NCBA youth programs were championed by former NCBA President Andy Groseta of Cottonwood, Ariz., who prompted the organization to develop additional programs for youth in the cattle industry. The judging contest has grown significantly since first introduced at the 2009 Cattle Industry Convention, where 60 young people competed.

More than 1,000 young people attended the convention, which attracted a record crowd of 8,216.

First place winners in the competition categories were:

Novice Division – John Kohl McAdams, Adkins, Texas
Junior Division – Madison Shults, Dinosaur, Colo.
Senior Division – Gibson Priest, Calhoun, Ga.
Team Placing/Senior Division – Lincoln County (Tenn.) Senior Team A
Collegiate Division – Chris Mackey, University of Tennessee
Team Placing/Collegiate Division – University of Georgia

“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.

Listen to my interview with David Dick here: David Dick Interview

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.

Listen to my interview with Craig here: Craig Uden Interview

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.

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Regarding international trade, a resolution was passed that codified NCBA support of a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that removes tariff and non-tariff trade barriers for U.S. beef to participating countries, which include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Another resolution that was passed encourages a more efficient payment system for fed cattle in light of the recent announcement by the U.S. Postal Service that first class mail delivery will slow in the future which could cause problems for the efficient delivery of payment for cattle.

Regarding herd health, the current management of bison on federal lands by the Department of Interior has raised concerns among cattle producers so NCBA members passed a resolution opposing the relocation of any bison outside the current Greater Yellowstone Area management area, the expansion of that area and any increase in the currently authorized bison population.

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

“There’s a whole lot of market signals in place for growth in this industry,” Forrest Roberts said in his report to the NCBA membership during the annual business meeting at the Cattle Industry Convention on Saturday morning. “NCBA is riding a wave of momentum.”

Forrest notes that NCBA has a strong financial and leadership foundation and the relationship between NCBA and the Cattlemen’s Beef Board is also strong. “Let me leave no doubt – we are working together very well,” Forrest said about the policy and checkoff organizations.

He outlined goals for the coming year as increasing consumer demand and proving the sustainability of cattle production, creating new trade opportunities in international markets, and pursuing the policy priorities of removing the livestock title in the 2012 farm bill and getting permanent estate tax relief.

Listen to Forrest’s report here: NCBA CEO Forrest Roberts

I also interviewed Forrest about the record attendance at the meeting of 8,217 cattle industry members. “The sense that I’ve gotten from folks all across the U.S. this week has been a lot of optimism about the future of this industry,” he said, noting that is the case even with the severe drought in Texas that helped contribute to the lowest cattle numbers since 1950. He expects to see those number go back up again pretty quickly. “I can see us maybe moving from 30 million head to 35 here in the next 5-6 years,” he said. “The demand is there for our product.”

Listen to my interview with Forrest here: Forrest Roberts Interview

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

“I’m proud to say that this national voice has had a major impact with consumers, politicians and other cattle producers for 60 amazing years,” Jill said. “In 2011, nearly 1600 ANCW members, representing 28 state affiliates, committed to continue our legacy.”

She noted that ANCW’s primary focus is to mobilize their network of volunteers to engage in conversations with consumers and youth about topics ranging from cooking to animal well-being.

Jill has been a cattle buyer for Excel and is currently a territory manager for Novartis Animal Health and she has served in officer positions for various cattlewomen associations.

Jill is now past president of ANCW as Tammi Didlot of Oklahoma was elected the 61st president during the organization’s 2012 Annual Meeting in Nashville.

Listen to Jill’s comments here: ANCW President Jill Ginn

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

From left to right, they are: President J.D. Alexander from Pilger, Nebraska; President-Elect Scott George from Cody, Wyoming; and Vice President Bob McCan of Victoria, Texas.

We already heard from J.D. and now immediate past president Bill Donald, but below is the audio from J.D.’s executive committee report at the NCBA membership meeting Saturday morning. He makes a great analogy there between great cowboys who can spot a sick animal before it even knows it’s sick, and the great cowboys working for NCBA in Washington DC who are able to know “if there’s something brewing that may have an effect on our industry.”

Listen to J.D.’s report here: New NCBA president J.D. Alexander

President-elect Scott George is primarily a dairyman in a family partnership that also includes a small cow-calf operation and breeding business. “Cattle are our whole business,” he says, adding that he has never been more optimistic about the industry. “Demand is good, both domestically and internationally, so we’ve got some great opportunities, great prices and that should remain for several years.”

Scott says issues NCBA will be focused on in 2012 are the estate tax, transportation issues and a new farm bill.

Listen to my interview with Scott here: NCBA president-elect Scott George

Bob McCan oversees the cattle and recreational hunting and wildlife operations for his family’s company, McFaddin Enterprises in Texas. He was NCBA policy division chairman for 2011 and is proud of NCBA’s accomplishments in Washington last year.

Bob reports that membership for NCBA is just a tick above 24,000 now, starting to head back up after a drop when dues were raised last year to $100. “With the service that you get and the representation that you get, that’s not a whole lot,” he said, noting that members get lots of discount deals with companies like Roper, John Deere, New Holland and others. “There’s just not a whole lot of reason not to shell out $100, especially with the cattle market we’re looking at now.”

Listen to my interview with Bob here: NCBA vice president Bob McCan

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

People were still signing up when I passed through the registration area after noon today. I talked to a few of them and most were from somewhere in Tennessee, like Retha and Johnnie Marlin who drove down from Springfield, which is just about 30 miles due north of Nashville.

“This is our first, we just heard about it,” Retha told me as she was waiting to get their name badges. “Next time, we’re going to Tampa and we’ll go for the whole thing!”

The Marlins own J&J Farms in Springfield where they raise feeder cattle and ship them to Kansas. “My husband’s a banker and we’ve raised cattle for years but hopefully when he retires we can just do this full time,” said Retha.

Listen to or download my interview with Bill here: Cattle Industry Convention Attendee Retha Marlin

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

The Masonic Village Farm, which has been in operation for more than 100 years, raises 180 cow/calf pairs, maintains a feedlot that finishes approximately 200 steers annually, grows corn, soybeans and hay land. The Village implements rotational grazing to maintain its pastures; uses manure from feedlots to fertilize its fields; and innovative watering systems throughout the farm. Additionally, the farm invites the public to tour the facilities and learn more about the possibilities of stewardship in agriculture.

The Masonic Village Farm was winner for Region 1. The other regional winners who were recognized during the Best of Beef breakfast this week were: Region 2 – Daigle Farms of Ragley, LA; Region 4 – Matador Ranch in Matador TX; Region 5 – M/M Feedlot of Parma, ID; Region 6 – Della Ranches in Grouse Creek, UT; and Region 7 – Center of the Nation Cattle Company of Newell, SD. Region 3 – which includes Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota – did not have a winner for 2011 because there were no applications from that region last year.

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

These two guys – still current president Bill Donald of Montana and soon-to-be president J.D. Alexander of Nebraska – are just about as different as night and day. For example, while pony-tailed Bill is most at home riding the range on horseback, J.D. prefers taking to the highway on a Harley. But the two have become fast friends over the past year serving together on behalf of all cattle producers.

“It was a proverbial whirlwind,” Bill says about his year as president. “I have traveled 120-some thousand miles and been gone about 250 days from home, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”

Bill is happy to have served as president during a great year for the cattle industry, with good prices and record exports, and the passage of three new free trade agreements to help increase exports even more.

Listen to or download my interview with Bill here: NCBA president Bill Donald

J.D. is just as happy to be riding an optimistic industry wave in this year and he is excited. “It’s hard to fathom that we are seeing the lowest herd numbers in my lifetime and at the same time we’re seeing some of the best prices,” he said, noting that one of the challenges for the industry will be keeping demand up.

He says among the biggest issues that NCBA will be working on in 2012 is permanent death tax relief. “In our industry, we build up a business but we don’t ever sell out. We always try and turn it over to our next generation,” J.D. says. “We’ve got to make sure we don’t have a government tax situation that doesn’t make that possible.”

Listen to or download my interview with J.D. here: NCBA president-elect J.D. Alexander

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

“The livestock title was new to the farm bill in 2008 and it brought us things like Country-of-Origin-Labeling, a national animal ID system and the GIPSA proposed rule that we’ve been working on for the last few years,” Kristina said during the NCBA Policy Division meeting at the Cattle Industry Convention this week. “Our membership felt pretty strongly that this portion should be removed entirely from the farm bill.” After discussions with agriculture committee leadership, Kristina says they do feel pretty confident that will be accomplished.

At the same time, Kristina says NCBA is advocating a strong conservation title with adequate funding.

Listen to or download Kristina’s update here: Kristina Butts - NCBA Legislative Affairs

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

“If we believe in less government, lower taxes and the free market system, we need to do all we can to maintain a conservative majority in the House and get a majority of conservatives in the Senate,” Phil said during an update of the NCBA Policy Division, noting that right now only about 5% of NCBA’s membership contributes to the organization’s political action committee. “In an ideal world, everyone would be chipping in to the PAC.”

The goal of NCBA is to raise $1 million per election cycle – every two years – and they need to step up donations to meet that goal this year. The live auction raised over $60,000 and the silent auction at the trade show will help as well, but a guy named Jack Daniels is also helping to put some money in the pot during the Cattle Industry Convention.

“For $100 donation you get a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey with an NCBA medallion on it,” Phil said. Cases of the special edition Jack Daniels and other special NCBA-branded whiskey items were also sold during the live auction.

Listen to or download Phil’s PAC update here: Phil Hardee, NCBA PAC Chairman

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

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.

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

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.”

Listen to or download J.D.’s comments here: NCBA president-elect J.D. Alexander

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

“I have got a news flash for all of you,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) president Bill Donald as he took the stage and shared the news with some 6,000 cattle industry members from around the country who broke into applause. “That is big news. Your voices were heard – our voices were heard. This goes right to the very fiber of who we are in this country.”

Donald noted that HR departments love to hire farm kids to fill positions “because they have a work ethic. They don’t just sit on their butts and play video games. They do their chores before they catch their school bus and do them again when they get home.” Bill’s comments and the crowd’s reaction will be the next segment of “Bill on Beef”!

The proposed rules would have prevent children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment on farms and prohibit anyone under 19 from working in grain bins, stockyards and feedlots.

Listen to Bill’s comments during his speech here: NCBA president Bill Donald

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

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

Watch a YouTube video about the program below:

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Farm dust regulation ranks high on the list of policy priorities for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in 2012, with the goal of getting the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act that was introduced last year passed by Congress and signed by the president. “The bill did pass the House of Representatives by a very commanding margin and very strong bi-partisan support,” said NCBA Deputy Environmental Counsel Ashley Lyon. “It is in the Senate and we are looking for ways to get a vote on this bill.”

Ashley says the big problem is that the president has already threatened to veto the bill. “The president continues to say that regulation of farm dust is a myth and he does not want any authority taken away from EPA,” she said. “It is not a myth, it is very real.”

The good news is that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said she plans to retain the current dust standard instead of doubling it as was proposed in some early rulemaking drafts. “But we still are pushing the legislation because it would be a permanent fix instead of just a five year fix,” said Ashely.

Listen to an interview with Ashley about farm dust here: Ashley Lyon interview

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

In his new role Miller will be responsible for staff leadership of NCBA departments focused on developing and executing the plan of work funded with beef checkoff dollars. Those departments include Planning and Evaluation; Market Research; Research, Education and Innovation; Issues Management; Consumer Marketing; and Channel Marketing. Miller will take over his new responsibilities Jan. 30.

Miller has been COO of Cattle Fax since 2007, analyzing company operations to meet Cattle Fax objectives, and directing and coordinating the organization’s financial and budget activities. He also served as Cattle Fax director of research and business development from 1996 to 2006. He was a marketing consultant for Elanco Animal Health in 2006-07, and served as a sales associate for Rhone Poulenc Ag Company from 1990-96. Miller received his B.S. degree in agriculture business from Colorado State University.

“I want nothing more than for my children to be the fifth generation on the same property that my great-grandparents started back in the early 1900s,” says Glen Cope of Aurora, Missouri about his young son and daughter. “The traditions of farming and ranching are something that I think Americans should appreciate – certainly I do.”

Glen hopes to tap into the motivated and dedicated leadership of state Farm Bureau YF&R committees across the nation. “I think more and more young farmers are returning back to the farm,” he said. “They see the potential that there is and I think there’s renewed excitement in people who have grown up on the farm.”

Glen was elected to the national YF&R chairmanship this week at the 93rd AFBF annual meeting and will officially take over as chairman in February at the end of the committee’s leadership conference to serve for one year. Glen has also served on the state level as chairman of the Missouri Farm Bureau YF&R and currently serves on the Missouri Beef Industry Council board of directors as well. The YF&R program includes men and women between the ages of 18 and 35. The program’s goals are to help younger Farm Bureau members learn more about agriculture, network with other farmers and become future leaders in agriculture and Farm Bureau.

Listen to or download my interview with Glen Cope here: New AFBF YF&R Chairman Glen Cope

AFBF 93rd Annual Meeting Photos

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.

“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.”

According to NCBA Manager of Legislative Affairs Kent Bacus, the estate tax, commonly referred to as the death tax, is one of the leading causes of the breakup of multi-generation family farms and ranches. In December 2010, Congress passed temporary estate tax relief effective through Dec. 31, 2012. For now, estates worth more than $5 million per individual or $10 million per couple are taxed at a 35 percent rate.

NCBA supports the Death Tax Permanency Repeal Act, introduced by Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas). Bacus says if a full repeal is not possible, the next best option is to make the 2010 package permanent.

Listen to Kent talk about it with NCBA’s Mike Deering in the latest issue of Beltway Beef audio news.

“It’s looking really good,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president-elect J.D. Alexander of Nebraska during an interview at NAFB Trade Talk. “Our exports today can add about $200 to our individual animal value, and that is huge.”

J.D. notes that the new Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama will continue to increase U.S. beef exports. “The other good thing about it is we export a lot of our beef products that really are not used in the United States,” he said. “Some of the things that we don’t utilize in the United States are looked at as delicacies in other countries.”

Even though other markets are growing, J.D. says Mexico and Canada remain the biggest customers for U.S. beef, comprising a third of total exports. “We’ve got great relationships with those countries,” he said.

I also talked with J.D. about the mood of the industry – which he says is very positive – and the efforts of NCBA to keep Washington from over-regulating producers out of business.

Listen to my interview with J.D. here: NCBA president-elect JD Alexander

2011 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Since 2008, more than 800 of world’s most progressive dairy and beef producers have convened for the Alltech Global 500 to network and discuss the most relevant and challenging topics in the industry.

This year, the Global 500 explores the future landscape for the dairy and beef industries and provides a rare opportunity for global colleagues and friends to engage in open discussion on critical topics such as sustainable strategies and practices that can be implemented now and in the future.

I talked with Alltech Beef Division Manager Ty Yeast about the event, which will be held December 6-8. “Originally it started as a dairy event and with the success after the first two years in the dairy event, we expanded to the beef side as well,” Ty said. “Last year was our first ever addition of the beef event and we had over 125 participants from all over the world.” This year, Ty says they already have more than doubled last year’s registration.

Ty says the conference is really about looking at new ways of approaching a business that’s been around for a long time. “It’s innovation, it’s looking at new ways of doing things, and really breaking old paradigms on how to move forward and get to that next level of efficiency.”

Interested producers can still register for the event by going to the Global 500 website. You can be sure it will be worth your while.

Listen to or download my interview with Ty here: Ty Yeast - Alltech Global 500

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.”

Listen to my interview with Polly here: Interview with Polly Ruhland

2011 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Congress passed a $19.8 billion 2012 agricultural spending bill Thursday that includes language blocking USDA from implementing the controversial reforms to livestock and poultry marketing proposed last year and opposed by major livestock organizations, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).

NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall says this means USDA is barred from conducting any further work this year on sections of the rule not yet finalized. “The other four provisions in the farm bill will be going final, and those focus more on poultry than on the cattle industry,” he says. “All of the other outstanding issues that had to do with the cattle industry have either been taken off the table or with this language have been defunded. So it really protects the cattle industry and makes sure that we can continue to develop new marketing alternatives without the government getting involved.”

Woodall stresses that this is not the end of the battle because the defunding language runs only through the end of the fiscal year, which is September 30, 2012. “At that point in time, USDA could revisit the rule, especially in regards to competitive injury and undue preferences,” he said. “So, we need to make sure that we maintain the pressure on Congress to try to find a permanent fix to keep the government out of cattle marketing for as long as possible.”

Listen to or download my interview with Colin here: NCBA's Colin Woodall

This year’s contest encouraged all home cooks and entertaining enthusiasts to submit their delicious recipes demonstrating the convenience, nutritional and versatility benefits of cooking with beef. The winning Vegetable-Mango Beef Stir Fry recipe featured boneless beef top sirloin steaks, fresh sugar snap peas, red bell peppers and fresh mango tossed with garlic and low sodium soy sauce and served over brown or white rice. In addition, the dish is an excellent source of fiber, protein, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, zinc and choline.

The judges raved about Little’s recipe because of its unique combination of fresh fruit and vegetables and grain ingredients and her use of one of the 29 Lean Beef Cuts.

To view this year’s twenty winning recipes visit: Beef Cook Off 2011 Winners.

Yesterday I got a great thank you from them (video below). Well, I say, thank you National Beef Ambassadors for stepping up to the plate on behalf of your industry! I can’t wait to see some new posts on the National Beef Ambassador blog.

To get a full wrap-up report on how the competition went I spoke this morning with Sarah Bohnenkamp, project coordinator. Sarah provides an overview of the purpose of the program and describes the group of contestants and the different types of activities they participated in. You can see a photo of the new team with a list of their names here. We’ll get to see the new team at the Cattle Industry Convention, the first of many events they’ll attend in 2012.

Listen to my conversation with Sarah in this week’s ZimmCast: New National Beef Ambassadors

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

“The series of trade agreements I am submitting to Congress today will make it easier for American companies to sell their products in South Korea, Colombia, and Panama and provide a major boost to our exports,” President Obama said in a statement.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said completing the agreements “will level the playing field and secure markets for America’s farmers, ranchers, growers and producers ahead of competitors in the global marketplace.”

Once the agreements were turned loose by the president, agricultural organizations immediately began calling on Congress to end the wait and pass them. “America’s farmers and ranchers have much at stake and the fact these three agreements are moving forward is very good news for our economy,” said American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman. “Combined, the three FTAs represent nearly $2.5 billion in new agriculture exports and would create the economic growth that could generate support for up to 22,500 U.S. jobs. These gains will only be realized if the three agreements are passed by Congress and implemented.”

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Bill Donald welcomed the news but cautioned that the agreements are far from implemented.

“Today marks the biggest leap forward we have seen in nearly five years when the trade pact with Colombia was signed,” said Donald. “Our entire country, especially rural America, is nearing a historic moment.”

Donald said cattlemen “will not rest easy until the agreements are fully implemented.”

Contestants from throughout the country vied for a place on this elite team of agriculture advocates and $5,000 in cash prizes sponsored exclusively by Farm Credit. Additionally five educational scholarships totaling $5,000 were given by the American National CattleWomen Foundation, Inc. For the past several years, one Beef Ambassador has also been chosen for a prestigious USDA internship in Washington DC.

This year’s contest also hosted a junior competition for youth beef industry advocates ages 12-16. 11 passionate contestants vied for cash prizes, competing in two judged categories: Media Interview and Consumer Demonstration. The first place winner was Austin Gaspard (Louisiana), the second place winner was Abigail Grisedale (California), and the third place winner was Rachel Purdy (Wyoming). They all took home checks sponsored exclusively by Farm Credit for their top scores.