Is there anyone who doesn’t know Monte Reese? The Beef Board’s Chief Operating Officer was on the program at this morning’s board meeting to give a report on the activities of the Checkoff.

Two of Beef Ambassadors attending the Cattle Industry Summer Conference are Melissa Green (left) and Amanda Nolz.

The President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is Mike John, from Missouri. Mike took over the reigns in January at the annual convention. Here at the Summer Conference he said he was happy to hear about how beef demand has been good recently but knows that there’s a lot of work to do to continue to grow demand for his product.

Tracey Orsburn is one of the Beefmobile Wranglers and is here at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. She puts in a lot of miles travelling around the country and making sure producers better understand the Checkoff. Her vehicle is also a travelling billboard for beef.

This morning at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference there are a series of industry Issues Forums taking place. One of them is titled, “Enhancing The Brand.” The brand referred to is beef. I think the consumer research that’s being done by organizations like NCBA with Checkoff funding is fascinating. What’s even more interesting is seeing how they put that research into action.