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.
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