Dear Fellow Beef Producers,
Your Arizona Beef Council (ABC) was busy in FY2013. We know Arizona’s beef ranchers are working hard and we let consumers know
that beef works hard for them. Your ABC placed heavy focus on reaching out to nutrition and food influencers -- those who impact the
grocery shopping and nutritional choices of others. These key groups include dietitians, food bloggers, school lunch programs, high
school career and technical education programs, teachers, and retailers and food service operators, providing the foundation for our
statewide promotion programs. Our excellent staff -- Lauren Scheller, Director of Consumer Marketing and Public Relations, and Tiffany
Hayes, Director of Consumer Education and Producer Communications -- continues to reach beef consumers across the state.
In today’s cyber and social media-driven world where information is just a click away, credible information about beef and raising cattle
must be readily available. The updated www.ArizonaBeef.org serves as the go-to source for information about beef in Arizona. You will
find information about beef nutrition, videos about Arizona ranchers and seasonal recipes. Additionally, the ABC’s Facebook page and
Twitter account provide constant dialogue to those looking to find beef cooking information and facts about how beef is raised.
The ABC continued its strong partnership with the Arizona State Cowbelles by providing financial support for important activities
including Phoenix Cooks!, the Beef Ambassador program and the National Beef Cook-Off®. We continue to join forces at events to
deliver our positive message about beef. The Cowbelles are our boots on the ground.
I thank you, my fellow beef ranchers, board members and Arizona Cowbelles, for your commitment to the beef council and its mission,
and by volunteering your time, wisdom and knowledge in promoting this wonderful product we raise – beef !
Norman Hinz
Arizona Beef Council Chairman

Arizona Advertising & Promotion

 The Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner consumer advertising
campaign added the tag “Above All Else,” emphasizing beef ’s
superior qualities while setting the record straight on beef ’s
essential nutrients in an engaging and educational way.
 ABC and the Arizona State
Cowbelles dished up approximately
a thousand samples of Tri Tip
Steak at Phoenix Cooks!, Arizona’s
premier culinary event. Checkofffunded Chef Dave Zino and
Director of Product Innovation
Shenoa French, taught two beef
classes.
 To celebrate Earth Day, ABC utilized high-impact digital
billboards to share the message that beef is “Good for the
planet; Good for you.”

 ABC promoted beef over the airwaves on Culinary
Confessions, Phoenix’s longest continually running food and
restaurant radio show. Our 13-week schedule consisted of
daily “beef ” commercials, in-studio interviews and live remotes
at local restaurants.
 ABC partnered with Shamrock Foods to promote beef to their
customers by providing beef cut charts and sales materials
to center-of-plate specialists in conjunction with their “Get
Grilling” beef recipe contest.
 A partnership with BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse on a
seven-week holiday steak and seafood promotion resulted in a
53% increase in steak entrée sales.
 Arizona Team BEEF runners from across
the state turned a Federation Initiative Fund
grant into an opportunity to take the good
news about beef nutrition and literally run
with it during the annual P.F. Chang’s Rock
‘n’ Roll Marathon in Phoenix.

Arizona Beef Education

 ABC had another successful year of in-class visits with high
school and college Food and Consumer Science and Agriculture
Education students. Programs focused on raising cattle, food
safety, nutrition, cooking methods and cut fabrication.
 The Beef 101 workshop at the Arizona Cattlemen’s
Association summer convention focused on learning about
beef ’s millennial audience, or those consumers born between
1980 and 2000.
 Ten beef grants were awarded
to high school culinary teachers
for beef purchases to use in
their classrooms. One teacher
introduced students to high end
cuts, complete with a white table
cloth meal where students enjoyed delicious beef. For some
students, this was their first taste of a steak!
 Through continued support from the Marley Foundation,
ABC has maintained touch screen displays in Harmony Farm
at the Phoenix Zoo, allowing the zoo’s 1.3 million annual
visitors to learn about Arizona’s cattle industry and beef
nutrition. ABC also participated in the annual Boo! At the
Zoo and Earth Day events.
 ABC reached 250 students at the Family, Career and
Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) conference with
beef culinary information and a “Name that Lean Cut” game.
It also donated beef to the “Mystery Basket Cooking Contest.”
 Sponsoring the Arizona Dietetic Association annual meeting
allowed ABC to reach nutritional professionals about beef.
 Ag students from the University of Arizona participated in
the country-wide “Where’s The Food Without The Farmer
Day,” talking to their peers about agriculture and reaching 500
people in four hours with handouts, beef snack sticks, pecans
and cheese sticks.

 Made possible by the Federation Initiative Fund, ABC hosted
a Gate to Plate tour of the beef community allowing nutrition
influencers to get a firsthand experience with how cattle are
raised. Stops included Pinal Feeding Co Inc. and the Quarter
Circle U Ranch. A second tour for
beef retailers, meat distributors
and chefs took place in the
spring with stops at Heiden
Land & Cattle Company and JBS
Tolleson, Inc. harvesting facility.
 Staff attended industry events to distribute checkoff
information at Cattleman’s Weekend, Gila County Sale,
Arizona Cattlemen’s Convention, Cowpunchers, Yavapai Calf
Sale and auction barns.

Arizona Beef Council Board of Directors
Norman Hinz, Chair, Cattle Feeder
Linda Brake, Cattle Grower
Wesley Kerr, Dairyman
Larry McDonald, Cattle Feeder
Michael Milroy, Cattle Grower
Billy Sawyer, Cattle Feeder
Casey Stechnij, Dairyman
Gary Thompson, Dairyman
James Webb, Cattle Grower

Staff
Bas Aja, Executive Director
Lauren Scheller, Director of Consumer Marketing and
Public Relations
Tiffany Hayes, Director of Consumer Education and Producer
Communications

Follow Arizona Beef Council
on Facebook and Twitter

 ABC assisted with Summer Ag Institute, a week-long
continuing education seminar to help teachers gain firsthand experience with Arizona agriculture. Beef-focused stops
included Pinal Feeding Co Inc., Cienega Ranch, University of
Arizona Meat Lab, and Willcox Livestock Auction Inc.

ARIZONA BEEF COUNCIL
FISCAL YEAR 2012-2013
National Programs..................................... $348,129
Consumer Information.............................. $155,287

AZ Beef

9%

2%
2%
2%

ArizonaBeef

5%

2%

AZ Industry Information............................$13,969

54%

AZ Cowbelle Programs...............................$14,609
Administrative Costs....................................$15,637
Producer Communication............................$13,969
AZ Department of Agriculture Fees.......$29,995
Retail & Foodservice.....................................$59,088

24%

Dear Fellow Beef Producers,
Is the Federation of State Beef Councils still relevant after 50 years? In my opinion, it is. Beef
producers today want as much input as possible into how their dollars are spent.
Thanks to forward-thinking producer leaders almost three decades ago, the mandatory Beef Checkoff
Program had as part of its framework then-existing and to-be-created beef councils at the state level,
which would collect the $1-per-head mandatory checkoff and help populate important directionestablishing and funding committees.
Many of those states had already joined together as a Federation to share expenses for common needs,
such as Information Technology, design services, planning guidance and communications. By not
duplicating costs from state to state, and joining in a common vision and message, councils extend
checkoff programs in the state and assure that producers throughout the country are getting the most for their checkoff dollar.
Relevant? Absolutely. The Federation of State Beef Councils is a mechanism for grassroots input and influence.
Yours truly,

Richard Gebhart, Chair
Federation of State Beef Councils
Beef Producer, Claremore, Okla.

Fresh Strategies for a
Changing Beef Landscape
Because of grassroots producer leadership, the beef industry
is positioned to capitalize on future changes in the beef
marketplace. Committee restructuring, which parallels the
industry’s Long Range Plan, was completed this past year to
provide the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Federation of
State Beef Councils a better focus on industry goals.
Following are some national and international beef checkoff
efforts that reflect that plan:

Solving the Millennial Dilemma
Through checkoff-funded research, we know consumers born
in the 1980s and 1990s – sometimes called millennials – enjoy
beef. But they have some concerns about preparation, nutrition
and convenience. Now the question becomes, just how do we
turn them into long term beef lovers?
Through a new checkoff-funded retail campaign, with additional
support from the Federation and individual state beef councils,
that question is being addressed.
The checkoff-funded Convenient Fresh Beef project explores a
way to develop an easy-to-prepare fresh beef product at retail
stores, make it appealing and create the education and training
to make it successful.
Convenient Fresh Beef
products include the beef,
seasonings and instructions in
an attractive sleeve-wrapped
tray, prepared in the meat
department at the grocery
store or brought in as a case
ready product. A photo of the
finished dish is on the front of
the sleeve; from 1-3 recipes are printed on the back.
The items are convenient and provide shoppers options. They

address a millennial’s lack of cooking skills and desire for a
restaurant experience, and meet the needs of families looking
for shortcuts on busy week nights. In addition, they meet
mature consumers’ desire for easy home-made foods that feed
two and provide leftovers.
The test program is being conducted in the Midwest at Price
Cutter stores, which have the in-store capabilities to produce
the kits and have provided significant support for testing.
Additional support for implementation has been provided by
individual state beef councils.
Consumer research, post implementation to document
interest and sell the programs to other stores, as well as
point-of-sale materials, demonstrations and training, and initial
spice inventory were made possible through national beef
checkoff funds.

Campaign Sizzles
with New Voice
New “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.”
consumer advertising premiered
in 2013, bringing the recognizable
tagline to both older millennials and
Gen-Xers. It features sizzling beef
recipes, juicy details about essential
nutrients and the voice of one of
Hollywood’s most promising new
talents. The new “Above All Else” campaign reaches out to
those who care about food and nutrition.
While keeping many brand mainstays, such as Aaron Copeland’s
“Rodeo” music, the new beef campaign uses Garrett Hedlund’s
voice in radio spots. Garrett personally represents healthful
living, and his strong, warm voice is perfect for provoking a
new understanding about beef.
Research has shown that 45 percent of the target demographic
said they would choose beef more often if they knew about

how its nutrients compared to chicken. The new campaign
helps set the record straight about beef ’s essential nutrients in
an engaging and educational way.
In addition to traditional print placements, the campaign
appears across a wide range of digital platforms, such as 22
tablet versions, online radio stations (e.g., Pandora), video
websites (e.g., Hulu), social networking sites (e.g., Facebook)
and popular recipe websites (e.g., AllRecipes.com).
State Beef Councils are extending the campaign through print,
radio, digital, in-person promotions, sporting events, outdoor
advertising and more.

Boosting Beef
Internationally
The Beef Checkoff
Program assisted as
U.S. beef and beef
variety meat exports
performed very well
in 2013. Through
July, exports were 9 percent ahead of last year’s record pace
in terms of value, at $3.45 billion. This translates into great
returns for producers, as export value equated to nearly $235
per head of fed slaughter – an increase of 11 percent over
last year.
Through international marketing programs conducted by the
U.S. Meat Export Federation, the Beef Checkoff Program is
working aggressively to increase export opportunities for U.S.
beef. For instance, with recently expanded access in Japan the
checkoff helped attract new buyers to U.S. beef and expanded
the range of cuts available, allowing Japan to reclaim its
position as the No. 1 destination for U.S. beef exports. Other
Asian markets performing well included Hong Kong and
Taiwan. Exports are also significantly higher to Central and
South America, as the checkoff helped the U.S. beef industry
capitalize on recently implemented free trade agreements.

Program Builds Nutrition Relationships
With their local and state focus, state beef councils are
instrumental in building relationships with state professional
organizations dedicated to improving the health of Americans.
The national Beef Checkoff Program is assisting those
councils in strengthening those ties.
The Nutrition Seminar Program (NSP), coordinated by NCBA,
a Beef Checkoff contractor, provides an opportunity for state
beef councils to get closer to their state chapters of health
professional groups by providing a nationally recognized expert
to speak on a nutrition topic at that organization’s annual
meeting. The Beef Checkoff also provides free client education
resource materials to all session attendees.
State councils coordinate and execute the NSP session, while the
national Beef Checkoff covers the honoraria and travel expenses
for each speaker. This past year, 36 speaking engagements were
coordinated by numerous councils.
There are 40 different speakers for states to choose from,
covering 148 session topics.

Partners in Time
Throughout its 50-year history, the
Federation of State Beef Councils has
provided a platform for state beef council
representation at the national level, while
offering services needed by states to
conduct their in-state promotion, education
Est. 1963
and research programs. The partnership
is made possible three ways: through the
Federation of
State Beef Councils
1985 Beef Promotion Act; by deliberate
collaboration with national programs funded through the Beef
Checkoff Program; and by voluntary contributions to the
Federation by state beef council boards.
The voluntary investments by cattle-rich states helps make
sure greater emphasis is placed on programs where the
majority of consumers live and buy beef. It supports the
teamwork necessary for building a successful state and
national Beef Checkoff Program.

CATTLEMEN’S BEEF BOARD FISCAL YEAR 2013 EXPENDITURES
Administration

$1,536,830

USDA Oversight

$279,075

Program Development

$179,088

Program Evaluation

$179,590

Producer Communications

$1,529,824

Foreign Marketing

$6,036,723

Industry Information

$3,492,377

Consumer Information

$3,390,267

Research

$6,036,100

Promotion

$15,528,767

Total expenses

$38,188,641

*unaudited numbers