NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee cattle producers will soon pay an assessment on each head sold that will go toward an in-state promotion of beef, a move that industry officials hope will make Tennessee’s cattle market stronger.

The 50 cent fee will begin April 1 after cattle producers voted for it in December.

Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Julius Johnson said upon authorizing the referendum that cattle and calves are the state’s top agricultural commodity and account for more than $500 million annually in farm income.

“In these times of changing markets and consumer attitudes, I think it’s important that cattle producers take time to reassess how their product is marketed and how to pay for it,” he said.

Mark Barker, chairman of the newly organized Tennessee Beef Promotion Board said, in today’s competitive market, Tennessee cattle producers need all the advantage they can get.

“The good prices that producers are receiving for their cattle today are due in part to Beef Industry Council promotion efforts,” he added “We’re committed to using these dollars responsibly to promote Tennessee beef products and to increase markets for our producers.”

The national beef checkoff program collects $1 per head of cattle sold to promote beef both on a national and state level. That program created the Beef, it’s what’s for dinner campaign.

Tom Womack, director of Public Affairs for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture said the national program splits that $1 fee, with half staying in-state to be used for beef promotion.

“It has been several years since the national program was set up and authorized so with fewer head of cattle being sold and inflation, the buying power of those dollars has gotten less over the years,” he said.

Womack said that these new state dollars will go for beef education and research, as well as promotional endeavors.

Currently producers are enjoying higher market prices and a strong export market for their cattle.

The Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board recently quoted information released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) that noted U.S. beef exports reached an all-time high in 2011.

“Beef exports finished the year at 1.287 million metric tons valued at $5.42 billion. This broke the 2003 volume record of 1.274 million metric tons and easily surpassed the 2010 value record of $4.08 billion. Export volume was 21 percent larger than in 2010, with value up 33 percent,” the information stated.

USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng said it is extremely gratifying to see all red meat exports reaching new heights, even with the various trade obstacles we still face across the world.

“U.S. producers have provided superior products to market and made solid investments in the international markets – not only from pork, beef and lamb check-off programs, but also from the corn and soybean check-offs,” he said. “Along with the experienced staff we have in place in the foreign markets, our trade officials who continue to work for greater market access and the exporters and traders who work every day to grow the presence of U.S. meat worldwide, they are to be commended for their foresight and commitment to global marketing.”

But many organizations and reports in this country have spoken out against or the implications of the consumption of red meat. Just last week a medical study from Harvard University and published by the Archives of Internal Medicine stated that, “Red meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality. Substitution of other healthy protein sources for red meat is associated with a lower mortality risk.”

Reports such as these make research and promotions paid for by assessment dollars all that more important said Charles Hord, executive vice-president of the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Assoc.

“With some of the challenges we are facing right now; attacks on animal agriculture; some of the pro-vegetarian messages that are out there, we really felt like we needed to make sure we were sharing our message,” he said.

The beef industry has done a little research on its own. According to information from Beef Nutrition.org, a web site funded by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Federation of State Beef Councils, “A recent study called BOLD (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet) found that including lean beef daily is as effective at lowering cholesterol levels as traditional heart-healthy diets such as Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH).”

That study, published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded, “Low saturated fatty acid, heart-healthy dietary patterns that contain lean beef elicit favorable effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) lipid and lipoprotein risk factors that are comparable to those elicited by a DASH dietary pattern.

The DASH diet was recently named as the best overall diet by U.S. News and World Report.

Hord noted that the assessment vote was close and there is still much to do in convincing those who voted against it how important this new money will be for the cattle industry. He also emphasized that the new assessment is voluntary and while the 50 cents will be collected at the time an animal is sold, producers can ask to have that money returned.

“If (producers) sell their cattle at the local livestock market, they are expected to pay that 50 cent check-off and the market will collect it just like they do the federal check-off. But they will have 90 days to request that the money be returned to them and it will be by statute,” Hord said.

The assessment will be collected by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, held for 90 days and sent on to the Beef Council except for any dollars requested back by producers.