Producers selling cattle in or from North Dakota will see a change in their beef checkoff beginning August 1. This is the date House Bill 1238 goes into effect. It adds a new, refundable dollar to the mandatory $1-per-head national checkoff producers pay each time a beef or dairy animal is sold to support beef demand-building programs.
“Beginning on August 1, 2015, cattle sold in or from North Dakota will be subject to both the mandatory national beef checkoff as well as a refundable $1-per-head state checkoff,” said Nancy Jo Bateman, executive director of the North Dakota Beef Commission (NDBC). “The state checkoff program was initiated by North Dakota cattle producers, who have seen the value of the checkoff’s promotion, research and education efforts, and passed overwhelmingly during the 2015 North Dakota Legislative Session.”
Clark Price, a fourth-generation cattle producer and feeder from Hensler, N.D., expects the new dollar to bolster beef checkoff programs by expanding funds available for beef product research, promotion and consumer education.
“We are proud of the beef we raise here in North Dakota and look forward to expanding the reach of the beef checkoff to consumers across the state, nation and world,” said Price, who also serves as the chairman of the NDBC, which is comprised of nine voting and two ex-officio producer members representing the North Dakota beef production chain.
Price said he and fellow commissioners, who are responsible for the state checkoff investment decision-making, see research as a high priority for the new funds. “Scientists at both North Dakota State University and the USDA Agricultural Research Service Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks have conducted some cutting-edge research projects regarding beef’s role in human nutrition, insulin resistance and diabetes control, and we want to make more of this possible. We are also interested in new product development that maintains beef’s role as the preferred protein.” These were among the many investment priorities identified by North Dakota beef industry stakeholders at a recent strategic planning session hosted by the NDBC in May.
North Dakota is the 14th state in the nation to implement a state-based checkoff in addition to the national checkoff that has funded research, education and promotion on a state, national and international basis since 1986.
Consistent with other state commodity checkoff programs, the state beef checkoff will be refundable for those who do not want to participate. Per state law, refund requests must be made to the NDBC within 60 days after the date of sale on which the checkoff was collected. The completed refund application and record of assessment must be returned to the NDBC within 90 days after the sale.
Find more information about the new checkoff at www.ndbeef.org or by calling (701) 328-5120.
Source: North Dakota Beef Commission
