Benefits of Membership in @CIRBdc

Cindy Zimmerman

For over 50 years, the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) has provided advocacy and support services for the industry and membership has never been more important.

American Farm Bureau Insurance Services Vice President and General Manager Tim Green says CIRB is focused on maintaining the risk management tools that farmers and ranchers need. “We all have the same end goal, which is to be able to provide a quality insurance product for the growers,” said Green, who was just elected treasurer of the organization. “I think CIRB has a way for companies to come together to express the importance of that on the Hill and to our government partners.”

CIRB has been implementing a strategic plan over the past couple of years that consists of being the industry’s Capitol voice, winning together through collaboration, being a DC information source, and increasing membership influence.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Tim Green, AFBIS

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

AFBF, Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Meet New NCBA President Craig Uden

Kelly Marshall

The 2017 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show wrapped up on Saturday with the election of Nebraska cattleman Craig Uden as the organization’s new president. More than 9,300 people attended this year’s convention, shattering the previous record of 8,200, to engage in grassroots policy process, hear from industry experts and attend the expansive tradeshow.

Uden’s route to President might have been unusual, he told Jamie Johansen during the event, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s been really rewarding, very fulfilling because I understand a little more about the total industry, the gate to plate mentality I like to call it, from conception to consumption.”

Uden is  a fourth-generation cattleman from Elwood, Nebraska. There he and his wife Terri own and manage a commercial cow-calf operations and Uden is partner in Darr Feedlot Inc.

As President Uden hopes to continue the organization’s success in making a difference in the quality of beef that ends up on the plate. He’ll do that by visiting members in different states to see how beef is raised and engaging members through the state/national partnership NCBA already boasts. Engagement and education are key, Uden says, and you see that at the Convention. Sessions are full, people are asking questions and ideas are being shared.

Other officers were selected during the convention as well: Kevin Kester of Parkfield, Calif., president-elect: Jennifer Houston of Sweetwater, Tenn., vice president: Jerry Effertz of Velva, N.D., Federation chairman and the new Federation vice chair is Dawn Caldwell of Edgar, Neb. The new NCBA Policy Division chairman is Joe Guild, Reno, Nev. and Jerry Bohn of Pratt, Kan., is the new policy vice chairman.

Whether participants have been coming to the event for 60 years or have been ranching for just 6 months, Uden hopes they’ll keep coming and keep learning. You can learn more in Jamie’s full interview with Craig Uden here: Interview with Craig Uden, NCBA president-elect

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photos

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

Outgoing @CIRBdc Chair Had a Great Year

Cindy Zimmerman

2016 CIRB chair Shari Bane presents Chairman’s Award to CIRB’s Tara Smith

Shari Bane of COUNTRY Financial had a challenging but fabulous year as chair of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau.

“CIRB had a lot of challenges and it was instrumental that we had a trade association with a coalition of partners across the ag industry dedicated to crop insurance and rural America to get through a tough year,” said Bane.

2016 started off with the industry breathing a deep sigh of relief after pulling off a legislative miracle in Congress by getting a reversal of $3 billion in cuts included in the transportation bill at the end of 2015. That miraculous feat was the result of some great hustling by the industry orchestrated by CIRB VP of Federal Affairs Tara Smith, who Bane presented with her Chairman’s Award.

“She really went above and beyond,” she said of Smith. “A lot of the legwork that she had done leading up to that really paid off.”

Bane talks more about her year as CIRB chair in this interview: Interview with past CIRB chair Shari Bane

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Not Politics as Usual from #CattleCon17

Kelly Marshall

It’s a busy time to be involved in government affairs, as Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association will tell you. Trump hit the ground running, which means NCBA is moving at a quick pace too, Woodall told Jamie Johansen at the 2017 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show.

The executive action to pull the United States out of TTP is a huge concern for NCBA, since without the program the U.S. will be unable to take down tariffs to Japan, loosing beef markets to Australia. Woodall is anxious to know what Trump plans to take the place of the partnership so those in the beef industry can get back to work.

Trade with Canada and Mexico is also high on the list. Whatever Trump’s wall may mean, relationships with two of the top five trade partners is the highest priority for Cattlemen and women.

With concerns about trade looming large, however, it’s nice to have good news on the EPA front. “[Scott Pruitt is] definitely a friend of agriculture when you look at his track record as Attorney General in the state of Oklahoma. He spent his career throwing rocks at EPA and a lot of times doing so on behalf of agriculture, so knowing that he’s going to come in an take over means I think we will see a lessening of the burden on regulation, and in particular I think he is going to take quick action to stop the WOTUS rule,” Woodall says.

Although we may not be ready for it yet, things are also ramping up for the 2018 Farm Bill. Learn more about what’s on the plate of the NCBA in Jamie’s full interview with Woodall here: Interview with Colin Woodall, NCBA Government Affairs

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photos

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, NCBA, Trade

New @CIRBdc Chair Honors Former RMA Admin

Cindy Zimmerman

New Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau chairman Ron Rutledge of Farmers Mutual Hail had the pleasure of presenting the inaugural Distinguished Service Award to now former USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) administrator Brandon Willis.

“Brandon has been a friend of the industry who has been very supportive and worked very hard with us and we really wanted to give him some recognition,” said Rutledge.

In this interview, Rutledge talks about this year’s annual meeting and his goals for the coming year. Interview with CIRB chairman Ron Rutledge

Willis has been a regular at the CIRB annual meeting over the past four years he has served as RMA administrator, but this year was much more relaxing for him. “Obviously, I’m not the administrator anymore, so it was fun to come and visit with the people I used to work with over the past four years,” he said. He’s preparing to move back to the family ranch in northern Utah. Interview with past RMA administrator Brandon Willis

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Wheat and Sorghum Producers Honor Sen. Roberts

Cindy Zimmerman

Dan Atkisson, NSP Vice Chairman, Chairman Roberts and Don Bloss, NSP Chairman

The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee was honored by both wheat and sorghum producers this week in Washington.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) was presented with the National Sorghum Producers 2017 “Friend of Sorghum” Congressional Award in recognition of his long-running work representing the U.S. Sorghum producers.

“Senator Roberts is a formidable champion for U.S. farmers,” said Don Bloss, NSP chairman from Pawnee City, Nebraska. “We appreciate his advocacy, expertise and wit in crafting farm policy that keeps U.S. agriculture competitive in an ever-evolving global marketplace.”

Both Roberts and key members of his staff were honored by the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers (KAWG). Roberts was presented with the “Wheat Leader of the Year” award, the much-coveted “Wheaties” box, which is given annually to one member of congress based on their commitment to the well-being and goals of the wheat industry. This is the second time Senator Roberts has received this award.

Members of Chairman Roberts’ staff received the “Friend of Wheat” award, given annually to congressional staff who demonstrated support for the wheat industry above and beyond the norm. The 2017 recipients include James Glueck, Janae Brady, Wayne Stoskopf, and Will Stafford.

sorghum, Wheat

Our Jamie Wins Best of Beef Award

Chuck Zimmerman

As we like to say at ZimmComm New Media, a big Gold Star to our Jamie Johansen! This morning Jamie received the Best of Beef award for Excellence in Agricultural Journalism. We are very, very proud of her.

The Best of Beef Awards Breakfast is our chance to honor the cattlemen and women and cattle industry partners who go above and beyond to put our industrys best foot forward. Help us recognize these men and women for their outstanding service, dedication and commitment to beef.

You can see lots of examples of her work this week at the Cattle Industry Convention on AgWired and on Animal.AgWired.com.

Best of Beef also honored a couple of other communicators. First, is the Lifetime Service Award going to Evan Slack, Evan Slack Network. If you know Evan you know why he is a Best of Beef winner. He has probably forgotten more beef stories that most of us will ever experience.

Also, Scarlett Hagins, Kansas Livestock Association, received the Excellence in Communications and Public Relations award. That’s just a no-brainer!

Congratulations to all the winners. Wish I was there but, hey, Jamie is there so you’re in good hands.

Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA, ZimmComm Announcement

Meet Two @CIRBdc Emerging Leaders

Cindy Zimmerman

Last year at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting, we heard about the first class of the organization’s Emerging Leaders Program. The program was so popular that the second class has almost twice the members and I had a chance to talk with two of those emerging leaders at the meeting this week.

Chock Hefner started his crop insurance career with Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company in 2010 and he’s very excited about being a part of this program. “The program for me means that I get exposed to the ins and outs of especially the political side of the crop insurance and reinsurance business,” said Hefner.

Nicholle Renshaw serves as the Regional Business Development Sales Representative for RCIS. “It was huge honor to be accepted into this program, it’s been a real eye opener,” she said.

The Emerging Leaders Program is for professionals in the crop insurance industry that seek to increase their knowledge and hands-on experience with key issues to help build the next generation of crop insurance leaders.

Listen to my interviews with Chock and Nicholle here:
Interview with Nicholle Renshaw, RCIS, CIRB Emerging Leader Interview with Chock Hefner, FMH, CIRB Emerging Leader

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

SCOTUS, WOTUS & Other Issues at #CattleCon17

Kelly Marshall

Scott Yager is the environmental counsel for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Jamie Johansen had the opportunity to talk with him at the 2017 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show. There are many opportunities with the new administration, Yager told Jamie. This is a time for the NCBA to find out what it’s members are looking for because now we have the chance to not only withdraw burdensome regulations, but also set programs in place that will benefit our nation long into the future.

Critical to developing or withdrawing regulations is the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. Trump’s first nominee, Neil Gorsuch, replacing Antonin Scalia on the bench, was to be voted on in committee, but the democrats boycotted the meeting and successfully delayed the vote. This has already happened for two of Trump’s other cabinet nominations, Yager says, but once the vote takes place it will probably fall on party lines and the Republicans have enough members to pass him. Getting Gorsuch through the Sentate is another matter.

When change does come, getting rid of WOTUS is high on the priority list. “I think this is one of the potentially great successes of this administration is that Trump has made is priority in his transition and the EPA transition team is making it a priority to withdraw the WOTUS rule, so we are in full support of that,” Yager says. “What we need is for Pruitt to get in there as EPA administrator formally to appoint leadership through the agency so they can look at that rule, figure out if they want to reconsider it and hopefully, ultimately choose to withdraw it administratively.”

Learn more about legislative issues facing the cattle industry in the full interview here: Interview with Scott Yager, NCBA

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photos

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef

Fresh Never Frozen to Be Featured in Super Bowl Ad

Kelly Marshall

With an expected audience of more than 110,000 people, the commercials that will be featured in Sunday’s Super Bowl are as big a part of the day as the sport itself. That’s why Wendy’s is taking the opportunity to share, not just about their fresh, never frozen beef, but also about the men and women who raise that beef.

Sharing that message has been a huge focus for Wendy’s over the past year, from the time their food truck appeared at the National Cattlemen’s 2016 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show in San Diego to it’s appearance at this year’s show in Nashville, Tennessee. The truck has literally been touring all year long, Vice President of Brand and Product Development, Carl Loredo, told Jamie Johansen at the event.

“[It’s] touting our story of fresh, American beef. I think, more than anything, we want to show our commitment to that; the fact that the cattlemen and cattlemen that are here today– they’re out there producing that beef. We’re using it, and making sure American knows that’s what we’re doing.”

There was room for improvement, Wendy’s discovered, during a Twitter discussion that led to the closing of one man’s account who seemingly forgot about the invention of the refrigerator. It’s all good now, Loredo assures us. In fact, Wendy’s even sent him a refrigerator, but it solidified the work the company has to do in reaching consumers.  “We know we have a great story to tell and we know consumers are interested in it, so hopefully we can do that in a what that is fun, and in a way that is authentic and in a way that is really interesting,” Liliana Esposito, Communications Officer for Wendy’s told Jamie.

Listen to her full interview with the Wendy’s team here: Interview with Liliana Esposito and Carl Lordeo, Wendy's

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photos

Audio, Beef