The Michigan Beef Industry Commission is considering a proposal that would reinstate a state beef checkoff.
Executive Director George Quackenbush tells Brownfield the Commission’s budget structure hasn’t changed in nearly 40 years but consumers have.
“Less than a third of Michigan consumers have a positive perception of how cattle are raised for food, and that’s concerning quite frankly,” he shares. “We need to do a better job of educating consumers about what beef producers do.”
Quackenbush says Michigan’s cattle herd has remained similar in size despite consolidation and growth in the state’s dairy industry. The Commission receives half of the current $1 per head checkoff on animals, the rest supports the national checkoff.
