The President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is J.D. Alexander. I talked to him about how the Cattle Industry Summer Conference is going. He says it’s going well in spite of challenges like the drought. There are over 700 people registered which is about normal for this meeting. When it comes to the weather related issues affecting the industry he says that “We develop a nice business, take care of the land, take care of the animals, the agriculture, put it back better than what we had it, hopefully make a nice living off it.” The ultimate goal is to turn it over to a new generation. So they’re in it for the long haul and that includes making it through this situation.
When it comes to the work being done here at this meeting J.D. says the biggest thing being discussed is the joint committee restructuring with the Beef Board. He says it will help dictate the future including staffing and who is going to serve on which committees. It’s an election year and a farm bill year. He says NCBA will continue to work on it but admits it can get frustrating. He says the farm bill is almost as cyclical as the cattle market.
Listen to my interview with J.D. here: Interview with J.D. Alexander