Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 316: The Checkoff Is Turning Global Beef Demand Into a Route 66 Experience with Cheryl DeVuyst

Transcript

316: The Checkoff Is Turning Global Beef Demand Into a Route 66 Experience with Cheryl DeVuyst · CattleUSA Daily

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  Today we are welcoming back onto the podcast once again, Cheryl
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  Dubice to come on and talk about many things that are happening
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  in the beef industry. We are talking about global beef
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  demand. We're talking about domestic
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  beef demand, which I know is a very hot topic for a lot of
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  producers right now. And then we're also talking
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  about some really fun summer initiatives that some different
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  states are pulling together to bring forth more beef demand and
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  really fun experiences for our consumer population.
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  Before we hop into today's podcast episode with Cheryl, if
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• 0:47
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• 0:52
  Thank you so much for being here.
• 0:54
  And without further ado, let's go ahead and hear from Cheryl.
• 1:00
  Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
• 1:04
  the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the
• 1:07
  updates shaping agriculture today.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
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  agriculture, here to keep you informed and connected.
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  Now let's dive into today's episode.
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  Cheryl, welcome back to the podcast once again.
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  We are so excited to welcome you on to chat about all of our
• 1:29
  topics today. How's life been though?
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  How has life in Oklahoma been? I'm sure it's been busy around
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  campus and the ranch recently. Well, things have been quite
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  busy and as you know, we're winding down on campus.
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  So while you say winding down in a semester, it seems like things
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  heat up and so we have a lot going on.
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  But thankfully in Oklahoma, we have gotten some rain and we've
• 1:57
  really needed that. So our stockers that we just put
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  out on, on our Bermuda that was able to really take advantage of
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  that rain. They're very happy and we've got
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  water in our ponds and everything.
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  So that's looking good. And while drought maps are still
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  showing that there is drought throughout our cattle producing
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  areas, I know some of us have been able to have some rain
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  lately and that has really helped out quite a bit.
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  Absolutely. I know so many people are across
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  cattle country right now are praying for a little bit more
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  rain as we go into these really vital months.
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  But it's encouraging that you guys have also gotten some
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  moisture and that we've been able to send some from Kansas
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  Town to you guys as well. For sure.
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  Well, you have had a very busy time with everything that you
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  are doing with the check off programs and in your for roles
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  there. Can you touch a little bit on
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  some global demand and some meetings that you were recently
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  in with USMEF as well? Well, USMEF had their export
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  strategy meeting recently and I was able to attend that along
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  with our CEO, Greg Haynes and our Vice Chair, Terry Quam.
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  And it pulls together leaders from the beef industry to work
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  with USMEF on what is the strategy moving forward, Where
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  are we going to focus the the time and energy on in really
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  being able to globally increase beef demand.
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  So we were in Denver to be able to do that and spend a day
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  together around a a big table and looking forward to the next
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  year of the contract work that they will be doing.
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  Can you talk a little bit about all the work that's done around
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  that table and how it kind of relates to producers back home
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  here in like all throughout the Midwest and just throughout the
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  United States? Well, one of the things that I
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  think is really important that producers understand is that
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  their check off dollars are supporting, I believe the best
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  people that we can have working not only in the US on increasing
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  our beef exports, but also in offices throughout the world.
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  And those people know the markets and they are able to
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  really be able to pivot when something happens.
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  We know that global demand and our exports are really impacted
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  by geopolitical influences, wars, other things that might be
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  going on. And when we have experts
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  managing our beef exports, we are in good hands.
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  I can't do that myself from a ranch in Oklahoma.
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  I need an expert working on my behalf.
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  So it really makes a difference for us to know that at a
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  moment's notice they can pivot and get our product into another
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  country who is ready and willing to take that product and when
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  maybe a market is closed because of a certain reason.
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  Yeah, absolutely. I think it's so easy to look at
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  beef demand and think about it here domestically, but so often
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  we just have our blinders on as US producers or just individuals
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  within the United States in general and forget about how
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  much of our beef goes abroad and how much of an impact that truly
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  plays in our bottom line every single year.
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  And so to shift on beef demand a little bit, we talked about it
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  on the global market, but I also want to touch on beef demand
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  here domestically as well. Last time you were on, we talked
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  about the meat demand monitor and I just want to hear your
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  thoughts on what we have been seeing over the past few months
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  of. Well, our consumers who are
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  surveyed each month and, and I do want to make sure that people
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  understand that it's over 190,000, almost 200,000 survey
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  responses. So points over time that these
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  consumers are surveyed and they continue to say that they prefer
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  beef, they demand beef. It's because of the taste and
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  the consistency that our producers have been able to
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  provide. And so they know they're getting
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  a quality product. And there's a key term that is
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  used and the consumers are asked about is what is your
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  willingness to pay? And over time that has
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  increased. They are willing to pay more for
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  beef because they know the quality, they know what they are
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  getting and it is tasty. They prefer that.
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  So while they are still consuming other proteins,
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  chicken and other proteins, they do enjoy their beef and they are
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  still willing to pay. So demand really is that value
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  driven portion that we're saying our consumers value this, they
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  demand this and that then translates back to our producers
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  in what they are able to know about our consumers from
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  something like this meet demand monitor and and knowing what our
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  consumers really want to have. So our producers are producing
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  the right product for them. Yeah.
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  I've had some conversations with producers recently who are still
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  a little bit concerned about alternative protein options in
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  the marketplace and their effect on beef demand.
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  As we continue to go into the rest of this year, into our
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  really vital summer months where people are starting to get their
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  grills out, people are starting to really think about having fun
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  with beef again. But it's still a concern when we
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  look at the alternative proteins that are out there.
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  What are your thoughts on that and just kind of communicating
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  what we're seeing as far as consumer demand and that sector
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  goes? Well, if they really follow the
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  numbers and look into this, they'll understand that those
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  people identifying as vegetarians or vegans are
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  declining. It's, you know, it had kind of
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  a, it might have been a sexy term or something like that to
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  say, oh, I'm a vegan. But then they realized they
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  really do enjoy animal protein and that meat and animal protein
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  can be a really great way to provide the protein that is
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  healthy, healthy for their bodies.
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  So those people identifying as vegetarian and vegan actually
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  has declined. And if you really follow the
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  stock values and information like that and some of the
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  alternative proteins, you will see that that's declining, that
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  those companies are not doing as well as what they initially
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  thought they would. And our beef producers are still
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  able to capitalize on some of these recent trends like GOP one
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  news and the new dietary guidelines that have a focus on
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  eating healthy animal proteins. And so while there might be some
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  concern, really being able to dig deeper into this and getting
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  this information that your beef check off dollars are are really
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  focused on in understanding where the consumers are, what
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  they're eating, what they want, that helps us out.
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  Yeah. Absolutely.
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  So we are going into the summer months, which is very exciting.
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  I touched on it earlier. People are starting to get their
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  grills out and we have some pretty fun initiatives that are
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  happening. And I would love it if you could
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  take a second to talk about the Route 66 Beef Trail, what that
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  kind of is and what we can expect coming into the next
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  months and why it kind of matters for producers.
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  Well, I don't know about you, but I have my Route 6, 66
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  passport and what that is, it's a beef passport.
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  And all along Route 66, celebrating the 5th anniversary
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  of Route 66 is really a chance to go and celebrate those
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  experiences in life where we can find something new.
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  It might be a new restaurant that you're looking at.
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  It might be some Art Deco buildings that you're looking at
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  going. Wow, I didn't realize Cars, the
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  movie actually came from some of this real life work that is out
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  there. These buildings and some of
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  these things that we have have as a treasure.
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  For those of us who are in these states where Route 66 passes
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  through, there's some great opportunities to go to museums,
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  go to restaurants, check in at different locations.
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  And as you have your Route 66 beef passport, you can take that
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  along, check in, you earn points, you can get great prizes
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  with hats and T-shirts and then actually be entered for some
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  grand prizes, which are pretty nice.
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  So it's really a way to explore what is around us.
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  We know that people now really want to have experiences with
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  their family, with their friends, just they may not be
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  able to take the time to go on a long vacation.
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  But wow, let's just travel a little bit on Route 66,
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  experience some of these things, have some great beef and check
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  in with their beef passport and earn some prizes.
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  So it's really a fun way to explore and enjoy beef.
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  Yeah, absolutely. And I think the biggest aspect
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  about it is this isn't ATV ad or a commercial or traditional like
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  billboard branding or mailers in the mail or something like that.
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  It's such a unique advertising experience, and I think that you
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  hit the nail on the head just a second ago talking about it's an
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  experience that you guys are providing and really encouraging
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  people to go and experience something.
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  And hey, also look at beef, like here's here's how beef plays a
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  role in this. Here's how beef plays a role in
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  the history and in what you're doing right now.
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  Can you talk a little bit about kind of like the reason that the
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  Chekhov chose to take this route for an advertising opportunity
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  and a push for beef as we go into summer months?
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  We have been able to get those states involved and the State
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  Beef Council's involved and it's National Cattlemen's Beef
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  Association as a contractor to the beef check off has been able
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  to work on providing some of this information and the media
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  that goes around that so that the states can capitalize on it.
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  And really being able to focus on beef as a preferred protein
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  and, and show the people, you know, build consumer demand
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  throughout these experiences and be able to really show the
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  people of around an area that this is hometown stuff that's
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  going on. These are your producers who are
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  living right here, who are providing this for you.
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  And it gets people closer to the experience of the producers are
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  right here producing this beef for you.
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  And it gets that understanding about agriculture, beef
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  production, and then really follows it through to the retail
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  locations, the the dining experiences, the enjoying this
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  experience with your family at a time when people are ready to
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  start there, like you said, summer grilling.
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  And then that builds into really focusing on our our outlets for
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  beef. Absolutely.
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  It's so exciting that to start to be able to talk about
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  exciting things happening in summer and just really get
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  people excited about beef as we go into these next few months
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  and really focus on that consumer demand.
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  Because I know that that is a really big concern for a lot of
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  producers right now, especially in the high markets that we're
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  seeing that we want to continue to be able to maintain consumer
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  demand and everyone be able to get a little bit of a piece of
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  the pie as we throughout the entire cattle industry.
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  So it's really encouraging that we are able to see our check off
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  dollars go to something so positive and also really fun.
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  Like I look at that and I'm like, that's something I would
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  want to do with my family too. And I'm a producer myself.
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  And so it's, it's awesome to see things go to the meat demand
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  monitor, which is data-driven and really important in our
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  decision making and everything like that.
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  We can all see the need behind that, but then also to something
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  a little bit more fun and engaging and really take our
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  consumer population and be like, hey, come have this experience
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  with us. And like you said, Cheryl, get
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  into these small towns and see where beef is truly being raised
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  and where the impact is being made every day.
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  So I mean, as we go throughout and just recap on everything
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  that we talked about today, Cheryl, whether it be global
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  demand or the meet demand monitor or just fun activities
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  that the check off is doing and really helping fund.
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  What can you kind of give us and all of those things that just
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  really gives you confidence in the beef industry as we move
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  forward? If we think about, we started
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  off like you said talking about global demand and I mentioned
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  the excellent staff that work in that area who work for USMEF.
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  They're flexible and they're focusing on those pieces of the
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  carcass that I don't often eat myself.
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  And when we think about some of the great opportunities that
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  they have to really focus on marketing our livers, our tribe,
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  our tongue, our those, those parts of the animal that is
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  bringing more value back for the overall carcass and that's
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  increasing the bottom line of our producers.
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  You think about the meat demand monitor, well someone might say,
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  well, I don't need to know that. Well, no, we do.
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  We need to know what consumers demand.
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  So when we produce what consumers demand, once again
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  that's bringing value back to the bottom line of our producers
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  because they know they're producing what the consumers
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  want. We think about those
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  experiences. What is that doing that's
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  creating additional opportunity for consumers to really have an
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  experience that makes them enjoy beef.
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  If they're enjoying beef, then next time I'm thinking about
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  grilling out instead of a chicken breast, I might have a
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  great burger because I tried that on the Route 66 restaurant
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  that I went to. Maybe I'll recreate that at
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  home. What is that doing?
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  That's increasing the bottom line of our producers because if
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  we don't have that demand happening, it really is what is
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  causing the value increase for our producers and all of that is
• 18:34
  increasing the bottom line. So you know, pulling all of that
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  together that we've talked about, the producer should be
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  able to see and understand that these check off dollars are
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  creating unique opportunities for consumers to understand and
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  continue to value and demand our beef.
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  Yes, it makes me very excited for the future of the beef
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  industry. And conversations like this and
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  talking about consumer demand are something that we don't
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  always get to talk about on this podcast.
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  We're so focused on the best practices for ranchers or the
• 19:09
  best new thing, the best new technology, all of that.
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  And it's also fun to be able to talk to someone about the end
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  product and what our end product is doing, doing and what it's
• 19:18
  doing on a worldwide scale, a national scale, and some fun
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  things in between. So Cheryl, thank you so much for
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  taking some time out of your very busy schedule to come on
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  today and share about all of these things and some recent
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  insights. I really appreciate it.
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  And to all of our listeners out there, make sure that you check
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  out the show notes down below. I'm going to have links to
• 19:40
  everything that Cheryl and I talked about today.
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  If you want to head out on Route 66 this summer with your family,
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  make sure you check out the show notes down below and we will
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  have all of the information for you to go get your beef passport
• 19:52
  as well. Cheryl, thank you once again and
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  to all of our listeners, we will see you all next time.
• 19:57
  Have a good one y'all.