Meet the new officers of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
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.”
Listen to J.D.’s report here: New NCBA president J.D. Alexander
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.
Listen to my interview with Scott here: NCBA president-elect Scott George
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.”
Listen to my interview with Bob here: NCBA vice president Bob McCan