Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 19, 1994 TAG: 9410190050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Medium
For more than half a century, America's cattlemen worried only about the animals they raised and the ranches they tended - relying on a handful of disparate trade organizations to promote their beef.
Today, they worry about a lot more.
Pork and poultry producers have rolled out jazzy ad campaigns and innovative products - everything from preseasoned chicken breasts to six-packs of turkey - to wrest market share from the nation's beef industry.
In Virginia last year, chickens replaced cattle as the state's top agricultural commodity for the first time since record-keeping began 38 years ago. Broilers accounted for 17.9 percent of farm cash receipts versus 16.1 percent for beef.
No longer are Americans spending more on beef than on pork and poultry. But the cattlemen are not going down without a fight.
A plan, about 21/2 years in the making, would consolidate all or parts of four industry trade organizations into a single agency designed to be a more efficient, more authoritative voice before Congress and consumers.
``The new organization will have a lot more clout,'' said Earl Peterson, a member of the merger oversight committee. ``It will truly speak for the industry.''
The proposal would affect the National Cattlemen's Association; the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board; and the beef interests of the National Live Stock and Meat Board and the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
The oversight committee plans to roll out a final proposal early next month and hopes to complete the merger by February.
Each organization operates today with a separate governing board and follows a separate strategy.
The National Cattlemen's Association lobbies Congress and state governments. It represents about 260,000 of the estimated 1.1 million cattle producers in the United States directly and through state affiliates, says Peterson, an association vice president. It also works with the beef board on promotion and education projects.
The export federation focuses on getting red meat products into foreign countries, while the Beef Industry Council arm of the meat board concentrates on domestic promotion.
Peterson says the fragmented system has led to a duplication of effort costing the industry about $3.9 million a year. The groups' efforts haven't stopped the industry from losing market share.
In 1980, 58 cents of every consumer meat dollar was spent on beef, while 42 cents went to pork and poultry. By 1992, 48 cents was going to beef and 52 cents to pork and poultry, Peterson says.
The proposed beef agency would be run by a board of governors, an executive committee, a planning group and councils representing the industry's interests. Initially, the board would include more than 450 members who serve on boards of the four organizations.
That gradually would be reduced, but a number hasn't been determined. Peterson estimates the agency's annual budget could be as much as $85 million a year.
Staff writer Greg Edwards contributed information to this story.
by CNB