The Cattle Industry Convention is about over. I’ve got some posts to do still but you can also find a lot of additional interviews over on the Checkoff website – Beef Board Meeting.com.

This morning the CBB welcomed a new chairman – Dave Bateman. Here’s Dave, hard at work at today’s annual meeting.

After the meeting I did a short interview with Dave.

He says he feels a mix of excitement and a little bit of anxiety because these are exciting times where there are a lot of programs and fewer dollars to work with. He’s going to focus on continuing to build beef demand while maintaining confidence and all of the things that are important to consumers.

He says they’ll continue to work diligently to improve the process of distilling what programs are most effective and can best use Checkoff dollars. Like many here Dave says that although there are some industry factors that don’t look too good right now the mood is very upbeat.

His administration will be one of collaboration using the collective wisdom of all the people who are involved. He also wants producers to know that they can contact any of the officers or board members anytime to offer their input.

You can listen to my interview with Dave here: cic-08-bateman.mp3