Changes in Nominating Process

The Cattlemen’s Beef Board voted 64-5 yesterday to make changes in the Joint Nominating Committee so that only checkoff representatives (CBB and Federation of State Beef Councils) are in the room when the Joint Nominating Committee interviews and discusses candidates for checkoff elected positions. Those positions include CBB chairman, vice chairman, and secretary/treasurer, as well as CBB Executive Committee and the Beef Promotion Operating Committee. What that means is that no NCBA policy reps will be present for selection of nominees for checkoff elected positions when that committee meets at the 2010 Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio.

I talked about this change, what it means, and why it is important with CBB Vice Chair Dan Dierschke of Texas. Dan gave me a history of the nomination process, which originally had a separate committee for the CBB. After 1996, it became a joint process between CBB, the Federation of State Beef Councils and NCBA, with all taking part in the interview and discussion process, but the final vote has always been CBB members only. “Interestingly enough, the beef checkoff is the only one of the 18 (commodity) checkoffs that has that kind of arrangement,” Dan says. “Every other checkoff has a separate nominating process.”

Listen to my interview with Dan here:

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Download Dan’s interview here: Dan Dierschke