Rapid City Journal - February 11, 2005
By Joe Kafka, Associated Press
PIERRE - Idaho is famous for its potatoes; Georgia is renowned for sweet Vidalia onions; and now, South Dakotans hope to gain bragging rights to bodacious beef.
An innovative scheme to stamp a state-government seal of approval on top-notch beef products from cattle carefully tended and monitored in South Dakota passed its first legislative test Thursday.
A bill endorsed 6-2 by the Senate Agriculture Committee would start the SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef Program. Only meat from cattle that are raised from birth to slaughter in the state would qualify for an official state trademark or seal.
Larry Gabriel, state agriculture secretary, said he doesn't know of any state or other government body in the world that has put its seal on beef products.
Branded products are typically the domain of the business community.
The object of the branded-beef program is to improve cattle prices in South Dakota by fetching premium prices for steaks, roasts and hamburger sold at home and abroad with a state trademark.
Gabriel, who raises cattle, believes an international market can be developed for certified beef.
"We don't intend to sell this meat to Sam's Club," he said. "We're talking about selling it in upscale grocery stores, upscale restaurants in South Dakota, in New York City, in Los Angeles, in Tokyo, in Seoul, maybe even in Paris."
South Dakota farmers and ranchers could voluntarily join the program by agreeing to follow state standards in raising their cattle, Gabriel said. They would have to keep careful records, and the state could check them to ensure adherence to the program, he said.
"If we're going to put the credibility of the state behind this program, we have to make sure everybody complies," Gabriel said.
Merrill Karlen, who raises cattle near Reliance, said a branded-beef program could open new markets for South Dakota cattle.
"The integrity of this program will be recognized around the country that these cattle do meet these standards, and we'll have more bidders for our cattle," Karlen, a past president of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, said.
The idea for a premium beef marketing scheme came from Gov. Mike Rounds when he campaigned for office in 2002.
Certified cattle in the program would be butchered by both small and large packing plants in South Dakota, and the meats would carry a SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef trademark, Gabriel said. He said a Chicago law firm has been hired to acquire a trademark for the state.
Farmers and ranchers who enroll would have to pay licensing fees to the state, which would use the money to finance the effort, Gabriel said.
The state Agriculture and the Tourism and Economic Development departments have been working on the project, and most details already have been finalized, Gabriel said. If SB220 becomes law, proposed rules for the program would be quickly announced, and the program could begin this summer, he said.
"I can't think of a better program of economic development," Jim Hagen, state tourism and economic development secretary, said. "This seal will be recognized worldwide as a safe, wholesome and quality product."
South Dakota meatpackers also are interested in the branded-beef program as a way to improve their bottom line, legislators were told. Meatpackers would have to get state approval to use its trademark on beef raised exclusively in South Dakota.
"We intend to utilize this program as a way to label our products, to enhance the value," said Dennis Wiese, lobbyist for Ridgefield Farms, which is building a $42 million beef processing plant at Huron.
Roy Lemmon, manager of a small meatpacking plant on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, said small plants would like a slice of the state branded-beef effort, too.
"This program would give us a competitive edge with some of the larger packing houses," Lemmon said. "We'd have a specialty market."
Having state government back a beef trademark would be a great benefit to the South Dakota cattle industry, Winner-area rancher Mike Levi said. Anyone can sign a paper to say they have raised their cattle in a certain manner, but official certification from the state would carry greater weight, he said.
"It gives me the ability to verify that I have completed all the proper practices in animal husbandry and raising the animals and getting them to the packing plant," Levi said.
Consumers around the world are demanding that their food be safe, and a South Dakota branded-beef program would benefit from that attitude, John Haverhals, who owns a cattle feedlot at Hudson, said.
Sens. Frank Kloucek, D-Scotland, and Clarence Kooistra, R-Garretson, voted against the bill. They said state government should not be engaging in an endeavor that traditionally belongs in the private sector.
"Once we get into this, it's pretty hard to get out," Kooistra warned.
"We're infringing on free enterprise here," Kloucek added.
Although unorthodox, the governor's proposal makes sense, said Sen. Jay Duenwald, R-Hoven, who chairs the Agriculture Committee.
"I do see this as a marriage between government and industry," Duenwald said.
A branded-beef program would help rebuild the shrinking economies in rural areas of the state, Gabriel said. He said the Agriculture Department has been getting several calls a day from farmers and ranchers who are interested in the effort.
"Wouldn't it be nice once in a while to have South Dakota ahead of the pack?" the agriculture secretary asked.
"We need to take some aggressive steps to try to get our economy stimulated," Sen. John Koskan, R-Wood, agreed.
SB220, the bill to establish the SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef Program, will be considered next by the full Senate.
