• Reuters, Monday, February 11, 2008 10:46 AM

Cattle producers are boosting the fees they pay to finance the "Beef, It's What's For Dinner" advertising campaign and other programs as inflation and other costs cut into their buying power. At the National Cattlemen's Beef Association annual convention over the weekend, members voted to increase the fee. Although no amount was included, an accompanying directive should kick it up to $2 per head--double the current rate.

"It costs more to be a player in the marketplace," says Michael Kelsey, executive vice president of the Nebraska Cattlemen Association. Still, it will be 2010 or later before any increase becomes effective, as it will have to be approved by Congress and voted on by the U.S. cattle industry. For more than 20 years, the $1 checkoff fee has been collected on every head of cattle sold in the United States. It raises more than $80 million a year, and pays for the national ad campaign, along with other research and marketing programs.

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