According to a recent independent economic study, U.S. cattle producers get back $13.41 for each dollar they invest into the national Beef Checkoff program.
Dr. Harry M. Kaiser of Cornell University conducted the evaluation. Bottom-line, he said, there are a couple of indications he gets from the study.
“These programs tend to have very high ROIs, which is indicative of two things. One on the very positive side, they’re giving a big bang for the buck for the stakeholders. But what it also means is that not only beef producers but other farmers that pay into these programs that have a high ROI, what it’s telling you is that they’re kind of under investing in these programs,” he said. “They’re leaving money out on the table.”
The study looked at the last five years and measured three main points. First, whether national Beef Checkoff demand-driving activities increased demand for beef products domestically and abroad.
“Yes, it had a substantial impact on both domestic and foreign market demand for U.S. beef. More specifically, what I found was had there not been a national beef checkoff program per capita beef demand would have been approximately eight-and-a-half percent lower than it actually was over the last five years,” Dr. Kaiser said.
The study also looked at the combined benefits of those activities in terms of their incremental financial impact to beef producers and importers. It found that without the Beef Checkoff, the total domestic beef demand would have been 2.4 billion pounds (8.5%) lower per year than the actual results. The steer price would have been 7.8% lower per year than actual results, and U.S. export beef demand would have been 372 million pounds (11.5%) lower than actual results in the seven major importing countries included in the study.
The final point studied the indirect benefits of national Beef Checkoff demand-driving activities to the broader macroeconomy. It found that the checkoff had positive indirect effects on the broader U.S. economy, including increases in U.S. employment by almost 47,000 people and U.S. employment income by $2 billion. It also found total value added to the U.S. economy of $4.1 billion and U.S. GDP by nearly $9.5 billion. The national Beef Checkoff contributed to increased tax revenue at the federal, state, and local levels, amounting to a grand total of $743 million in 2023.
While commissioned by the Beef Checkoff, Dr. Kaiser said the economic evaluation was independent.
“That is exactly correct. So, under the farm bill, all federal checkoff programs must commission an evaluation study and ROI study at least every five years, and it must be done independently. So, I do a lot of these evaluations and I will only do it if I can basically not have anybody overlooking my results,” he said. You can see the full study by clicking here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.