Cattle Industry Convention Concludes
Posted by Chuck – January 31st, 2009
The CBB portion of the 2009 Cattle Industry Convention has concluded. The new officers include Lucinda Williams, Chairman, Dan Dierschke, Vice Chairman and Tom Jones, Secretary/Treasurer. For more information, go to http://www.beefboard.org/news/09_0204_News_NewLeadership.asp.
Please remember that besides scrolling down through these posts here on the home page where you can see pictures and listen to interviews and presentations, you will find individual committee pages through the Committees link on the left side of the page. On them will be the meeting agendas as well as minutes from the meetings.
It has been my pleasure to serve once again as your Beef Board Blogger and I hope to see you again this summer.
Dairy Farmer is New Chair of CBB
Posted by Chuck – January 31st, 2009
The new Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board is Lucinda Williams and I think I was the first to conduct an interview with her. Here’s some background information so you can get to know her better.
Lucinda’s roots to the beef industry date back to life growing up as the daughter of a Colorado cowboy and rancher. Lucinda’s father raised cattle in Holly, Colo., and also grew sugar beets. Early in her parents’ marriage, they made the choice to put farming on hold for a while and go back to school. Her father got involved with the Extension Service and never did make it back to the land full time. Instead, he became a professor and worked for the extension service. They lived in Virginia until Lucinda was a teen, at which time they moved to Massachusetts and their current home of Hatfield. “Even though we didn’t live on a farm, we still had a 5-acre garden,” jokes Lucinda.
After moving to Massachusetts, the first family to invite them to dinner was the Williams family who had a dairy farm in town. That’s how she met Darryl and 25 years of marriage later, she would pick him again. At the time, she thought that she was marrying a teacher but soon after their engagement, Darryl realized teaching just wasn’t for him – agriculture was in his blood – he had to give back to the land.
So Lucinda was the one to return to the farm. Darryl is the 12th generation on their land, which came down through his mother’s family. Over the years, the land has been used for a sheep operation, onions, tobacco and cucumbers. It was Darryl’s father who married into the family and introduced dairy.
“Dairy farming is hard. You don’t go into it for the time off or the money, you do it because you love the animals and the lifestyle,” says Lucinda. “There was never any pressure from family for us to take over the farm. It came down to our love for farming and that outweighed all else. It’s still quite evident it’s a family trait: Darryl’s dad still helps with chores and plants corn, while his mom still does the daily feeding of calves in the morning.”
Lucinda and Darryl milk 100 cows with a total of 200 animals with replacements. They crop 250 acres (own 180, rent the rest), raising corn, alfalfa and hay. In her part of the country, farmland is small and spread out with their biggest field sizing in at just 22 acres.
“The reality is, even though we live in a quiet, rural town,” continues Lucinda, “we farm on a residential street.”
You can listen to my interview with Lucinda here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Lucinda Williams Interview (mp3)
Tom Ramey Management Report
Posted by Chuck – January 31st, 2009
Our CBB CEO, Tom Ramey, gave his Management Report at the annual meeting.
Tom talked about the strengths of the Checkoff and the industry as well as the challenging times that exist now and lie ahead.
Tom also called former NCBA CEO, Terry Stokes, to the podium to thank him for all his support of the Checkoff during his time as leader of the organization.
You can listen to Tom’s report here:
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You can also download his report with this link: Tom Ramey Managent Report (mp3)
Annual Meeting Reports
Posted by Chuck – January 31st, 2009
We get to see Dave Bateman at the podium one last time as the Chairman of the Beef Board this morning at the combined annual meeting of the Beef Board and NCBA.
Dave presided over the CBB portion of the meeting and various committee reports.
Those reports include: Operation Committee, Joint Evaluation Committee, Joint Research, Education and Innovation Group, Joint Public Opinion and Issues Management Group, Joint Global Consumer Marketing Group and the Joint Producer Communications Committee.
You can listen to the committee reports here:
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You can also download them with this link: Committee Reports (mp3)
The Dave Bateman Show
Posted by Chuck – January 30th, 2009
It’s pretty much certain that your last dinner as CBB Chairman is going to be a memorable one. It was tonight for Dave Bateman.
Dave received some special gifts like a hat with an arrow through it since he’s been a target of sorts during his tenure and two different coffee mugs for the coffee-lover in him. Both mugs are huge.
And since Dave is also a pastor, CBB Operations Manager Charlotte Coates made him a stole, which has checkoff logos on it.
Several people shared their thoughts and memories of working with Dave on the Board. Vice Chairman Lucinda Williams had collected a series of “Davisms” during the past year. These are Dave Sayings. She actually compiled a top 15 list.
You can listen to the top 15 Davisms here:
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You can also download them with this link: Top 15 Davisms (mp3)
New Board Members Jump Right In
Posted by Chuck – January 30th, 2009
One of the new Beef Board members is Phyllis Snyder from Colorado. She was just sworn in and went to work immediately in committee meetings today.
I found her after the Producer Communications Committee adjourned this afternoon. She told me a little bit about her operation and why she got involved. She says she’s always been interested in ag promotion of all kinds and has been very involved in Colorado Farm Bureau which nominated her. Phyllis is serving on this committee because she knows that it’s the producers who have first responsibility for quality and communications is an important element of that.
You can listen to my interview with Phyllis here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Phyllis Snyder Interview (mp3)
Checkoff Change Recommendations Pass Board
Posted by Chuck – January 30th, 2009
Our Chairman, Dave Bateman, had his work cut out for him at the CBB Update Session. The primary focus of the meeting this year was to discuss and vote on recommendations to change the Beef Checkoff.
As you’ll hear Dave explain in my interview with him about the results of the meeting, the Board involved a lot of people and organizations in the process of creating the recommendations. Besides written comments from hundreds of entities, Board members met personally with a number of the national organizations to solicit input. The Admin Subcommittee collected all this information and created a document which the Executive Committee refined and presented to the whole Board at the session.
After a lot of discussion from Board members and other interested parties who attended the session, the recommendations passed with one amendment. The recommendations will now be forwarded to the Secretary of Agriculture. At that point it will be up to the Secretary and the industry to move the process for change forward.
You can find the original recommendations document (without yesterday’s amendment) with this link (pdf).
You can listen to my interview with Dave here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Dave Bateman Interview (mp3)
Dairy and Beef Need to Work Together
Posted by Chuck – January 30th, 2009
The third presenter at the Dairy Producer Forum here at the Cattle Industry Convention was Tom Fuhrmann, DairyWorks.
Tom started out asking how many attending were full time beef, dairy, or both. It looked like we had a pretty good mix of attendees. He spoke about the cull cow and the quality of the cull cow that goes to market. He also addressed the need to see a reduction in the dairy herd. He said that there needs to be an acknowledgment and agreement between dairy and beef on what needs to be done.
You can listen to Tom’s presentation here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Tom Fuhrmann Presentation (mp3)
BQA Helps Dairy Farmer
Posted by Chuck – January 30th, 2009
Jim Docheff, dairy producer from Colorado is a BQA Award winner and spoke at the Dairy Producer Forum.
Jim talks about how he has taken the BQA program to heart and implemented numerous changes in the way he runs his dairy. He says he was in an early DairyWorks class and it intrigued him since the theme was about organizing your work. He says it helped him immensely. He says he got involved in BQA about 6 to 7 years ago. He commented that every dairy cow on his farm will eventually become a beef cow. BQA has helped him plan ahead for that time to make it a more profitable experience.
You can listen to Jim’s presentation here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Jim Docheff Presentation (mp3)
Presenting Dairy Cow Numbers
Posted by Chuck – January 30th, 2009
The annual Dairy Producer Forum was well attended this year at the Cattle Industry Convention.
Kevin Good, CattleFax, presented an economic report. In it he talks about the importance of dairy breeds to beef production and the size of herds and the trends for dairy cattle numbers including changes around the country on a regional basis.
He talks about how 2008 was another expansion year in the dairy business but that he doesn’t think the 5-year trend will continue. He also addresses the need to reduce dairy cow numbers.
You can listen to Kevin’s presentation here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Kevin Good Presentation (mp3)
Meet Your Beef Ambassadors
Posted by Chuck – January 29th, 2009
Your National Beef Ambassador team was on location here at the convention today. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to meet them but these young representatives of the beef industry are passionate about it and ready to travel the country promoting beef.
I spoke with all of them at once in the same interview. You’ll get to hear a little about each of them personally and then learn what motivated them to become Ambassadors. They also talk about all the places they’ll be traveling to during the coming year after they leave here.
You can listen to my interview with the new Ambassador Team here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Beef Ambassadors Interview (mp3)
Beef Board Staff Has Its Work Cut Out For It
Posted by Chuck – January 29th, 2009
The Beef Board is facing some challenges this year with the economy and its impact on Beef Checkoff revenue but the man who leads the staff is up to it. He’s Tom Ramey, seen here actively involved in one of the many committee meetings taking place at the annual convention.
Tom says that at this meeting a primary focus is for the Board to give the staff the priorities that they should be working on in the coming fiscal year. Tom says that the projected revenue shortfall and direction from the Board to make cuts in programs now means the staff will be working over the next couple weeks to determine just where they can make those cuts.
You can listen to my interview with Tom here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Tom Ramey Interview (mp3)
Equal Opportunites for Beef and Dairy
Posted by Chuck – January 29th, 2009
Lucinda Williams is the Vice Chairman of the Beef Board and nominated to become the next Chairman. I was able to speak with her in the media room during a break in her meeting commitments and asked her what some of her objectives will be during the next year.
She says she’s excited about the opportunity to continue to work on behalf of beef producers and says that there are certainly some challenges like the budget situation. As a dairy producer Lucinda says there are some serious challenges there with prices being so low and projections not looking good. She thinks this provides a great opportunity though for beef and dairy producers to work together for the benefit of each segment of the industry.
You can listen to my interview with Lucinda here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Lucinda Williams Interview (mp3)
Beef Demand Drivers
Posted by Chuck – January 29th, 2009
The Joint Evaluation Advisory Committee held its meeting and heard from Dr. James Mintert, Kansas State University. He’s been calculating the Beef Demand Index for several years.
He presented new information from a recently completed study that looked at what has caused beef demand changes in the last 10 years. The study was funded by the Beef Checkoff. Some of the topline results from the study include: In the near term, the impact of the weak U.S. economy could dominate all other forces affecting beef demand. When working to build beef demand, emphasize beef product quality efforts and don’t give consumers a reason not to buy our product. As consumer demand for convenience products has increased, beef demand has suffered against poultry and port demand due to difference in the pace of new product introductions.
I spoke to Jim right before his presentation and he provides a pretty comprehensive overview of his research and findings and what they mean to the beef industry. He says that a summary of his research will be published on the KSU Ag Manager website.
You can listen to my interview with Jim here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Jim Mintert Interview (mp3)
Taking The Oath
Posted by Chuck – January 28th, 2009
New members of the Beef Board were sworn in today at a new appointees orientation session.
The session provided them with the opportunity to meet each other and current members of the Board. A representative from USDA was on hand to conduct the ceremony.
Also attending were current Beef Board leaders as well as staff. They provided these newcomers with information about their duties and were available to answer questions.
We welcome them on Board and look forward to getting to know them better.
Financial Outlook
Posted by Chuck – January 28th, 2009
The current Secretary/Treasurer for the Beef Board is Dan Dierschke. Dan has also been nominated to be the new Vice Chairman.
As Treasurer he’s been pretty busy lately in light of the concerns and projections for Checkoff revenue. I spoke to Dan during a break in the Executive Committee meeting. He says they’re projecting out for the remainder of the fiscal year while also looking back on the first 3 months of the fiscal year and they’re finding that collections are down considerably from expectations. He says that after looking at all the data available they’ve concluded that revenue will be down about $2.5 million. So, he says they’ve chosen to cut the current budget to compensate rather than move forward on a deficit basis.
Dan says that producers should keep in mind that even with a pessimistic financial outlook there are still a lot of dollars being spent in support of Checkoff programs that are attempting to raise demand for their product.
You can listen to my interview with Dan here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Dan Dierschke Interview (mp3)
Producers Continue To Support Checkoff
Posted by Chuck – January 28th, 2009
The Beef Board surveys producers for a number of questions periodically and the results of the latest survey were reported to the Executive Committee this morning.
Lynn Heinze, Executive Director of Communications, presented the information. He’s seen here helping Angie Olejnik, Controller, during an earlier meeting. I caught up with Lynn in the news room and asked him to tell me about the highlights of the new survey.
Lynn says that the survey shows that the current economic situation is impacting a lot of people and the number of people who list that as a primary concern has gone up considerably. He says that support for the Checkoff has drifted down a little but that still almost 7 out of 10 producers know about and approve of the Checkoff. More importantly he says, the survey shows that producers continue to feel that the Checkoff has contributed to the overall advancement of the industry and to their bottom lines.
You can listen to my interview with Lynn here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Lynn Heinze Interview (mp3)
Nominations Are In For New Leaders
Posted by Chuck – January 28th, 2009
The Joint Beef Industry Nominating Committee has submitted their recommendations for new leaders of the Beef Board. These will be voted on later this week at the business meeting.
Here are a few of them for you:
Chairman: Lucinda Williams, MA
Vice Chairman: Dan Dierschke, TX
Secretary/Treasurer: Tom Jones, AR
Tom is on the left in the picture, Dan on the right and Lucinda in front of them.
View of a Committee Meeting
Posted by Chuck – January 28th, 2009
If you’ve never been to a Beef Board meeting I thought you might like to get a sense of what one is like. I shot a short video clip at the Operating Committee meeting yesterday which shows you the Board members who are conducting business and the gallery of interested parties which includes staff, vendors, media and interested cattlemen.
I think you can see from the clip that the meetings are open to anyone and we’d love to have you participate!
Chairman Bateman Describes Top Issues
Posted by Chuck – January 27th, 2009
Beef Board Chairman Dave Bateman says the top issues are generating “a lot of interest.’
The first one is the issue of declining revenues. That’s forcing the Board to look at how to stretch their dollars further and focus on the essential programs while still moving demand forward in this kind of economy.
Another one is the improvements process they’ve been going through for the last year. He says they’ll be getting recommendations from the Admin Subcommittee and Executive Committee on that.
You can listen to my interview with Dave here:
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You can also download the interview with this link: Dave Bateman Interview (mp3)
