Those looking to give bonuses, prizes or gifts have an agriculture-friendly venue--certificates from meat-industry groups. The certificates even make the grade as holiday gifts to city friends.

Kathy Van Bruggen of Spencer, Iowa, does not work the land or have an agricultural background. But she lives in a community dominated by the farm economy, so the livelihood of her friends in the livestock industry is of great concern to her.

That's why she gives beef and pork gift certificates for special occasions.

Van Bruggen is one of thousands of individuals who purchase gift certificates for Iowa-grown beef and pork products that are redeemable at grocery stores, restaurants and meat lockers. Although neither the giver nor the recipient can guarantee the meat product is Iowa-grown, the result is the same. People are encouraged to buy an agricultural product produced by more than 50,000 Iowa farmers.

Both the Iowa Beef Industry Council and the Iowa Pork Producers Association are leaders in the farm commodities industry for offering gift certificates for an agricultural product that's hard to wrap up with paper and ribbons. Each year more than $400,000 in certificates are sold for Iowa beef and another $200,000 for Iowa pork. That demand filters back to individual beef or pork producers.

"It really comes down to people's pride in Iowa pork," said Peter Theodore, communications director of the Iowa Pork Producers Association. "The end result is to increase pork consumption around the United States, and that benefits us here in Iowa."

Both the beef and pork programs in Iowa began more than 20 years ago and continue to grow each year. Companies purchase the gift certificates in denominations of $5, $10 or $20 to give as employee bonuses, sales incentives and/or door prizes.

Individuals purchase them through local associations or area banks. Farmers Trust and Savings Bank in Spencer, Iowa, for example, keeps a good supply of certificates on hand as a service to their customers. Statewide, the Brenton Banks, which recently became Wells-Fargo Banks, carry the gift certificates for the Iowa Beef Industry Council.

"It's the all-occasion, one-size-fits-all gift," said Brent Henningson of the Iowa Beef Industry Council. "People can take these gift certificates to buy beef they otherwise might not purchase or more of an item they planned to purchase anyway. Beef is often thought of as a special occasion meal, and this adds to that special occasion."

The gift certificates function like a bank check. The recipient of the certificate fills in the "Pay to the order of" line to the restaurant, grocery store or meat locker. The merchant then runs the check through with the rest of the deposits.

"I've used them in restaurants all over Minneapolis, and no one has ever questioned what they were," said Deb Johnson, sales coordinator with Tech-Mix, a company that makes animal nutrition products in Stewart, Minn. The company buys $15,000 worth of Iowa pork gift certificates each year for employees and clients.

"If it wasn't easy to use, we wouldn't do it," Johnson said. "We've never been able to find anything better to please all of the people we are responsible for."

That's why Don Butzlaff and Steve Teegarten give Missouri Beef Industry Council gift certificates to their clients at Schering Plough. They had given hats and jackets, Bass Pro items and Wal-Mart gift certificates. Three years ago they switched to beef gift certificates and now spend about $4,000 a year on them.

"Everybody eats beef and likes these certificates," Butzlaff said. "We think it's great that we can support the industry that supports us in this way."

The Missouri Beef Industry Council sells $10,000 in certificates each year. Promotions with local radio stations and school groups account for many sales. Sometimes the statewide organization initiates promotions but more often local county groups do so.

"These types of things are very much suited to small, local efforts," said Steve Taylor, director of the Missouri Beef Industry Council. "We like doing it because it puts a grower's face to a product, somewhat the way selling at a farmers market does for produce growers."

The Missouri Beef Industry Council devotes the majority of its advertising budget to print advertising during May, which is National Beef Month and at Christmas when the majority of sales take place.

The Missouri Pork Producers Association doesn't have a large budget to promote the gift certificate program either, but it counts on promotions and door prizes to help spread the word. Marketing director Ginny Edgar provides pork gift certificates in baskets that include a cookbook, meat thermometer and apron to be used in presentations at conferences such as the Missouri Restaurant Association.

While those help spread the word about Missouri pork, she can track the success of the gift certificate promotions she coordinates with local grocery stores. A good promotion will increase pork sales at some stores by about 40 percent in a given time period.

"I doubt the individual producer feels a major impact, but it comes down to consumer awareness and keeping our product before the buyer," she said.

Another promotion Edgar is doing includes redeeming sales receipts for pork items at St. Louis-area Dierberg's Grocery Stores. For every two packages of pork purchases, the redeemer will receive a gift certificate for another $5 in pork products.

Building a successful consumer awareness program takes time, said Jerry Masters with the Arkansas Pork Producers. The association does not offer gift certificates for sale at this time but instead concentrates its marketing efforts on the sale of ham gift baskets through its Internet website, www.arpork.org. Each year the amount of sales increases with a total of $15,000 in Arkansas hams shipped nationwide last year.

"We were really excited to get an order for 370 hams from a factory in Pennsylvania to be used as employee gifts at Christmas," Masters said. "We can only hope that order and every order we get continues year after year."

As orders are placed, the association records the name and address of the purchaser and of the recipient. A database is slowly being built so that Masters can send a direct mail piece to them at a later time to promote gift certificates. Right now, about 1,000 names and addresses are on the list.

"We have a staff of just two people, so we can only accomplish so much, but we know that the sale of gift certificates is a good source of promotion and generating non check-off dollars for our lobbying efforts," Masters said.

After the program is up and going, it doesn't take much effort to keep it alive, said Peter Theodore with the Iowa Pork Producers. He said one person spends about 20 percent of her time handling the paperwork and tasks associated with coordinating the $200,000 initiative. The sales of certificates not redeemed within two years contribute to scholarship funds for students in swine production education.

Spreading the word through the association membership is critical to success as well as getting companies or other associations on board. The Iowa Beef Industry Council has support from golf courses, which use the certificates as prizes in tournaments. Getting a statewide lending institution involved early on is also important. Its promotional range and interest in a successful local economy make the relationship a natural bond.

"I would really encourage any commodity group to approach this effort," Henningson said. "It's a welcome relief to some people looking for a gift suggestion, and it's a simple way to promote a product that most consumers enjoy anyway." n

To order meat gift certificates, contact any of the following organizations:

Iowa Beef Industry Council
P.O. Box 451
Ames, IA 50010
(515) 296-2305

Iowa Pork Producers Association
P.O. Box 71009
Clive, IA 50325
(800) 372-7675
www.iowapork.org

Missouri Beef Industry Council
2306 Bluff Creek Drive, # 200
Columbia, MO 65201
(573) 817-0899
www.mobeef.org

Missouri Pork Producers
Association
6235 W. Cunningham
Columbia, MO 65202
(573) 445-8375
www.mppa.net

Arkansas Pork Producers
Association
P.O. Box 1417
Russellville, AR 72811
(501) 967-3911
www.arpork.org