. Barnhart, now president of Carnivore Communications LLC, has been involved in beef industry communications for more than 30 years.
