New CBB Chairman Dan Dierschke

Welcome new CBB Chairman Dan Dierschke, Texas rancher. Dan took the gavel this morning at the annual meeting and I spoke with him about his priorities for the coming year.

Dan says he has three goals as chairman: 1) develop an effective response to the increasing demands of the anti-animal use activists, 2) continue to use checkoff investments to build beef demand, and 3) reduce counter-productive arguments within the industry and stress our common goals.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) my interview with Dan here:

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Here’s the list of new officers/executive committee members:

Chairman: Dan Dierschke, TX
Vice Chairman: Tom Jones, AR
Secretary/Treasurer: Robert Fountain, Jr., GA
Virginia Coehlo, CA
Virginia Davis, IN
Will Frazee, IA
Wesley Grau, NM
Kristy Lage, NE
Hank Maxey, Jr., VA
Daryl Berlier Owen, TX
Sid Sumner, FL

CBB Management Report

Each annual meeting of the CBB concludes with a report from the CEO. Tom Ramey reported this morning and I have his comments recorded for you to listen to.

Tom detailed the changes in the staff during the last year and says he feels real good about the people who are working on behalf of the checkoff in the office. He mentioned that the latest producer attitude survey showed that 69 percent either strongly or somewhat strongly approve of the checkoff. That’s up slightly from last year. Tom also mentioned that he and the officers are committed to working with NCBA to help achieve the mission of improving beef demand.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) their reports here:

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Annual Meeting Reports

The annual business meeting of the CBB was held this morning and a series of reports given with the session presided over by outgoing Chairman Lucinda Williams.

We heard the financial and audit report from Tom Jones and Dave Fugate and then the executive committee report from Dan Dierschke.

I’ve recorded their reports for you to listen to and all documents will be made available via the website shortly.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) their reports here:

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Rich Otley Graduates

This is CBB graduate Rich Otley. Rich didn’t retire from the staff last night, he graduated.

So a portion of the CBB Banquet program was given to honoring Rich for his years of service as Director of Evaluation. He was even given the light box he became so famous for. If you haven’t attended an Operating Committee meeting then you don’t know that he built a box with two lights to let presenters know that their time was up and then needed to sit down.

CBB CEO Tom Ramey and others made remarks about Rich and his time with the organization and then presented him with a couple of gifts. Then Rich took a few minutes to thank a lot of the people he’s worked with over the years.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) their comments here:

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Saying Goodbye to Lucinda

At the annual CBB Banquet we honored outgoing Chairman, Lucinda Williams. She’s seen here with one of the quilts she made for the staff and board. All board members were asked to sign them before they left.

Then we heard comments from both Dan Dierschke, incoming CBB Chairman and Tom Ramey, CBB CEO. They came to the stage and expressed their appreciation and enjoyment with working with Lucinda. They noted her endless energy and care for other people at all times.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) their comments here:

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CBB Update Session

The annual CBB Update Session had a special guest this year. Ed Avalos, USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs made some brief remarks.

He said he’s looking forward to working with his counterparts in Mexico to help open that market up more.

The CBB Update session is conducted annually and provides producers with an opportunity to hear from leadership and discuss issues in an open forum.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) his comments here:

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Dairy Forum And Lunch

The Dairy Producer Communications Forum and Lunch has become a tradition at the Cattle Industry Convention. It’s an opportunity for beef and dairy producers to get together and discuss common issues.

At this year’s event producers had a presentation from Melissa Slagle and Stan Erwine titled, “Telling Your Story Workshop.” They discussed and gave example of how producers can speak up for their dairy and beef operations.

One of the attendees was Ted Greidanus, California calf rancher. I spoke with him and he says that he enjoyed this year’s program. He says he likes to talk to dairymen about their business. He asks them if they have beef cows and they admit they do have animals that enter the beef production system. This makes them beef producers too.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) my interview with Ted here:

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2009 Retail Demand

It’s Friday of convention week and that means lots of committee work going on. However, there has already been a lot of committee work. Take the Evaluation Advisory Committee which was lead by David Bateman, past CBB Chairman (left).

The committee received a presentation from Dr. James Mintert, Purdue University on what happened to domestic beef demand at retail in 2009 and what the drivers were. I spoke with him about his remarks. He says that not surprisingly demand weakened by about 3 percent from a year earlier and part of that was due to a weak economy. Additionally, he says consumers started saving more in reaction to losses in their investments. In the short run he says that takes away from consumption. Another factor was consumer concern over safety due to some of the recalls that took place. Looking ahead he says that the economy is showing signs of improving with some growth in disposable personal income but he hasn’t seen consumer savings rates change yet.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) my interview with James here:

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I Heart Beef Campaign

Well who doesn’t love beef, eh? So the I Heart Beef campaign is a great concept for an “in-between” seasons promotion don’t you think. I interviewed Kim Essex, NCBA, to learn more about the program.

Kim says they’ve sent information about the promotion to 10,000 reporters across the country and they’re doing a lot of promotion online. They’re also taking advantage of social networking mechanisms to engage with consumers about the promotion too. Kim says they’re using a number of measurement applications to determine how they’re doing with the campaign. They hope to achieve 3 billion impressions.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) my interview with Kim here:

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Social Media Training For Beef Ambassadors

I spent a morning this week with the 2010 National Beef Ambassador Team. The morning was spent in a social media training workshop, where I helped to equip the ambassadors with the tools they need to write an effective blog post to share the positive agriculture story with consumers.

At the conclusion of the workshop, I had the opportunity to interview the ambassadors about their year, and why they believe they are the best team to represent America’s beef cattle producers. These are the best and brightest in the industry, and they certainly do a great job. Be sure to follow their blog. They are pros now!

You can download (mp3) or listen to my interview with the Ambassadors here:

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Lucinda Williams Addresses Cattle Industry Convention

At the opening general session of the Cattle Industry Convention today we heard from Lucinda Williams, Chairman, Cattlemen’s Beef Board.

Lucinda spoke about her observations from a year as Chairman of the CBB and offered a number of thoughts for consideration. I’ve also got her presentation on video which I’ll upload and add here separately.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) Lucinda’s remarks here:

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Peek Inside Executive Committee Mtg.

I know that not all beef producers can attend the annual meeting of the Beef Board and that’s part of the purpose behind this blog, to give you a transparent look into the activities and decisions being made on behalf of U.S. beef producers. With that in mind, here’s a peek inside the Executive Committee Mtg. that’s taking place this morning. It’s not meant to be comprehensive but at least you can see how the work is conducted.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Looking To The Future With The Checkoff

Tom Ramey is the CEO of the CBB and he’s seen here providing information to CBB Chairman Lucinda Williams at the Operating Committee Mtg. I spoke with him this morning about the issues and work being done here from the staff perspective.

Tom says this annual meeting is where they go over the financial reports and audits from the last year as well as priorities that they would like the board members to consider as they plan the 2011 fiscal year. So a big part of the discussion is looking to the future in light of the reality of reduced revenues. He says the world is very different now than it was when the Checkoff began and specifically mentions the “digital world” we live in. This proliferation of new media channels has given greater voice to people who can have an impact on demand for beef. At the same time he sees some good opportunities to satisfy consumer demand for American been in foreign markets.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download (mp3) my interview with Tom here:

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Admin Subcommittee Getting It Done

One of the very important committees that meets early here at the Cattle Industry Convention is the Administration Subcommittee. Leading the meeting was Robert Fountain, Jr. pictured on the left.

Robert says the committee is responsible for overseeing the funding that is related to the officers and executive committee to carry out their duties to the Checkoff. He says they had a short agenda this year which included reviewing the evaluations of the summer meeting by participants which includes recommendations for changes to make the mtg. more efficient. His committee will make a report to the executive committee about that.

You can listen to or download (mp3) my interview with Robert here:

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Reallocating Dollars

The Beef Board Operating Committee had a big challenge here at the Cattle Industry Convention. A number of previously funded projects returned unused dollars which now became available for re-allocation. This happens normally and so a number of what are called AR’s or Authorization Requests (amended) were made from other projects that had funds cut last year to obtain some of the newly available funds. As you might expect, there were requests for more than the dollars available.

To learn more about the work of the Operating Committee I spoke to Beef Board Chairman Lucinda Williams who presided over the meeting. She explains the process the committee is going through. She says an example of a program requesting funds is the summer grilling program which would like to extend the promotion. After hearing presentations from all the requests the committee then makes decisions on them to approve or not approve. I spoke with her prior to the voting.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

You can listen to or download my interview (mp3) with Lucinda here:

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Masters of Beef Advocacy Commencement Ceremony

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take part in the Checkoff’s Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) Commencement Ceremony, where I was the afternoon speaker. My speech was titled, “Discovering the Power of Social Media,” and I challenged the graduates to use these online tools to share the agriculture story.

Troy and Stacy Hadrick, Advocates for Agriculture, also spoke during the morning session, as well as Daren Williams with the MBA program. Workshops included developing your elevator speech and drafting a letter to the editor or response comment in an online forum. Following the conclusion of the workshops, diplomas were passed out to all of the graduates, including myself!

700 people have completed the MBA course, which consists of six hour-long online courses, with exams and homework assignments. This is a great way to brush up on your beef industry factoids, so you’re ready to have a conversation with the next consumer you chat with. These MBA graduates are now equipped with the tools they need to be outstanding advocates for agriculture. If you’re interested in participating in this program, link here for more information.

Eyes of Cattle Industry On Convention

The combined meetings of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association have started here at the Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio. To kick off our coverage I conducted a short interview with an officer from each organization.

Pictured are Tom Jones, CBB Secretary/Treasurer (left) and Bill Donald, NCBA Vice President. I caught up with them prior to their joint officer’s mtg. this afternoon. The basically get together to go over the schedule and make sure everyone is on the same page so all the programs and meetings run smoothly.

Tom says the Beef Board will be dealing with the challenge of reduced revenues coming into the Checkoff. But he says that when the industry comes together they find ways to work through the challenges. He’s heard that attendance is expected to be up here at this year’s convention. Some of the highlights of the work the Checkoff is doing, according to Tom, are issues management and foreign marketing where he sees potential for even more work. He hopes they’ll be able to do some things to “put a little more money in the bottom line of our producers and help beef demand all over and that’s what we’re here for.”

You can listen to and download (mp3) my interview with Tom here:

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Bill says this convention is where NCBA will “take the next step” on governance goals as outlined by the task force that’s been working on the issue for the past 18 months. They’ll report here at the convention and a vote will be taken on it Saturday. Bill says it will make them “more inclusive, more efficient and more effective” in representing producers across the country. It’s a major step in the ongoing evolution of the organization. He echoes Tom’s comments about attendance being up and says “We’ve got the eyes of the entire U.S. cattle industry looking at us.”

You can listen to and download (mp3) my interview with Bill here:

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Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Mapping Grassroots Support For The Industry

This is an interesting display in the entrance hallway to the Cattle Industry Convention.

It’s a large map of the United States with a bowl of pins so you can pinpoint where you’re from. It’s early but there are already a lot of pins from all over the country.

I’ll try to remember to get a final shot of it so we can see just how diverse the attendance of people in the cattle industry is here in San Antonio.

I’ve also started a photo album which you can find here: Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Annual Convention Time

It’s time once again for the annual Cattle Industry Convention and the Beef Board will be providing lots of pictures, interviews and of course information about Checkoff activities right here on the blog.

New information will be posted starting on Tuesday, Jan. 26 and continue through the end of the convention on Saturday, Jan. 30. Please check in often and see what we’re up to. Also, remember that you can subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog with this link.

I’m very honored to be the Beef Board Blogger once again. See you then.