American beef farmers lose their taste for ads funded by mandatory fees

Sonic Drive-In is mixing chopped mushrooms with ground beef to make cheeseburgers, and the US government is behind it.

Sonic Signature Slingers are a calculated effort by the farmer-funded Mushroom Council, one of 22 such rah-rah groups created by the US Department of Agriculture to promote commodities such as cotton, mangoes and Christmas trees.

Since the 1990s, the money for campaigns like “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner” and “Got Milk?” came from mandatory fees charged to producers to fund the industry organisations.

Now, the payments are under threat from cattle ranchers and their congressional allies who want to make them optional. They say they’d prefer that advertising not benefit rival beef producers from other countries, who also pay fees, because US beef is best.

In the meantime, mushroom farmers are cashing in. In the year ended January 28, US sales rose 4.9 per cent to $1.24 billion compared with a year earlier, according to the Mushroom Council. On average, farmers get paid back about $9 for every dollar spent on the marketing, according to a study co-authored by Gary Williams, professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University. For example, the United Soybean Board return is $5.20 on average, while egg farmers get back $8.11. “The programmes are highly effective,” Mr Williams says. “It’s a very good return per dollar invested.”

Still, some large producers balk at the fees, and some have filed suit against the USDA. In 2016, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, a non-profit that advocates for independent US ranchers, filed a complaint arguing the required fees violate the First Amendment by forcing them to subsidise speech they don’t agree with. The group supports Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee’s legislation prohibiting mandatory checkoff fees. “We’re forced to pay and advertise foreign beef in the US,” says Bill Bullard, chief executive of the Montana-based legal fund. “We have a superior product, and it’s coveted the world over.”

In March, Sonic introduced two temporary menu items – hamburgers with a beef and white-button-mushroom patty, one with and one without bacon. The bacon-free burger has 340 calories, compared with 710 for a regular Sonic cheeseburger, and the chain says it has all the flavour “with none of the guilt”. The burgers were more than two years in the making, created and tested at Sonic’s Oklahoma City headquarters with the help of the Mushroom Council. Sonic had to figure out how to hawk them, says Scott Uehlein, vice president of product innovation and development at the 3,500-location chain. “It’s a tough story to sell,” Mr Uehlein says. “But it’s a cool thing. The consumer wants something that’s better for you. They want things that are indulgent. It checks all the boxes.”

The Mushroom Council likes to say it’s also inspired chefs at Cheesecake Factory, Shake Shack and Darden Restaurants’ Seasons 52 chain.

Recently, blueberries landed on the menu at steakhouse chain Sizzler in the form of a blueberry lemonade – considered a big win for the US Highbush Blueberry Council, which worked on bringing the refreshment to the chain’s menu. Sizzler had 123 outlets as of last year, according to Technomic. Because the fruit isn’t in season during the winter, Mission Viejo, California-based Sizzler is getting them from Peru.

In May, the company will add more blueberries as part of a spinach salad with almonds and feta cheese.

“Because the growers all pay into this fund, they want to know what the council is doing for them,” says Andrew Hunter, a chef who works with the mushroom, egg and blueberry marketing programmes.

“This is a tangible way for boards to say, ‘This is what we’re doing for you.’ “Sizzler’s blueberry lemonade. That’s tangible.”

In 2015, blueberries were added to menus in more than 8,000 chain restaurant locations, according to the council, which has also worked with Dairy Queen, Wendy’s and Red Lobster in recent years.

The council says its efforts have led to higher demand.

The American Egg Board focuses on dining chains with at least 600 locations, says John Howeth, the group’s senior vice president of market development. In November, the board, along with agency BBDO Worldwide, relaunched its “Incredible Edible Egg” ad campaign from decades ago with the tagline: “How do you like your eggs?” But the name has been shortened. It’s now “The Incredible Egg”.