– Kaycee Beilman
The writer is a student in Comm 240 News Reporting.
Brittany Howell, Fort Hays State University associate professor of agriculture, has been appointed to a second three-year term on the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board.
This nationwide board oversees a check-off program, which requires all producers and importers to pay $1 per head each time a cow is sold throughout its lifetime. Once a state beef council collects this dollar, it retains 50 cents, the other half then is given to the national board.
“All of the money collected goes into a pool and is then used to help the industry learn more about their product and promote it,” Howell said.
The board has various committees focusing on a different aspect of beef promotion.
Howell initially served on the Advertising Committee, which used celebrities, such as Matthew McConaughey, to promote the well-known slogan, “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner.”
However, because the size of cow herds has been shrinking over the last 30 years, the amount of money collected by the board has been declining, causing funding for television, radio, and newspaper advertisements to decrease as well.
Recently, the board has decided to move strictly to online advertising, Howell said. “Social Media is a better way to utilize our dollars.”
After being a member of the advertising committee for two years, Howell then became a member of the Taste Committee for the remainder of her first three-year term. That committees mission is “to deliver a consistent beef consuming experience.”
After Howell was nominated by the Kansas Livestock Association, Kansas Dairy Association, Kansas Cattleman’s Association, and the Kansas Farm Bureau, the Secretary of Agriculture chose to reappoint Howell for a second term.
Now serving on the Beef Image Committee, Howell will finish the remainder of her second three-year term.
After this term ends in 2017, Howell will no longer be on the board, as individuals are only allowed two three-year terms before new members are rotated in.
As of now, Howell said that she is “thrilled to death to be on the Cattleman’s Beef Promotion and Research Board.” She said that it was actually FHSU alumnus David Cross who first nominated her to serve on the Kansas Beef Council, which ultimately landed her a spot on the National Beef Board.
“This is the area that I love,” Howell said “I’m just ever grateful, because I love the path it took me down.”