News Update
Aug. 31, 2009

Consumers Maintain Positive Attitude About Beef

The 2009 Consumer Beef Index, a study conducted on behalf of the beef checkoff, shows a positive increase in consumer attitudes about beef. The study surveyed more than 1,000 consumers ages 13-65 to track changes in consumer attitudes, and help checkoff planners better understand the market and how to optimize national communication strategies.

Consumers continue to rate beef No. 1 on taste and “craveability.” Beef also is gaining ground in the nutrition category. The study revealed consumers are beginning to recognize beef’s positive nutritional aspects. They are more aware of the lean cuts that are available. In fact, 30% of “beef loyalists” put beef on par with chicken as far as nutritional value. According to John Lundeen, executive director of market research for NCBA, a contractor to the beef checkoff program, this is a victory for beef.

“The numbers tell a story. One that helps the beef checkoff tailor programs in order to ultimately help drive demand,” Lundeen said.

— Release provided by Kansas Livestock Ass’n.

Word-of-mouth marketing is effective

Marketing a business is one of the most important tasks for the business owner.

The best person to market the business is the owner.

Glenn Muske, Oklahoma State University (OSU) Cooperative Extension interim associate dean, assistant director, Family and Consumer Sciences, said part of that marketing should use a very effective marketing method: word-of-mouth.

This type of marketing is often overlooked, but having your customers, employees and community tell the story of your business is a great marketing tool.

“Today, when business marketing is discussed the terms ‘buzz’ or ‘social networking’ are often used. These terms arose from today’s technology for old school word-of-mouth marketing,” Muske said.“Think about it, who can better tell your story than a satisfied customer? Word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective means to advertise a brand.”

As an owner, Muske suggests the following to maintain a word-of-mouth marketing campaign:

• Word-of-mouth marketing starts with the owner.
  
• Find out what customers say now. Give them a simple question, “On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend us to your friends and family?” Follow with, “How can we do better?” and “What do we do well?”
  
• Remember employees are an important part of the business. Give them the same questions you ask the customers, find out what incentives matter to them and give them the tools they need. Once you have them going, stay out of their way.
  
• Look through sales reports. What items sell? Does the information correlate with what you hear? If you have a strong word-of-mouth campaign, you would expect an upward trend.
  
• Consider today’s social networking tools. There is nothing better to a company than having real voices and having the CEO serve as this voice is a good choice.
  
• Participate in your community. Be a part of it and let that be a part of your story and your brand.

“As an owner, you may wonder when to get started,” he said. “Don’t wait, get started right now.”

— Release provided by OSU Extension.

New Heifer Management Program Maximizes Health and Performance

Novartis Animal Health announces the national introduction of Healthy Heifer™, a new heifer management program designed specifically to maximize the long-term value of beef replacement heifers through established health and management protocols. After highly successful pilot programs in a limited number of regions, Healthy Heifer will now be available to beef producers nationwide.

Healthy Heifer is a veterinarian-verified management program that enables replacement heifers to reach their full genetic and reproductive potential by minimizing disease challenges. The program emphasizes prevention, rather than treatment, in order to reduce the risk of disease and other health setbacks that frequently inhibit heifer growth and reproductive performance. Healthy Heifer also focuses on proactively addressing environmental and management factors that directly affect heifer development and performance.

“Replacement heifers have a tremendous influence on the genetics, profitability and sustainability of beef herds,” said Doug Scholz, director of veterinary services for Novartis Animal Health. “But as an industry, we haven’t been very progressive in establishing standards for managing replacement females. Healthy Heifer is designed to help producers capture the maximum lifetime economic value of heifers by improving their performance, breeding efficiency and ability to produce heavier, healthier calves.”

The Healthy Heifer program focuses on five key management areas, including prenatal care, colostrum management, nutrition, vaccination, and growth and development. Producers enrolled in Healthy Heifer are provided with established protocols that include respiratory and reproductive vaccinations, parasite control, mineral supplementation, pregnancy checking and other best management practices.

Veterinarians play an integral role in Healthy Heifer, working closely with producers to customize protocols so they fit within established standard operating procedures and meet the specific needs of individual operations. Following implementation of the program, the herd veterinarian verifies that animals have been managed in accordance with program protocols. Distinctive pink ear tags will mark heifers enrolled in the program and will denote the veterinarian-verified status of the animals.

“By following the Healthy Heifer program, producers are ensuring the availability of top-performing replacement heifers and will have peace of mind knowing their heifers are healthy and being prepared for a profitable role in their operation or successful trip to the sale barn,” Scholz said.

Heifers enrolled in the pilot programs had lower health care costs, were quicker to settle in first pregnancy, had reduced calving difficulty and heavier, healthier calves that made bigger contributions to the operation’s profitability.

Scott Morey, senior bovine marketing manager for Novartis Animal Health, said the benefits of programs like Healthy Heifer that include strong animal welfare components extend beyond the producer level.

“As an industry, any time we can demonstrate and document the proactive measures we’re taking to ensure animal welfare, we are enhancing public perceptions about the beef and food production industries,” Morey said. “We are extremely pleased to support beef producers and veterinarians in their efforts to improve the health and performance of replacement heifers.”

Producers are encouraged to work with their veterinarian to learn more about implementing Healthy Heifer on their operation or visit www.healthyheifer.com.

— Provided by Novartis Animal Health.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.