“It’s obviously been a year of identity,” said outgoing Federation chairman David Dick of Sedalia, Missouri (pictured right). The proposal the Federation developed last year, which was approved by the CBB and NCBA during the convention, outlines how joint checkoff committees will function in the future. “Basically it allows us to start building a new committee structure.”
David says he’s satisfied with the changes that have been made and the identity that has been put forth for the Federation and he is especially grateful for his fellow executive committee members who worked many long hours over the past couple of years to make it happen.
One of those who has worked closely with David for the past two years is the new chairman of the Federation – Craig Uden, a cow-calf producer and feeder from Elwood, Neb. “In the Federation we act as a team,” he said. “We utilize the people who dedicate their time and efforts into making this industry better and moving the needle on beef demand and the only way to do that is with a team approach.”
The Federation is made up of the 45 state beef councils that collect the $1 per head national beef checkoff but its roots stretch back to the days of voluntary state checkoffs. “Back in the 60s, on a voluntary basis, a lot of these beef councils wanted to pool their money together, and that was kind of the basis for the Federation,” Craig said.
That cooperative spirit remains the primary mission of the Federation, the sharing of beef checkoff dollars from states that have large cattle populations, like Nebraska, with the national effort or states like New York that have less cattle but a larger consumer population.
The Federation team also now includes Richard Gebhart of Claremore, Oklahoma as vice chairman. Newly elected to represent the Federation as regional vice presidents on the NCBA executive committee are Garry Wiley of Michigan, Clay Burtrum of Oklahoma and Sid Viebrock of Washington who join existing RVPs Jennifer Houston of Tennessee, Terri Carstensen of Iowa, Jane Frost of New Mexico and Becky Walth of South Dakota, as well as Richard Ayers of New York who is the new veal representative.
Right after the conclusion of the CBB portion of the joint board meeting at the end of the Cattle Industry Convention I spoke with Chairman, Wesley Grau. Wesley says the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention has been “very positive.” The record turnout of 8,217 registered has been a sign of that positive mood in the industry. He says “everyone is moving forward to communicate” and “cattlemen agree on the need to promote beef in the United States and around the world and we’re going to take those steps necessary to do so.”
You can find more reports on Beef Board activities at the convention on the Beef Board Blog, MyBeefCheckoffMeeting.com. They include board meeting financial, evaluation committee and management reports.
Kyle Bauer, general manager of KFRM radio in Kansas was the emcee of the “Best of Beef 2012″ awards Thursday morning at the Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville.
Among the many awards presented were – National Retail Beef Backer, Foodservice Beef Backer, Beef Quality Assurance, Excellence in Communications, Trailblazer, National Stocker, NCBA Top Hand Club, the Max Deets Leadership and CME Group Beef Industry Scholarship awards, and Environmental Stewardship regional winners. Check out the 2012 CIC photo album to see pictures of pretty much all of the winners.
AgWired, with our parent company ZimmComm New Media, was proud to sponsor the NCBA Excellence in Communication awards for the second year of their existence. The awards recognize communications professionals from NCBA state affiliate organizations and cattle breed associations, as well as an agricultural journalist. The recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Communications and Public Relations for a state affiliate is Carmen Fenton, director of public affairs for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) and for a breed affiliate is Angie Stump Denton, director of communications for the American Hereford Association (AHA).
Pictured with me and NCBA Communications guru Mike Deering is the winner of the 2011 Excellence in Agricultural Journalism award – Pete Crow, publisher of the Western Livestock Journal (WLJ). Crow’s family has been publishing WLJ every week since 1922.
All of the communications award winners will also be recognized at the media reception this evening.
At about 9:00 this morning, Jesse Womack from San Antonio, Texas was filling out an on-site registration form to attend his very first Cattle Industry Convention.
Little did he know that he would become the 6,836th registrant for the convention – a new attendance record that will be beat many more times over today as the line for on-site registration was still long at 11:00 am. There will likely be well over 7,000 cattle industry members here in Nashville when it’s all said and done.
Less than an hour after he registered, Jesse joined National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) president-elect J.D. Alexander of Nebraska on stage at the convention’s second general session. For being the record-setter Jesse will get free registration for the convention next year in Tampa.
J.D. noted that 2011 was a pretty good year for the cattle industry, but challenges remain ahead for producers. “I pledge to you that my top priority as your president is to do all I can to build beef demand and producer profitability. This can only be accomplished if we are allowed to operate without government intervention and, most importantly, if decisions are made to ensure future generations are able to take over our family businesses,” Alexander said. “The death tax is the biggest deterrent to young people returning to the cattle business. What we need now are jobs, a stable economy and food for a growing global population. Leaving the next generation to choose between a life they love or the inability to pay the estate tax is not something we will tolerate.”
The opening general session of the Cattle Industry Convention featured welcoming remarks from the Bill Donald, President of NCBA, as well as Wesley Grau, Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
Wesley quoted CBB CEO, Polly Ruhland, from last summer’s meeting saying, “We are truly blessed.” He encouraged everyone to take full advantage of all the opportunities this convention provides. He says, “It’s all part of keeping our heritage alive for our children and grand children.” Saying that we’re in the middle of some changes in our industry and Beef Checkoff program he followed up with “Change is never easy but it has a reputation for being a pretty strong catalyst for growth and progress.” Wesley concluded by showing the video of past NCBA President, Steve Fogelsong, that was featured by McDonald’s. Well worth watching.
I recorded Wesley’s comments for you. His comments followed remarks from Jill Ginn, President, American National Cattlewomen: Opening Remarks From Wesley Grau
The need for more training of meat-counter employees became evident after Merck Animal Health conducted a series of consumer panels that revealed consumers identify the staff behind the counter as experts. “The consumer that goes to the retail store today still sees the person behind the counter in a white coat as the butcher and they expect them to have vast knowledge of the beef products they’re selling,” said Kyle Pfieffer with Merck Animal Health, who notes that the need for training was quickly confirmed during retailer discussions.
The Better Beef Sales program includes six video segments and takes about two hours total to complete. To learn more about the Better Beef Sales retail education program, visit www.beefretail.org.
Listen to Kyle’s comments, along with Melissa Tessitore and Trevor Amen of NCBA as they introduce “Better Beef Sales” on Wednesday at the Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville: Better Beef Sales Introduction
To get a look at the work of the Beef Board during the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention I spoke with Polly Ruhland, CEO. Once again I’m the Beef Board Blogger and will be mostly posting on the CBB MyBeefCheckoffMeeting.com blog, something I’ve been doing since January of 2006!
Polly says there are two main governance issues being dealt with by special committees that were formed after last summer’s meeting. One of those is to review the by-laws. That special committee has presented changes to the Board and those will be voted on during the CBB Update session on Thursday. The other special committee focused on the joint committee structure and will be making recommendations during that same business session.
Get a full preview of Beef Board activities from Polly in my interview with her here: Interview with Polly Ruhland
Who would have thought that we’d have a “controversy” over the Twitter hashtag for the Cattle Industry Convention? Really? Well, it might not be a full blown controversy but it’s at least interesting. The official hashtag is #CIC12. Makes sense. The CIC is not just one organization. You’ve got the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the American National CattleWomen (ANCW) and Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB). To create a hashtag that only highlights one of them doesn’t seem fair and isn’t really descriptive of the event itself. I’m hoping it’s not being done to irritate or exclude the other organizations that participate in this industry event.
But apparently a number of folks are using #NCBA12 and have been questioning the decision to have the official hashtag be #CIC12. If I remember correctly, the NCBA letters may have been used in a previous convention. But that was then. We’re talking about now. A time when we’re seeing much needed unity within the industry and these organizations. So let’s use #CIC12. Okay.
The beauty and sometimes frustration of the web is that we’re all free to do what we want though. So you can use whatever hashtag you want. I’ll be following #CIC12 though and would recommend you do too.
Move over FarmVille – there’s a new game in town. The beef checkoff has launched a super cool, clever and creative way to educate people about what cows eat. It’s called “Cow Chow” (you have to love that!) and it’s an online game and video series designed to answer common questions about cattle diets.
The 10-question game and corresponding videos encourage consumers to explore what cattle eat from birth to the feedyard. The first-of-their-kind “Cow Chow” videos were filmed almost exclusively by cattle in Kansas, South Dakota, Texas and Florida wearing specially-rigged GoPro cameras to share this important animal care story from the cows’ eye view.
Curious consumers can now see exactly what cattle really eat every day as they compete in an interactive quiz game. Upon completion of the game, users can post results and badge to their Facebook page, and challenge their friends to beat their best score. The Cow Chow game and videos emphasize the attention cattle farmers and ranchers pay to their animals, their land and their communities.
“We know people are interested in what cattle eat,” says Roger Butler, a dairy producer from Lake Okeechobee, Fla. “Cow Chow shows how proper cattle diets help farmers and ranchers raise high-quality, great-tasting and nutritious beef they can feel good about feeding their families.”
The “Cow Chow: Exploring What Cattle Eat” game and videos are hosted on the checkoff’s ExploreBeef.org website where consumers can also learn more about beef safety, environmental stewardship, animal care and beef nutrition. The videos are also available on the Explore Beef YouTube channel.
“By using social media outlets such as Facebook and YouTube, we’re hoping to reach a new generation of beef consumers,” says Butler. “Cow Chow takes people to the farm via video, showing them how and where their food is raised, and the commitment cattle farmers and ranchers have to raising safe, healthy beef.”
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board is enjoying the best relationships with its contractors in years according to new CEO Polly Ruhland. I spoke with Polly, pictured on the right, at the NAFB Trade Talk session to find out how things are going after some of the recent changes.
Polly says that the Beef Board is taking a look at the structure of its joint committees to see if they can be better or re-structured. She says they’re also looking at their by-laws and some of the antiquated language that’s now twenty five years old. The Beef Checkoff is celebrating its silver anniversary. Polly also mentions that they’re starting a big life cycle analysis project that “allows us to put metrics on how we’re doing as far as sustainability goes and to communicate those to consumers.”
The national beef checkoff is entering its second quarter century with a new CEO.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board has announced the hiring of Polly Ruhland as Chief Executive Officer for the organization that administers the national checkoff program established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill.
“Polly was the right choice for this checkoff, and for this industry,” said Weldon Wynn, Executive Committee chairman and Beef Board vice chairman. “She has a powerful passion for the checkoff and for the beef industry, and she has absolutely proven in the last three months that she can run this operation astutely. She has an excellent rapport with staff and our contractors, and I don’t think we could have found anyone at this time who could have done the job as well as she is doing it.
Polly joined the Beef Board team as director of evaluation in early 2010. Her previous 20-plus years in the beef industry most recently included six years with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), working in the areas of issues management, membership and communications. Prior to NCBA, she served as communication director for the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF), was compliance coordinator for the institutional animal care and use committee at Colorado State University, and was director of communications for the American Gelbvieh Association.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from University of Colorado and a master’s degree in agriculture, with an emphasis in beef industry leadership, from Colorado State University. Polly has one son, Ryan, and lives in Denver with her husband, Randy.
“The opportunity to serve farmers and ranchers in this way is an unparalleled honor,” Ruhland said. “I am committed to working every hour of every day to promote beef through the unique cooperation and coordination offered by the Beef Checkoff Program.”
There was a great panel discussion during the General Session of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference 2011 in Kissimmee, Florida that focused on the movement being developed by the US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). The ultimate goal of the USFRA is to educate people about where their food comes from.
During a brief presentation by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (NCBA) CEO Forrest Roberts, he updated the cattle producers on how the campaign is coming along. Roberts said that this is the largest agricultural communications effort of its kind and the goal is to speak with “one voice”. He said this is not a campaign, but a long-term movement that would foster a two-way dialogue with key influencers, policymakers and consumers.
During the meeting, the first phase of the campaign was officially kicked off – farmer and rancher activation. He stressed that in order for this movement to be effective, ranchers and farmers across the country would need to speak out.
Weldon Wynn, a rancher from Star City, Arkansas who is a member of the CBB Executive Committee, said there are 49 different organizations involved ranging from cattle ranchers to corn and soybean organizations to vegetable growers, and they have a budget of $10 million dollars. This has allowed them to kick off the initiative they are promoting during the conference and that is to get the consumer involved and the producer involved. Wynn said they need to learn about how safe their food is and grassroots efforts are the only way this is going to happen.
One of the first persons I interviewed here at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference was Wesley Grau, newly elected Beef Board Chairman. Now we’ll close things out with a wrap up interview from him.
Wesley says that things went well at the meeting, “We’ve had an attitude change. We’ve had a strengthening of the industry through unification. At the same time we endeavor to remain all inclusive for every producer in the United States.” He says he looks forward to moving in a positive direction.
In today’s CBB Update Session at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference, elections were held to fill the vacant Chairman position. Elected were:
Chair: Wesley Grau, Grady, NM
Vice Chair: Weldon Wynn, Star City, Ark.
Secretary/Treasurer: Roger West, Gainesville, Fla.
I caught up with Roger after the meeting and visited with him since he’s the “new” officer. Both Wesley and Weldon were already in officer positions. Roger is a cow/calf operator and that keeps him busy. He feels honored to have been elected as an officer. He says “we’re ready to move on.”
The Beef Board staff is publishing a weekly six-part series featuring 25 years of beef checkoff successes. This is an excerpt from the first part titled, “Turning your $1-per-head assessments into opportunities.” You can read the full article by clicking on this link.
It was 1986: A gallon of gas cost 89 cents; a pound of ground beef cost about $1.29 at retail; a movie ticket was $3.71; the average price of the average monthly rent was $385; the average price of a home was $89,430; and the national Beef Checkoff Program went into effect at $1-per-head.
Fast forward to 2011: Today, a gallon of gas will set you back an average of $3.26; the average price for a pound of ground beef is $3.87; a movie ticket costs about $8.50; the average monthly rent is $812; the average price of a home is $303,713; and the $1-per-head national beef checkoff is wrapping up its first 25 years of serving as a catalyst to spur strong beef sales worldwide.
One of the people who was involved early in the process was Wayne Watkinson, pictured at the head table during our CBB Update Session at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. I visited with him about his legal work with the Checkoff and he shared some very interesting anecdotes that include when he helped write the Act and during the years he has served as legal counsel. I think you’ll enjoy hearing him.
The Arkansas producer chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board has resigned for personal reasons, according to the organization.
Tom Jones, Pottsville, Ark., tendered his resignation as chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board today. He also notified the Secretary of Agriculture of his resignation as a member of the Beef Board. Jones cited personal and family reasons for his decision, including the deteriorating health of his father. Jones was elected chairman of the Board in February of this year.
“I remain dedicated to the ideals of the checkoff and will be a strong supporter of the beef industry in the future,” Jones said. “However, there are times when decisions become very clear and choices are not hard to make. My faith, my family, and my farm come first. With my dad’s illness, both my family and my farm need more of my attention.”
Beef Board Vice Chair Wesley Grau, Grady, NM, will lead the organization until the next convened board meeting, scheduled for August 4 in Orlando, Fla. At that time, the board will decide on further action.
This weekend I learned that Tom Ramey has resigned from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. Tom has been involved with the CBB for more than 17 years, most recently as CEO. I am shocked and saddened. But knowing at least some of what Tom has been going through as CEO in the last year or so I can understand. As the Beef Board Blogger for the last 6 years I have had the honor and pleasure to work with Tom and his staff. I think very highly of the man and wish him and his family the absolute best as he moves to the next step in a fine career. I also look forward to continuing to work with the CBB staff. Polly, you’ve got a full plate! ZimmComm supports America’s beef producers and the Beef Checkoff. Just call on us anytime to help in any way we can.
Here’s the official statement from CBB on Tom’s resignation: Statement By CBB Executive Committee
From Wesley Grau, Chairman, CBB Executive Committee
June 29, 2011
After more than 17 years of committed service to the beef checkoff, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) Executive Committee yesterday reluctantly accepted Chief Executive Officer Tom Ramey’s resignation. Tom served as both the Cattlemen’s Beef Board chief financial officer and, most recently, as chief executive officer. In his role as CEO, Tom was responsible for developing and leading a team of experienced and dedicated individuals who work every day for the checkoff. Tom also worked tirelessly to provide detailed oversight of checkoff expenditures, and recently spearheaded the effort to rewrite Cattlemen’s Beef Board’s operating guidelines to clarify contractor responsibilities.
The Executive Committee has asked Polly Ruhland to act as interim CEO for the present time. After more than 20 years in the beef industry, Polly was most recently CBB’s vice president of planning and evaluation, and before that served in several senior staff positions at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Through this experience, she understands both the beef checkoff oversight and contractor roles, and is highly qualified to help us move the checkoff forward in its goal to build demand for beef.
We appreciate that Tom’s decision to resign was a personal one for him and his family, and we thank him for his dedication to the nation’s farmers and ranchers through his service to the beef checkoff.
In partnership with Sam’s Club and the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS), the American GrillMaster Experience, a beef BBQ demonstration and educational tour, will include beef grilling demonstrations, product samples, recipes and other checkoff resources designed to educate and inform consumers on grilling techniques. A total of 18 events will take place in the parking lots of Sam’s Clubs locations in 17 states from June through October.
“Mobile sampling and demonstration tours are fast becoming one of the most effective marketing platforms in America today. Savvy consumers demand to see, try, taste and experience products for themselves before they make purchase decisions,” says Jane Frost of New Mexico, vice chair of the checkoff’s Joint Retail Committee. “Connecting with consumers through promotional sampling in a fun and exciting environment proves to be one of the best ways to engage our target audience, promote our beef products and drive home our promotional messages that keep beef in the minds and in the shopping carts of our consumers.”
Thanks in part to a partnership with the Beef Checkoff Program, the American Heart Association has listed three beef cuts as part of its Food Certification Program. This program places the association’s heart-check mark on food packages to helps healthy consumers over age 2 identify foods that meet criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol.
The three beef cuts that met the American Heart Association’s criteria for extra lean and now are certified to display the heart-check mark include:
– Boneless Top Sirloin Petite Roast (select grade)
– Top Sirloin Filet (select grade)
– Top Sirloin Kabob (select grade)
The American Heart Association’s heart-check mark is the one of the most trusted icons on food packaging today – and it continues to resonate with health-conscious shoppers, even in a challenging economy. In fact, more than 83 percent of consumers have an aided awareness of the heart-check mark, and nearly 75 percent of primary grocery shoppers say the heart-check mark improves the likelihood that they’ll buy a product.
This certification allows retailers to display the heart-check mark on fresh case beef packages, promoting the health benefits of a serving of these particular beef cuts to their customers.
To learn more about receiving the American Heart Association’s certification, please visit www.BeefRetail.org.
The last business conducted during the Board of Directors meeting of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board was the electing of new officers. The nominating committee announced their slate and a vote passed their nominations.
New officers include Chairman, Tom Jones, Arkansas (pictured), Vice-Chair, Wesley Grau, New Mexico and Secretary/Treasurer, Weldon Wynn, Arkansas.
I joined with Ron Hayes, Radio Oklahoma Network and Stewart Doane, AgriPulse, in interviewing Tom as the new chairman right after the meeting. Tom says getting to work right away on the new Beef Industry Long Range plan is his priority.
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
Chuck and Mike often wind up at the same events all over the country so it seemed like a good idea to do a little AgriTalking about the changes they've seen in the ag media landscape.
“It’s obviously been a year of identity,” said outgoing Federation chairman David Dick of Sedalia, Missouri (pictured right). The proposal the Federation developed last year, which was approved by the CBB and NCBA during the convention, outlines how joint checkoff committees will function in the future. “Basically it allows us to start building a new committee structure.”
Kyle Bauer, general manager of 
AgWired, with our parent company ZimmComm New Media, was proud to sponsor the NCBA Excellence in Communication awards for the second year of their existence. The awards recognize communications professionals from NCBA state affiliate organizations and cattle breed associations, as well as an agricultural journalist. The recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Communications and Public Relations for a state affiliate is Carmen Fenton, director of public affairs for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) and for a breed affiliate is Angie Stump Denton, director of communications for the American Hereford Association (AHA). 
At about 9:00 this morning, Jesse Womack from San Antonio, Texas was filling out an on-site registration form to attend his very first Cattle Industry Convention. 
Less than an hour after he registered, Jesse joined 
The need for more training of meat-counter employees became evident after Merck Animal Health conducted a series of consumer panels that revealed consumers identify the staff behind the counter as experts. “The consumer that goes to the retail store today still sees the person behind the counter in a white coat as the butcher and they expect them to have vast knowledge of the beef products they’re selling,” said Kyle Pfieffer with Merck Animal Health, who notes that the need for training was quickly confirmed during retailer discussions.
The 10-question game and corresponding videos encourage consumers to explore what cattle eat from birth to the feedyard. The first-of-their-kind “Cow Chow” videos were filmed almost exclusively by cattle in Kansas, South Dakota, Texas and Florida wearing specially-rigged GoPro cameras to share this important animal care story from the cows’ eye view.
The 
Tom Jones, Pottsville, Ark., tendered his resignation as chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board today. He also notified the Secretary of Agriculture of his resignation as a member of the Beef Board. Jones cited personal and family reasons for his decision, including the deteriorating health of his father. 
This weekend I learned that Tom Ramey has resigned from the 
In partnership with Sam’s Club and the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS), the American GrillMaster Experience, a beef BBQ demonstration and educational tour, will include beef grilling demonstrations, product samples, recipes and other checkoff resources designed to educate and inform consumers on grilling techniques. A total of 18 events will take place in the parking lots of Sam’s Clubs locations in 17 states from June through October.
The last business conducted during the Board of Directors meeting of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board was the electing of new officers. The nominating committee announced their slate and a vote passed their nominations.
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
