Dollars & sense : beef checkoff update, 09/2013

              file:///Y|/Newsletters/Dollars%20&%20sense/Dollars%20&%20sense%20913..htm[9/3/2013 11:03:49 AM]
From: Oklahoma Beef Council <hbuckmaster@oklabeef.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 6:02 AM
To: gphillips@oltn.odl.state.ok.us
Subject: Beef Industry Demonstrates Improved Sustainability
Dollars & Sense
Beef Checkoff Update
September 2013
In This Issue
Beef Sustainability
OBQA Winners Announced
Upcoming OBQS
Upcoming BQA Meeting
Beef Exports Hit Record Highs
Nutrition Seminar Program
2012 OBC Full Dollar Report
Ok Beef Producers Feed
Hungry Children
Private Treaty
Upcoming Events
BQA Meeting, October 8,
2013 in Vinita, OK
Oklahoma Beef Quality
Summit
Quick Links
National Standards
Foundation Certifies Beef
Industry Sustainability
Assessment
The beef industry has improved its
sustainability by 5 percent in just
six years according to the results
of the checkoff-funded Beef
Industry Sustainability Assessment,
released today during the 2013
Cattle Industry Summer Conference.
Richard Gebhart, cow-calf producer from Claremore, Okla., also served
on the sustainability advisory panel. He explains that the beef
sustainability assessment is the most detailed examination of a
commodity value chain ever completed, taking into account every
aspect of beef production from the growth of feed to the disposal of
packaging by the final consumer.
"We examined all the inputs and outputs required to produce a pound
of boneless, edible beef and we did that for the 1970s, 2005 and 2011,"
says Gebhart, explaining that the 1970s and 2005 each represents major
shifts in beef production practices, while 2011 represents present-day.
Improvements in crop yields, better irrigation, innovations in the
packing sector, improvements in technology and better animal
performance are examples of innovations that have all played a role in
advancing industry sustainability, according to Kim Stackouse-Lawson,
Ph.D., director of sustainability for the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program.
"The completion of the life cycle assessment (LCA) project provides
the industry, for the first time, the science-based evidence necessary to
lead conversations about the sustainability of beef," says Stackhouse-
Lawson. "The Beef Checkoff and the Beef Promotion Operating
Committee had the foresight three years ago to see the importance of
this work and make it a priority for the industry. By completing the
LCA, the checkoff positioned beef as a leader on the topic of
sustainability."