Well Oriented Committee

Members of the 2006 Cattlemen’s Beef Board Executive Committee were schooled in the requirements of their elected but voluntary positions during their meeting in Kansas City on Thursday.

Beef Board officers, staff and legal counsel told the committee members what to expect as they manage the activities of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board between meetings of the full Board. In addition, the Executive Committee reviewed the unaudited Beef Board financial statements for January and February 2006 and the Board member evaluations from the CBB’s meetings at the Cattle Industry Convention in Denver Feb. 1-4.

The Executive Committee also considered, and approved (subject to USDA approval) a promotion partnership proposal from the Minnesota Beef Council to help sponsor a beef chef’s competition at the Upper Midwest Restuarant and Hospitality Show to feature checkoff-developed cuts including the Ranch Cut, Flat Iron and Petite Tender.

Evaluate, Apply and Renew

So we’re here in Kansas City, wind gusts and all, with meetings of the producers who volunteer their time to serve on the Operating Committee, including those in Texas, Kansas and Missouri, who have lost cattle and land to Mother Nature during the last week. But they’re here nonetheless, volunteering their time to manage the national Beef Checkoff Program.

During Wednesday’s Operating Committee meeting, new committee members were welcomed, introduced, and taken through an orientation of their responsibilities. Other discussion centered on the checkoff’s program evaluation system, the results of the latest Producer Attitude Survey, discussion of the checkoff’s role in the new Beef Industry Long Range Plan, and program status reports from checkoff contractors.

EVALUATION 

On evaluation, producer representatives from the Joint Evaluation Committee came before the Operating Committee to remind of the importance of applying the findings of the checkoff’s evaluation program. When the committee submits audits or annual evaluations of checkoff programs, contractors managing those projects need to take the recommendations therein very seriously, the committee representatives said. Contractors should be asked to respond directly to how they plan to address each of the recommendations in an audit or evaluation, and then do so, they said. Otherwise, the value of the evaluation process is not fully realized.

PRODUCER ATTITUDE SURVEY

The latest checkoff-funded survey of beef producer attitudes indicates continued support of the checkoff program, though cattlemen seem to have weak knowledge about specific checkoff programs beyond advertising. Those were a couple of the messages that surfaced as the Beef Promotion Operating Committee heard a summary of the topline results of that survey.

Completed for the Beef Board by Aspen Media & Market Research, the Producer Attitude Survey completed in January 2006 indicated 73 percent producer support for their Beef Checkoff Program. In addition, it found that 73 percent of producers surveyed consider themselves “very informed” or “informed” about their checkoff program. And while there are a growing number of producers who can name a specific checkoff program, their knowledge of programs beyond advertising is very limited, for the most part.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

In its final action before adjourning on Wednesday morning, the Operating Committee appointed a subgroup of its members to work via email and telephone to revamp the form that potential checkoff contractors use to submit requests for checkoff funding. Committee member Gary Voogt, a producer from Michigan, suggested that the form contains too much complicated language and needs to be simplified. For example, he suggested that requests for checkoff funding be called, simply, “Project Proposals” rather than the current “Authorization Request” title.

The purpose of this subgroup, he said, should be to build a form that any new potential contracting organization could understand without having to call and ask. The appointed subgroup will bring its recommended format back to the Operating Committee to consider at its next meeting, June 7-8, 2006, in Amarillo, Texas.

Learn Why The Operating Committee Is Meeting

Just as the March meeting of the Beef Promotion Operating Committee was about to begin I got to interview CBB’s Chief Operating Officer, Monte Reese.  In the interview Monte talks about why this committee is meeting at this time and the things that the members will be dealing with. 

You can listen to my interview with Monte here: Monte Reese Interview (3 min MP3)

Operating, Executive Committees Meet

Hello from Kansas City, where the Beef Promotion Operating Committee and the Beef Board Executive Committee are meeting this week. The Operating Committee meeting is Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, March 15-16, followed by the Executive Committee meeting on Thursday afternoon.

On the agenda for the Operating Committee this week is the seating and orientation of new CBB members of the committee, including Carl Crabtree of Idaho; Richard Nielson of Utah; Don Stewart, importer; Wayne Thames of Alabama; and Luncinda Williams of Massachusetts, representing the Northeast Region. New representatives for the Federation of State Beef Councils include Alan Albright of Iowa; Laurie Lickley of Idaho; and Gary Voogt of Michigan.

Welcome to all of the new members, who join the following returning members and officers: CBB Chairman Jay O’Brien of Texas; CBB Vice Chairman Ken Stielow of Kansas; CBB Secretary/Treasurer Dave Bateman of Illinois; Mike Cline of Iowa; and Gary Sharp of South Dakota. Returning committee members and leadership representing the Federation of State Beef Councils include Larry Jones of Kansas; Clifford Dance of Mississippi; David Dick of Missouri; Scott George of Wyoming; Leo Vermedahl of Texas; Myron Williams of South Dakota; and Jim Wilson of Oregon.

What is the Beef Promotion Operating Committee?

The Beef Promotion Operating Committee was created by the Beef Promotion Research Act to help coordinate state and national Beef Checkoff Programs. The 20-person committee includes 10 members of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, among them the Board’s three officers and seven others elected directly by Beef Board members. The other 10 members of the committee are representatives of state beef councils, including the chair and vice chair of the Federation of State Beef Councils and eight other members elected directly by state beef councils.

Below is a copy of the agenda for the March 15-16, 2006 Operating Committee meeting in Kansas City:

1. Call to order – Chairman Jay O’Brien

2. Establish a quorum

3. Approve Agenda

4. Approve minutes of Sept. 21-22, 2005 meeting

• Pending action from September minutes – Dairy BQA priority

5. Seating of newly elected Operating Committee members

6. Orientation and discussion of committee procedures

• Rules and Procedures
• Procedures for September meeting
• Budget development process
• Review of 2006 Authorization Request (AR) format
• Perspectives from USDA

7. Financial Report – Treasurer Dave Bateman

8. Evaluation Update

• Comments from Joint Evaluation Committee chairman
• Beef Demand Index Results
• Producer Attitude Survey results

9. Presentation of extension request

10. Presentation of Authorization Requests and amendments (if any).

11. International Market Access Update – Lynn Heinze, USMEF

12. Review FY 2007 program planning process and priorities

• FY 2007 Planning Process
• Current Long Range Plan
• Summary of Industry and Consumer environment for FY2007
• FY 2007 priority setting and committee responsibilities
• Joint committee priorities and reports

13. Action on extension request

14. Action on Authorization Requests and amendments (if any)

15. Progress reports

16. Other Business

• Next meeting – June 7-8, 2006 – Amarillo, Texas
• Future meeting – Sept. 12-14, 2006 – Denver, CO

17. Adjourn

BEEF BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

When the Operating Committee finishes its meeting on Thursday morning, the CBB Executive Committee will get its under way. Most of the Executive Committee members sit in on the Operating Committee meeting before beginning their meeting, so that they’re up-to-date on the actions of that committee when they begin their action on behalf of the Board.

On the agenda for the Executive Committee March 16, 2006 is the welcome, orientation and question-and-answer session for new Executive Committee members. Those include Virginia Coelho of California; Robert Fountain, Jr. of Georgia; Dana Hauck of kansas; Neil Kayser of Washington; Laurie Bryant, importer; and Charles Miller, Kentucky. The new committee members join CBB officers and returning members, including CBB Chairman Jay O’Brien; Vice Chairman Ken Stielow of Kansas (Executive Committee chairman); CBB Secretary/Treasurer Dave Bateman of Illinois; Sugie Sartwelle of Texas; Stan Zylstra of Iowa; and immediate past CBB Chairman Al Svajgr of Nebraska, who serves on the committee as an ex-officio member. A big welcome to new committee members and gratefulness to all of the producers who volunteer their time to serve on this leadership committee!

What is the CBB Executive Committee?

The Executive Committe is made up of 11 members elected by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, including its three officers and another eight members elected at large. The immediate past chair of the Beef Board also serves on the committee as an ex-officio memer, for advisory purposes. The Executive Committee operates under the direction of, and within the policies established by, the full Board, and is responsible for carrying out Beef Board policies and conducting business and making the decisions necessary to administer the terms and provisions of the Beef Promotion and Research Act and Order between meetings of the full Board.

Following is a copy of the agenda for the CBB Executive Committee’s meeting this week in Kansas City:

1. Call to order and introduction of guests – Ken Stielow, chairman

2. Establish a quorum

3. Approve agenda

4. Welcome, orientation, question/answer session for new Executive Committee members

5. Approve minutes of Feb. 1, 2006 meeting

6. Financial Report – CBB Treasurer Dave Bateman

7. Operating Committee Report – CBB Chairman Jay O’Brien

8. Executive Committee’s subcommittee reort (if needed)

• CBB Administration Subcommittee

9. Status of state marketing plans

10. Status of state audit reports

11. Brand or trade name references

• State partnership proposal

12. Litigation Update

13. Joint Committee appointments

14. Other Business

Future dates and locations for Operating and Executive Committee meetings

• June 7-8, 2006 – Amarillo, Texas
• July 10, 2006 - Reno, Nevada
• Sept. 13-15 – Denver, Colorado
• December meeting – TBD

15. Executive Session

16. Adjourn