“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.
“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.
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.”
His poetic composition for the cattle industry was on the timely topic of dust – and anyone aware of the bureaucratic battle over the regulation of “particulate matter” will enjoy Tom’s “It’s Only Dust.”
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.
They were excited yesterday when attendance at the Cattle Industry Convention beat the old record of 6,862. But people just kept coming in and registering on-site after that – adding at least another 1200 to the total by Friday afternoon. The last I checked, attendance was over 8,100.
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.
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
Agriblogger was one of the “techie talkers” at the first ever NCBA Communications workshop, organized by Mike Deering and Mary Geiger of the NCBA Washington staff, prior to the kick off of the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville Tuesday.
State cattle and beef organization staff involved in communications were invited to the workshop and about 40 from around the country attended. In addition to Chuck’s presentation on the latest tools of the trade for communicators, the tech talk segment of the workshop also featured Lauren Chase of the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA).
Lauren has been Multimedia Outreach Specialist for MSGA for less than a year and has already made a name for herself in the agricultural social media world. She graduated in 2010 from the University of Iowa with degrees in both journalism and anthropology and while she has no agriculture background, she has become a strong advocate for agriculture.
One of the social media moves she made for the MSGA last year was to take advantage of the fact that current NCBA president Bill Donald hails from Montana to make him into a YouTube spokesman for the beef industry. It helps that Bill is a colorful personality with a great sense of humor and that, combined with Lauren’s talent with a Flip camera and video editing software, created the YouTube video series “Bill on Beef” which airs weekly.
Here’s a sample of “Bill on Beef.”
Follow the Cattle Industry Convention on Twitter using the #CIC12 hashtag.
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 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.”
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 leadership for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board kicked off their meetings with the Executive Committee this morning. Leading the way is Acting Chairman Wesley Grau (center). I spoke to him before things got started. He says they’ll be working on industry solutions and “settling some of the dust that’s been stirred up the last few years and we’re basically changing our attitude and getting on with the job of promoting beef.” He says the “Checkoff is as good as its ever been.” However, if you adjust the Checkoff dollar for inflation and other factors you’re only using about 23% as much money to promote beef as in 1985!
The Beef Board Interim CEO is Polly Ruhland (left). I asked her about the type of activities the Beef Board will be involved in here at the summer meeting. Polly says the Beef Board meets with the joint committees and reviews all of the authorization requests for proposed work that the Operating Committee will then review in September. It’s grass roots in action as cattle producers meet here in all these committees. It’s a very important meeting for the Beef Checkoff.
Polly also told me that she has spoken with quite a few board members recently and of course the staff. She says they’re all excited to move forward and have the stuff that has been happening behind them. She calls it a renewed relationship with NCBA and the Federation of State Beef Councils.
Polly also describes the “dashboard” that has been created to monitor the progress being made on the new industry long range plan. This includes a regular check on the objectives which will be done here at this meeting.
The next stop on the agriblogging highway for me is the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. I’ll be Beef Board Blogging once again for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
With me in Kissimmee, FL will be Joanna Schroeder who will be focusing on the activities of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. We sure appreciate their support.
If you are wondering what happens at a CISC then check out the online brochure here. Here’s what the meeting is all about.
The cattle industry comes together twice a year to discuss current issues as a group, to work on programs and initiatives, and to set the course we should take with our various projects for the betterment of the beef cattle industry. The Cattle Industry Summer Conference features meetings of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion & Research Board, American National CattleWomen, Inc. and National Cattlemen’s Foundation.
Here cattle industry members will meet in both NCBA Policy committees and subcommittees and Joint committees and subcommittees to discuss current developments, to work on initiatives developed at Convention, and to make plans for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins October 1st. Issues Forums will be open to all registered attendees at the Summer Conference, and will include hot topics. Everyone is encouraged to participate. A CBB Meeting and NCBA Board of Directors Meeting will also be held.
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.
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.”
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.
“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.”
“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.”
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. 
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.
Agriblogger was one of the “techie talkers” at the first ever 
Lauren has been Multimedia Outreach Specialist for MSGA for less than a year and has already made a name for herself in the agricultural social media world. She graduated in 2010 from the University of Iowa with degrees in both journalism and anthropology and while she has no agriculture background, she has become a strong advocate for agriculture. 
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. 
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 you can listen in to my conversation with Bill Howard, Fastline, about their new mobile game app, AgRacer.
