Since 2003, one annual event has brought every segment of the beef industry together in one room to help bring better focus on beef safety. This year’s Beef Safety Summit, which is partially funded through the beef checkoff, will be held March 3-5 in Dallas, Texas. Jeff Clausen is a beef producer from Carson, Iowa, and chairman of the industry’s Joint Beef Safety Committee. He says the summit is important because safety of beef products is absolutely critical to both beef consumers and the people who help produce it.
According to Clausen, the summit’s sessions are heavy with information, and there isn’t much need for additional motivation for attendees. “People are motivated because it’s their livelihood. If we don’t provide a safe product, then our businesses are in jeopardy, because of the beef demand. The motivation is just to better their operations and to provide that safe, nutritious and enjoyable product to the consumer, and that they can be confident that it is safe.”
Checkoff dollars, which have been in shorter supply in recent years because of a shrinking cattle supply, are efficiently used through this safety summit and other beef safety efforts. For more information on the industry’s beef safety efforts, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com, or go to the Beef Industry Food Safety Council’s Web site at www.bifsco.org.
Source: Cattlemen’s Beef Board
