—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 12.1977
14
Low beef spending cited
as need for
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Beef
industry leaders expressed
alarm over government
figures released Feb. 8
showing that Americans
spent an all - time low per
centage of their-disposable
income on beef in the hut
quarter of 1976.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture put the total at
2.27 per cent, and noted
industry analyst William C.
Helming said “This figure
raises a bright red flag for
the industry.” In fact, the
analyst termed it “the most
significant single event of
the year for the beef in
dustry.”
Helming is president of
Livestock Business Advisory
Services, Inc., Kansas City,
Mo. He said every cattleman
should be concerned about
this drop in consumer
spending, and every cat
tleman has a stake in the
proposed beef market
development program,
aimed at retaining the
market for beef, if not in
creasing it
He added that the self -
help program is coming
along “none too early, if not
two years too late.”
Helming also said
“Today’s report suggests
that a major change in
consumer preference for
beef may be in the making.”
He stressed that he did not
want to speculate about
future beef demand. But, he
said, today’s figures
“clearly indicate to me a
shift from higher to lower
c Let us never forget
that the cultivation of
the earth is
the most important
labofofman.
priced cuts of beef,” and a
slight increase in the public’s
preference for other meat
products.
The 29 - year average
figure for beef is 2.52 per
cent. The 1976 third quarter
figure was 2.42 per cent, and
the average that year was
2.41 per cent
Helming said he believes
there are “two reasons why
people, haven’t become
stirred up over these figures.
First, thay have remained
relatively constant for so
long, they weren’t noticed,
and secondly, a lot of cattle
people don’t want to face up
to the fact that demand is
changing.”
John Huston,
president of- the National
Live Stock & Meat Board,
agreed with Helming’s
overall analysis, but said the
figures may also be a
manifestation of many
consumer concerns about
beef that the Beef Act will
try and dispel.
.“In the past few years,
beef has been the subject of
concern in three major areas
the health question related to
beef, the world food problem
and the cost of beef,” he
said.
Huston noted that beef’s
part in the cholesterol --
cancer - heart - diet con
troversy has never been
proven. And, he said, many
people think Americans eat
too much beef, or waste
grain by feeding it to
animals.
“Actually, the world food
DANIEL WEBSTER
referendum
problem Is mainly one of
distribution, rather than
supply. And cattle eat
primarily roughage and
waste forms of grain that
humans can’t eat, and
convert this material to
usable protein.
“I also believe that beef
makes a convenient whip
ping boy when talking about
inflation, primarily, because
it’s an item that most con
sumers buy every week, so
they can keep a close watch
on any price changes. The
hard facts rare that beef
prices are lower than they
were a year age.” he em
phasized.
All these factors, Huston
said, “have the effect of
eroding dollar demand for
beef over a period of time.”
The beef industry should
be concerned about this drop
in spending, he said. “We
know we have a wholesome,
nutritious product. Passage
of the upcoming Beef
vice
Right off the bat, you re going to say "oh, they’re
talking about early-maturing hybrids”
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Because our research people worked long and hard to
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It's just that our hybrids don't come out of
'Referendum will help us
begin the necessary
research to dear our product
of unfounded health scare
warnings.
“Then we must have the
resources to communicate
these resoits to thought
leaders, especially in the
field of medicine. And we
must do the advertising and
promotion necessary to take
advantage of beefs .overall
favorable image as a
delicious, very wanted food.
“Beef ha s been the subject
of much unfounded criticism
lately. Passage of the
Referendum would raise
about $3O-$4O million yearly
to begin dispelling this
criticism,” he said.
“That’s a lot of money, but
it works out to be about 15
cents per capita. That’s
pretty small investment to
protect the $l3O a year each
consumer now spends on
beef - let alone enable us to
expand our markets,” he
noted.
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your fields all wet behind the ears
And that’s going to save you headacnes at harvest,
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in your own bin
So, if you’re lookin’ for hybrids that dry down fast
regardless of maturity, turn to the ones that turn the tap
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The Producers of Punkfe G-Hybrids.
m
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