The Cattle Industry Summer Conference is over. It’s been a great week of cowboys, steaks and following the grass roots process of the work of the NCBA and CBB. Helping me wrap up my coverage is CBB Chairman, Dave Bateman. I want to thank CBB for once again having me in as their Beef Board Blogger.
I spoke to Dave after the joint board meeting was over. Dave says it’s been a great conference. He says we’re looking at some difficulties like decreasing revenues due to things like cattle numbers being down along with lower imports.
Dave says committee members rose to the occasion though by prioritizing projects and that they have done an exceptional job. He says there’s a “unity of decisions” although that doesn’t mean everyone is happy with every decision. As he puts it, no one likes to see really good programs get cut back. He says that they’re beyond cutting the fat and now they’re cutting into the muscle.
Dave does point to a bright spot which is foreign markets. He says that the numbers are up and for that reason they’ve put some extra money into the foreign markets program.
He also says that the conference has been a good place to start the effort to improve the Checkoff with recommendations. In conclusion, he says that with the cow herd shrinking, “we’re a victim of our own success.” He says producers are so much more efficient in terms of production that revenues haven’t kept pace.
You can listen to my wrap up interview with Dave here:cisc-08-bateman-2.mp3