The Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency’s 2021-22 business plan, released in April, estimates gross revenue at $18.08 million, up more than $1 million from 2020-21.
The estimate is based on historical revenues, said general manager Melinda German.
Of the total, the agency projects that about 57 percent ($9.88 million) will be used for market development and promotion, 25 percent ($4.34 million) for research, 12 percent ($2.04 million) for provincial initiatives and five percent ($901,930) for public and stakeholder engagement. These percentages apply only to check-off money. Administration costs are budgeted at $876,150.
“I typically look at five-year averages and we always estimate on the conservative side so that if something happens during the course of the year that interrupts marketing, we don’t see a significant drop in revenue,” German said.
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The projected gross revenue increased this year because the COVID-19 pandemic led to more surplus in the 2020-21 year as programming was reduced. German said they wanted to avoid that for 2021-22.
“We tried to estimate a little more aggressively to leave less money on the table, so to speak, so that it could be invested into programming.”
Industry representatives and the Beef Cattle Research Council are now determining research initiatives upon which the checkoff money will be spent. Potential projects involve food safety pathogens, effective sanitation in beef packing and processing facilities, feed quality and digestibility, annual and perennial forage yield improvement, and cover crop use and management.
In this 2021-22 fiscal year, eight provinces will collect the national checkoff of $2.50 per head, while Ontario collects $1 per head for national purposes. The beef import levy, charged on cattle entering Canada, provides $1 per head to the national program.
“There’s a lot of planning that goes into how national check-off dollars are used,” German said. “The BCRC, Canada Beef and public stakeholder engagement are three main areas we invest in.”
