On Your Mark, Get Set….

… and GO to the 2011 Cattle Industry Convention, in Denver, Feb. 2-5.  Yes, it’s time once again to gather together as an industry and get down to business. We hope you’ll enjoy some time getting reaquainted with old friends and making new ones, too.

But the agenda for Cattlemen’s Beef Board members and the Federation of State Beef Councils directors, who work together to manage national checkoff programs, is a full one.

Whether you attend the convention as a Board or committee member, as a producer interested in how your checkoff is being invested and managed, as media, or as some other interested party, you’ll be able to keep up with the goings on here at the My Beef Checkoff Meeting Blog.

We’ll start here with a link to Beef Board Meeting Highlights. We’ll be adding meeting agendas and materials via the “Committees” link on the upper left side of this blog as we go along, and ZimmComm Media owner Chuck Zimmerman will be blogging with producer interviews, meeting reports and the like throughout the convention.

Make this your one-stop source for Beef Checkoff Program meeting information — and feel free to comment on individual posts or with questions or comments here any time. Tell us how we can serve you better!

Communications is Key

Producers have great stories to tell. And when it comes to telling the checkoff stories, the producers who sit on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board are arguably the single most important distribution channel, if you will, for checkoff messages.

That’s at the heart of today’s “Producer Communications” focus of the New Members Orientation for incoming Beef Board members.

This is definitely a highly motivated and active group of producers, and this morning’s exercises in communicating the positive messages of checkoff results have sparked excellent discussion. They have a story to tell, and they’re going to tell it. What an asset to the Beef Checkoff Program!

New Beef Board Members Learning The Ropes

Newly appointed members of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board have come to Denver from throughout the country to spend two days immersing themselves in the workings of the Beef Checkoff Program and the Beef Board’s role in it. (See the post below for a list of the new Beef Board members.)

The goal here is to help the new Board members feel more prepared and comfortable about processes and roles when they attend their first Cattle Industry Convention as Beef Board members – less than three weeks from now. 

The meeting began early this morning with a general overview of the meeting purpose and objectives, followed by an extensive organizational overview of of the checkoff program.

CBB Vice Chairman Tom Jones talked to the new Board members about their responsibility to represent the beef industry, in general, and CEO Tom Ramey talked about the history of the checkoff and the structure. Chief Financial Officer Katherin Ayers and Collections Compliance Director Courtney Kalous talked about financial and compliance processes. USDA Agricultural Marketing Specialist Craig Shackelford spoke to the new Board members by phone about the role of USDA in overseeing the checkoff.

It’s definitely a tall order for these new members to try to start getting their arms around such a complex program in just a couple of days, but their level of discussion illustrates their interest in gaining a clear understanding.

Federation of State Beef Councils Chairman Scott George, a dairy producer from Wyoming, and Barb Wilkinson, the Federation’s executive director of leadership development, gave new Board members an overview of the Federation and explained how it works in conjunction with the national checkoff program.  Next, new Board members got an opportunity to meet each of the CBB staff members and hear briefly about their individual responsibilities.  Ayers, along with Immediate Past CBB Chairman Lucinda Williams and Polly Ruhland, vice president of planning and evaluation for CBB, talked in detail about the planning and budgeting processes.

Next on the agenda are comments from the CBB officers, an overview of checkoff committees and programs and, to close out Day 1, a Q&A about the topics of the day. A little rest after that, and Day 2 will start bright and early tomorrow. Stay tuned.

For more about the checkoff structure and processes, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com.

New Beef Board Members Get Oriented

Newly appointed members of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board will gather in Denver Jan. 13-14 for a New Member Orientation. On the agenda is an overview of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and Beef Checkoff Program organization and program objectives, as well as information about the Federation of State Beef Councils, the planning, budgeting and evaluation processes, USDA oversight of the program, committee responsibilities, and spokesperson and resource information.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced 40 appointments to the Beef Board on Dec. 6, 2010, including 29 new appointments and 11 members who were reappointed to a second three-year term. 

Reappointed were: Weldon D. Wynn, Ark.; Manuel Rodrigues, Calif.; Harold A. Wick, Colo.; Dan D. Hinman, Idaho; Jeanne L. Harland, Ill.; William R. Frazee, Iowa; Paul L. Kent, Minn.; Brian C. Healey and Terry L. Detrick, Okla.; Daniel M. Kniffen, Pa.; and Charles L. Ezer, Texas. 

Newly appointed members representing cattle producers are: Eric L. Smith, Ala.; James I. Maxey, Calif.; James C. Lefils, Fla.; Donald E. Gurtner, Ind.; Kent E. Pruismann, Iowa; Brittany J. Howell and Steve J. Irsik, Kan.; Julianna G. Jepson, Ky.; Howard W. Hardecke and Brenda L. Black, Mo.; Leo R. McDonnell, Mont.; Albert T. Davis and David J. Wright, Neb.; Patricia J. Bikowsky, N.Y.; Elwood F. Barth, N.D.; Peter J. Guglielmino, Northwest Unit; Davis W. Denman, Ohio; Brett W. Morris, Okla.; Patricia A. Venable, Ore.; Vaughn R. Meyer, S.D.; Linda A. Crumley, Southeast Unit; Ronald T. Yeargin, Tenn.; Charles A. Kiker III, Anne I. Anderson, V. Anne Wirtz and Jackie M. Means, Texas; Joseph W. Guthrie, Va.; and Alvin R. Bartz, Wis. The newly appointed member representing importers is Lawrence I. Bryant, Va.�