BEEF DEMAND CLIMBS 5 PERCENT IN 2003

Growth surpasses goal of industry's Long Range Plan

PHOENIX  (Jan. 27, 2004) - Consumer demand for beef continued a strong upward climb in 2003, with the Beef Demand Index increasing more than 5 percent compared to 2002 and more than 15.4 percent since reversing its 20-year decline in 1998, the Cattlemen's Beef Board announced at the Cattle Industry Annual Convention here today.

"With the continued strength in demand in 2003, we've surpassed the goal of the beef industry's Long Range Plan to increase demand by 6 percent between 2000 and year-end 2004 - and we've done it a year early," said 2003 Beef Board Chairman Andy Tucker, a cow-calf producer from Rockledge, Fla.

"With all of the challenges that we continue to face in the beef industry, this certainly is good news for producers," Tucker said. "If we can continue to build demand, we will be better off as cattlemen than we would otherwise be - regardless of other economic and market forces that might be outside of the realm or reach of producers."

The recent case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the U.S. points up the need to provide accurate, science-based information about the safety of the U.S. beef supply. Toward building beef demand, Tucker said, the checkoff program also must focus beef's role in meeting the nutritional and convenience demands of today's health-conscious consumers.

"Especially in light of the case of BSE in the U.S., it's critical that the checkoff program remain intensely focused on beef promotion, research and information programs aimed at building demand as we move forward," he said. "And while the presence of BSE in this country has drawn tremendous consumer awareness about the disease, recent polls indicate that consumers also have received the information they need to understand that the beef supply in the United States remains the safest in the world."

The Beef Demand Index, which is a reflection of both per capita consumption and consumer spending for beef, is an indicator that the industry is on the right track, Tucker said. But there is no room for complacency.

"We are all passionate about the beef industry, and we all want to see that Demand Index continue increasing, Tucker added. "But if we are to continue heading in the right direction on demand, we have to work together as producers," Tucker added. "This week's cattle industry meetings give us an opportunity to come together and focus on our common goals, and we would encourage all cattlemen to join us in planning for the future cattle industry that we have mind for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.

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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA oversight. The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.