Arkansas Tech University alumnus Tom Jones was elected 2011 national chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board during the Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in Denver, Colo., Feb. 2-5.
A third generation farmer, Jones earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture business from Arkansas Tech in 1982. He and his family produce cattle and hay on a farm in Pottsville.
As chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Jones (photographed) will lead a group of 106 committee members appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and responsible for overseeing the organization’s beef checkoff program.
“My goal without any equivocation is for people to have more than enough confidence in this checkoff so that when this industry makes a decision to make the checkoff better, producers will know it’s a valid program that they can support,” said Jones in a news release from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. “As I’ve said, only the Beef Board, which works for everybody, can give producers assurance that their checkoff dollars are being spent wisely.”
According to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, the beef checkoff program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products.
States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funds are used to increase domestic and international demand for beef through promotion, research, consumer information, industry information, foreign marketing and producer communications.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board is perhaps best known for the “Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner” advertising campaign that it launched in 1992.
In addition to his work with the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Jones is also in his second term as secretary/treasurer for the Arkansas Farm Bureau Board of Directors. He has served on the AFB board for eight years.
Jones’ service to his alma mater has included a term as president of the Arkansas Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Click here to learn more about the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
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