Texas Beef Council Presents Checkoff Update, Prime Rib Demo at 2020 Beef Cattle Short Course

AUSTIN, Texas (August 12, 2020) – The Texas Beef Council presented a Beef Checkoff Update during the annual Beef Cattle Short Course at Texas A&M University in College Station, held this year on August 3-5. The Short Course is one of the largest and best-attended beef cattle educational events in the country, attracting cattlemen and women from across the country and featuring more than 40 concurrent educational sessions for producers at all experience levels.

Like so many other events this year, the 2020 Beef Cattle Short Course went virtual, giving producers the opportunity to attend sessions and demonstrations from the comfort of their own farms and ranches. An impressive 1,800 producers registered for this year’s virtual Short Course, only slightly down from previous years.

“While we certainly missed the one-on-one interaction of previous Beef Cattle Short Courses, we were all very pleased to be a part of this year’s event,” said Jason Bagley, vice president of beef resources for the Texas Beef Council. “The Short Course provides an invaluable opportunity to share how we and the national Beef Checkoff continue to grow beef demand with thousands of producers from Texas and other parts of the country. While it’s been a challenging year, we’re finding very creative ways to keep beef top of mind for consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Bagley and his Texas Beef Council colleagues, Jennifer Matison, vice president of marketing, and Russell Woodward, senior manager of channel marketing, presented program highlights on both the state and national levels, giving producers information about how their Checkoff dollars are working to promote beef:

• “United We Steak” National Beef Checkoff Campaign. This summertime promotion unites Americans in their shared love of beef on the grill and features 50 hand-carved, state-shaped steaks. To date, the campaign has earned five million impressions in Texas alone, not including social media data. The Texas landing page, which includes a link back to BeefLovingTexans.com, has been viewed more than 15,000 times.
• Texas Consumer Advertising Campaigns and Digital Engagement. Launched in 2019, the “For All Plates of Life” campaign celebrates beef’s versatility and Texas diversity. Targeted at older millennial parents in Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio, this award-winning video and audio campaign has received 291.1 million impressions statewide on various digital platforms. Digital ad buys allowed for more flexibility in timing, platform and content, making it an ideal tactic during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another consumer highlight included the BBQuest TV series exploring barbecue across Texas. Now in its second season, the show continues to be popular on BeefLovingTexans.com, Hulu and YouTube, with 1.2 million video views, 11 million media impressions and 226,000 social media engagements.

• Educational programs and engagement with culinary and health professionals. A virtual Texas high school culinary educators training conference provided 80 teachers with beef industry information and cooking demos. Meanwhile “The Raw Truth About Beef” online learning resource has helped more than 1,200 dietitians, chefs and teachers explore the beef industry from pasture to plate. A medical office outreach program has educated medical professionals on beef’s positive role in a high-cholesterol patient’s diet.
• International promotions with Checkoff partner, U.S. Meat Export Federation. A creative, video-based web campaign promoting different beef cuts in Japan surpassed its goal of reaching one million people in just two weeks. While exports to Japan were down in 2019, U.S. beef was able to maintain top total beef market share with 44 percent. Currently, year over year exports to Japan are 10 percent higher than the same period in 2019.

Another popular feature of the 2020 Beef Cattle Short Course was the Prime Rib Cooking Demo on Facebook Live following the general session on Monday, August 3. The Texas Beef Council’s Russell Woodward and Dr. Davey Griffin, professor and extension meat specialist from Texas A&M, showed more than 4,400 viewers how to make the best smoked prime rib, from choosing the ideal cut to preparation to cooking, ending with a delicious beef masterpiece.

“We really appreciated the Texas Beef Council’s presence and educational assistance during this year’s event,” said Jason Cleere, Ph.D., conference coordinator, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service beef cattle specialist and Texas Beef Council Executive Committee member. “The Texas Beef Council has its finger on the pulse of the beef industry, working with the national Beef Checkoff to keep beef on dinner plates everywhere. Their support makes it possible for us to give beef producers reliable, accurate information about what’s going on in the beef industry – here in Texas, throughout the United States and worldwide.”

For more information about the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, visit beefcattleshortcourse.com. To learn more about Beef Loving Texans and the Texas Beef Council, visit beeflovingtexans.com.

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The Texas Beef Council (TBC) conducts the $1 per head national checkoff program for Texas beef producers and is also the contractor for the Beef Promotion Research Council of Texas (BPRCT), which administers the $1 per head Texas state checkoff program. TBC’s mission is to increase beef demand in the state through programs of beef promotion, research and education. TBC also helps fund national and international beef checkoff programs to increase marketing opportunities around the globe. The BPRCT’s mission is to improve Texas producer profitability by strengthening and expanding beef demand. The TBC and the BPRCT are directed by a 20-member board of cattlemen and women representing the state’s beef producers.

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