– More than 200 young people from 25 states participated in the youth cattle judging contest held in conjunction with the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show in Nashville, Tennessee last week. The youth competed for honors and cash prizes in the fourth annual competition. The contest is sponsored by Farm Credit, and livestock panels were sponsored by Priefert Ranch Equipment.
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.
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.
If there was one issue that was most talked about at the Cattle Industry Convention, it was probably eggs – and producers are definitely not sunny-side up on the proposed agreement between the United Egg Producers (UEP) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that would require larger cages for egg-laying hens.
“You might ask why we as the beef industry care about laying hens,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) legislative affairs director Kristina Butts. “The reason why we care is because currently there’s no production practices in federal statute and we want to keep it that way.”
Butts said legislation codifying the agreement was introduced in the U.S. House by Congressman Kurt Schrader (D-OR), who is a veterinarian. “This legislation opens up Pandora’s Box on Capitol Hill. While this bill currently only applies to the egg industry, it’s not a far stretch to see it applied to all animal agriculture,” Butts said, noting that Rep. Schrader believes that since he’s a vet and is on the House ag committee that he can control this legislation. “One thing we know from other issues where we’ve dealt with HSUS is that you can never be too trusting of where they’re going to go in terms of parliamentary procedure.”
NCBA Government Affairs Vice President Colin Woodall says UEP is looking at this agreement as a partnership with HSUS. “But there is no such thing as a partnership with HSUS,” Colin said. “HSUS operates in the mode of ‘this is what we want you to do and if you don’t do it, we’re gonna do it to you.”
Colin says it is unfortunate that the issue has driven a wedge between UEP and nearly all other livestock and agricultural organizations, including other poultry groups. “But we cannot allow them to move forward. So we will defeat this,” he said.
What do you think about the UEP-HSUS agreement and pending legislation regarding laying hens? There’s still time to vote on the question regarding the issue in our ZimmPoll on the left side bar.
International trade, cattle payment efficiency and herd health were among the key policy issues members of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association approved as resolutions during the Cattle Industry Convention last week in Nashville.
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.
The Equal Access to Justice Act is one issue that many may not be familiar with – I know I wasn’t. NCBA Government Affairs Vice President Colin Woodall explains. “This is a long-standing government program that was put in place to allow people who don’t have the financial means available to sue the government,” said Colin. That includes people like veterans, widows of vets, people trying to get benefits, etc. “Unfortunately, it’s been hijacked by extremists groups who are using the money to sue the Department of Interior, the Forest Service, to get federal lands ranchers kicked off their land. They’re using taxpayer money to fund their activist agenda.”
Colin says NCBA is having to education members of Congress about the act and how it is being used by these groups. They hope to add more transparency to the act and put a cap on the amount of money that can be used and those who qualify for it.
Regarding transportation, Colin says they are working on legislation to create uniform transportation laws across all states and helping states adopt transportation laws that increase allowable weight, length and trailer requirements. NCBA also supports giving states the option to increase truck weights with an additional axle to livestock and semi-trailers to increase braking power and place less total weight on each axle, making livestock transportation safer and less stressful on U.S. roadways. Finally, NCBA is opposing a federal requirement of commercial driver’s licenses for farmers and ranchers.
“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.”
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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.
It’s that weird transition time of the year for the leadership of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association when one president is moving in while the other is moving out.
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.
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.”
The Cattle Industry Summer Convention Media Reception had a special appearance this year. Joey+Rory performed for us and then stayed around to visit. They’re sponsored by Roper Boots and are pictured with Cindy and yours truly.
I visited with them briefly after they were done and learned just how much they love farming and beef! I also shot a video clip of their song, Cheater Cheater.
As Congress considers a 2012 Farm Bill, the top priority for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is to eliminate the livestock title, according to NCBA Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Kristina Butts.
“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.
According to NCBA-PAC Chairman Phil Hardee of Alabama, the 2012 presidential election may very well be the most important election of our time.
“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.
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.”
Just prior to the opening general session of the Cattle Industry Convention, the U.S. Labor Department announced that a proposal which would have barred children from many on-farm tasks will be revised to allow broader exemptions for parents who own or run agricultural operations.
“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.
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
Agriculture won a few battles in the dust-up over farm dust regulation last year, but it remains to be seen who will win the war.
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.
This was a very surprising sight to Cattle Industry Convention attendees when they checked in to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It’s an image promoting the Humane Society of the United States, an organization very antagonistic to farming and animal agriculture in general. It has created quite a buzz on the floor. I have a feeling that it has something to do with the fact that HSUS holds a large pet show here in May. To find out more I have emailed a request for response to the hotel but have not heard anything back at this point. I did notify NCBA and was just notified by their staff that the hotel has apologized for this oversight and has removed the “commercial” from all television screens, including the hotel bus. It is hoped that the hotel will make sure to not air this again in the future.
That was quick work by the NCBA issues management team and I applaud them for the effort. I also applaud the Gaylord for their decision and action to be sensitive to all their clients.
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.
– More than 200 young people from 25 states participated in the youth cattle judging contest held in conjunction with the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show in Nashville, Tennessee last week. The youth competed for honors and cash prizes in the fourth annual competition. The contest is sponsored by Farm Credit, and livestock panels were sponsored by Priefert Ranch Equipment.
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. 
“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.”
“You might ask why we as the beef industry care about laying hens,” said 
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. 
The Equal Access to Justice Act is one issue that many may not be familiar with – I know I wasn’t. NCBA Government Affairs Vice President Colin Woodall explains. “This is a long-standing government program that was put in place to allow people who don’t have the financial means available to sue the government,” said Colin. That includes people like veterans, widows of vets, people trying to get benefits, etc. “Unfortunately, it’s been hijacked by extremists groups who are using the money to sue the Department of Interior, the Forest Service, to get federal lands ranchers kicked off their land. They’re using taxpayer money to fund their activist agenda.”
“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.”
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.
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. 
The 
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.
As Congress considers a 2012 Farm Bill, the 
According to 
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. 
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 
Just prior to the opening general session of the Cattle Industry Convention, the U.S. Labor Department announced that a proposal which would have barred children from many on-farm tasks will be revised to allow broader exemptions for parents who own or run agricultural operations. 
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.
Farm dust regulation ranks high on the list of policy priorities for the 
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
