RENTON, Wash. — A million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to, so the Washington Beef Commission has had to change its promotion strategy.

The beef checkoff that funds the commission was last raised in 2001. The commission back then promoted beef in print and radio ads. The commission now lasers in on Puget Sound shoppers packing cell phones.

“We’ve gone from advertising statewide to advertising in Western Washington to focusing our efforts on the Seattle-Tacoma market,” the commission’s executive director, Jackie Madill, said. “It’s not a shotgun approach. We deliver our message surgically.”

Madill, 43, took over July 1, the day after Patti Brumbach retired after 32 years as the commission’s executive director. Madill was previously director of consumer information.

Madill’s connection to the commission goes back to 2000. After her freshman year in college, Madill was hired by Brumbach as a summer intern.

“I really do feel like this is an incredible opportunity for me,” Madill said. “I feel blessed the board of directors chose me for this position.”

The commission’s goal is to increase the demand for beef. The market right now is challenging, Madill said. Consumer surveys reveal concern about not just beef prices, but food bills overall.

“That makes people pause,” she said.

Commission in spotlight

Madill grew up and still lives in Enumclaw, about 30 miles from the commission’s office in Renton. The family raised cattle. Madill was the 1998 national polled hereford queen.

She attended Oklahoma State University her freshman year, where she played soccer, and then transferred to Washington State University to be closer to home.

She earned a degree in agricultural sciences at WSU and three days after graduating went to work for the beef commission. She earned a master’s degree and analyzed the soil on her family’s ranch for her thesis.

She took time off to have three children and resumed working full-time at the commission in 2012.

Washington has 21 agricultural commissions. The beef commission, established in 1969, is the only one supported by fees set by the Legislature, thrusting it into the political arena like no other commodity commission.

For each cow sold in Washington, the seller owes $1.50 for the beef checkoff. The state commission gets $1, while the National Beef Board gets 50 cents. The state commission collected $1.1 million in its 2022-23 fiscal year.

The beef checkoff does not have universal support among ranchers, nationally or at the state level. Because of the division, state lawmakers have declined to raise the checkoff.

For the first time, a bill this year to raise the checkoff includes a provision allowing cattle sellers to file for a partial refund. Senate Bill 5150 passed the Senate and is now under consideration in the House.

As director of the state-authorized commission, Madill refrains from lobbying. “I get to have opinions. I just don’t get to share them,” she jokes.

Smaller staff

The commission once had a four-person staff. It’s now Madill and Shannon Walker, the program, collection and compliance manager. A smaller staff and shift to digital marketing have cut expenses, Madill said.

“That has allowed us, shall I say, to survive,” she said.

The marketing targets Seattle-Tacoma shoppers because that’s the population center of the state. Consumers there are largely affluent, health conscious and not connected to agriculture.

To connect, the commission features ranchers in promotions. A national beef checkoff ad in Sports Illustrated for Kids spotlighted ex-Gonzaga University basketball star Jill Townsend, who grew up on a ranch in Okanogan.

“It’s important to really personalize our beef community,” Madill said. “We try to focus on that connection between producers and consumers, find that common ground and span that chasm of understanding.”

Another goal is to promote beef through social media “influencers,” such as chefs and nutritionists, not Kim Kardashian, Madill said.

The idea is to promote beef as people move about, Madill said. “The trend toward mobile (devices) is really massive,” she said.

It’s not all social media. The commission participated in a national mailing to doctors on the health benefits of beef.

You’d have to live under a rock to not have heard attacks on beef, she said. “When push comes to shove, families are going to choose products they trust.”

Jackie Madill

Age: 43

Position: Washington Beef Commission executive director; previously director of consumer information

Education: Washington State University bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural sciences

Family: Husband, John Madill; children Aidan, 19, Megan, 16 and Caitlin, 13