Operating Committee to Set 2009 Plan of Work

The planning cycle for the Beef Checkoff Program is year-round so with a fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, the plan of work for Fiscal Year 2009 is in its final stages. During the 2008 Cattle Industry Summer Conference, representatives of beef industry organizations wishing to contract to manage checkoff programming in the coming year presented their proposals to joint checkoff committees made up of producers from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Federation of State Beef Councils. Organizations that presented proposals or would subcontract on submitted proposals include the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, U.S. Meat Export Federation, Meat Importers Council of America, American National CattleWomen, and the American Veal Association.

After hearing those proposals during the summer meeting, each joint checkoff committee made recommedations for program work they believe should be funded with producers’ checkoff investments in Fiscal Year 2009. In September, those recommendations go to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, which will spend two days hearing, debating and honing those recommendations to issue a 2009 Plan of Work.

The Operating Committee meeting is scheduled for Sept. 17-18 in Denver. The agenda is posted here: Operating Committee Agenda.

Attention CBB Members: Please Fill Out Evaluation Form!

The Cattle Industry Summer Conference is now over and I want to thank the Beef Board for allowing me to be your Beef Board Blogger once again.

This website provides you with a significant amount of resources for learning about the activities that take place here. You can scroll back through many interviews and audio files with people doing the work of the Checkoff. Don’t forget to check out my online photo album too.

Additionally, you’ll find the agendas and summaries and minutes of each committee meeting posted very soon on each of the Committee Pages.

Now, for those CBB members who attended, I’ve got to remind and point you to the Summer Conference Evaluation Form. Download the Word document and either fill it out, save it and send it in (to ccoates@beefboard.org) via email or to the Beef Board office via regular mail. There’s a permanent link to the form in the left sidebar too.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Chairman Wraps Things Up

Helping me wrap up my coverage of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference is CBB Chairman, Dave Bateman.

I spoke to Dave after the joint board meeting was over. Dave says it’s been a great conference. He says we’re looking at some difficulties like decreasing revenues due to things like cattle numbers being down along with lower imports.

Dave says committee members rose to the occasion though by prioritizing projects and that they have done an exceptional job. He says there’s a “unity of decisions” although that doesn’t mean everyone is happy with every decision. As he puts it, no one likes to see really good programs get cut back. He says that they’re beyond cutting the fat and now they’re cutting into the muscle.

Dave does point to a bright spot which is foreign markets. He says that the numbers are up and for that reason they’ve put some extra money into the foreign markets program.

He also says that the conference has been a good place to start the effort to improve the Checkoff with recommendations. In conclusion, he says that with the cow herd shrinking, “we’re a victim of our own success.” He says producers are so much more efficient in terms of production that revenues haven’t kept pace.

You can listen to my wrap up interview with Dave here:

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You can also download and listen to the interview here: Dave Bateman Wrap Up Interview (4 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Management Report

At the joint board meeting of the CBB and NCBA, Tom Ramey, CEO of the Beef Board, gave his management report.

Tom says that over the last 6 months several issues come to mind including the declining Checkoff assessments, beef recalls, cattle handling videos, the weak economy, export markets and the board’s process for gathering recommended improvements to the Beef Checkoff program.

He says that although there is a lot of reason for concern, there are also some bright spots like improving exports. When it comes to the improvement recommendation process he wants producers to know that the CBB has no ulterior motives and that all they want to do after two decades of good service to the industry is to look at the program to make sure that they improve on what we already have.

You can listen to Tom’s report here:

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You can also download and listen to the report here: Management Report (10 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Joint Board Meeting Completed

The joint board meeting of the CBB and NCBA has just concluded. CBB Chairman, Dave Bateman, presided over the CBB portion.

A number of reports were presented, including financial report, executive committee, operating committee, evaluation committee, research, education and innovation, marketing and communications, public opinion and issues management, global consumer marketing and producer communications.

Dave made the operating committee report which I have recorded for you here in case you would like to hear one of the reports given:

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You can also download and listen to the operating committee report here: Operating Committee Report (6 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Baxter Black Entertains Again

In a highly applauded encore appearance, Baxter Black, entertained at the annual CBB Banquet that’s held here at the summer conference.

Baxter is the voice of Checkoff producer communications radio spots. He says it’s very important for producers to know what’s going on with their investment.

One observation he made when I spoke with him is how things get done here. He says it’s stunning to him that anything gets done. He was in some of the committee meetings and he says you hear all kinds of different opinions, sometimes arguing, but at the end of the day it seems like the best decision is made. Baxter also says that the Checkoff program is very important and needs to continue to be funded.

Listen to my interview with Baxter here:

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You can also download and listen to the interview here: Baxter Black (5 min MP3 File)

If you couldn’t be at the banquet I’ve got one of Baxter’s new poems recorded that you can listen to here:

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You can also download and listen to the poem here: Baxter Black Poem (3 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

BQA Award Winners

The first ever winners of the BQA Award were announced today.

Quality. It’s not only a word written in an instruction manual but a responsible action – one must live it and then teach it. That was the underlying theme this week as two producers were honored with the national Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) award, created to recognize outstanding beef and dairy producers from across the country who incorporate BQA principles as part of the day-to-day activities on their operations. The winners were selected based upon their commitment to beef quality assurance while operating sustainable cattle operations.

A common trait among the two winners is a strong desire to continually improve BQA on their operations while successfully encouraging others around them to implement BQA. The National BQA award winners are selected annually by a committee of representatives from universities, state beef councils and cattle industry groups. For more information about the beef checkoff or BQA program, visit www.bqa.org, www.dbqa.org or www.beefboard.org.

Listen to my interview with Jim and Anne here:

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You can also download and listen to the interview here: BQA Winners Interview (5 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Active Beef Ambassadors

The red-shirted Beef Ambassadors have been wandering the halls here at the Summer Conference. I spoke with two of them this morning, Leticia Varelas, NM (L) and Jennifer Rassler, PA. They wanted to make sure I pointed people to their blog: Raising The Steaks. I hope you’ll take some time to see what these ambassadors of the industry are doing.

In my interview they each talk about projects they’ve been involved with like:

Summer Photo Contest: So, our mission for you is to capture those little moments of you washing your animal, leading him around, or how well you take care of them. Let your photo show how your involvement with the beef cattle production project really encourages you to be aware of animal welfare. So what we want from you is your best photo. Send it in to us at our email, which is raisingthesteaks@gmail.com. Feel free to include a caption about your picture. The contest deadline is October 1st, so you’re sure to have the perfect moment for a picture. Be sure to include an email adress where we can contact you. Photos will be judged, and a winner notified. Check back for more details as we get this contest rolling.

Penn State Blood Drive: Jennifer says they held a blood drive that had the slogan, “Beef, It’s What’s For Donors.” They fed donors hamburgers and gave them t-shirts too. She says it was the biggest blood drive they’ve ever held.

YouTube Videos: Both of these ambassadors produced YouTube videos for Earth Day to showcase the positive things farmers do for the environment. You can find Leticia’s video here and Jennifer’s video here.

Listen to my interview with Leticia and Jennifer here:

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You can also download and listen to the interview here: Beef Ambassador Interview (5 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Budget and Checkoff Recommendations Are Key Issues

CBB’s Chief Executive Officer is Tom Ramey. This morning he made a presentation at the second general session of the Summer Conference. You can listen to his presentation below.

I also interviewed Tom and found out that there are two main issues of special importance to the Checkoff here at this conference. The first one, according to Tom, is the budget. The recommended budget was presented at the CBB Update Session and committees will be looking at the parts that affect them during their meetings. Tom says that Checkoff dollars are down and that it’s a tough time right now. He says some difficult decisions will need to be made.

The other big issue is the process to create recommendations for ways to improve the Checkoff. Tom says the staff has sent out over 300 letters soliciting comments and that they’ll be organizing meetings with a number of the organizations targeted. Once those comments come in the staff will organize them and scrub them so that the Admin Subcommittee, which is charged with overseeing this process, can look at them on the merit of the comment without being affected by seeing who wrote them. Then the staff will be helping organize meetings with the committee to review the comments and formulate recommendations prior to the end of the year.

Tom says producers here seem excited about what the Checkoff is doing but are concerned about the budget. He says these are difficult times for the beef industry.

Listen to my interview with Tom here:

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You can also download and listen to the interview here: Tom Ramey Interview (5 min MP3 File)

Listen to Tom’s general session presentation here:

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You can also download and listen to his presentation here: Tom Ramey Presentation (18 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

General Session Provides Industry Insight

The second general session of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference featured remarks from Terry Stokes, NCBA and Tom Ramey, CBB. Leading the session was CBB Chairman, Dave Bateman, pictured. Dave says that the industry is changing and the remarks from these two organizational staff leaders will prove provocative and eye opening.

In this post you can listen to Dave’s opening remarks and Terry’s presentation. Terry of course spoke to the economic and political environment.

Listen to Dave’s opening remarks here:

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You can also download and listen to his remarks here: Dave Bateman Opening Remarks (2 min MP3 File)

Listen to Terry’s presentation here:

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You can also download and listen to his presentation here: Terry Stokes Presentation (18 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Marketing Beef At Retail

When it comes to increasing demand for beef, a very important part of the effort focuses on retail marketing. To learn more about it I spoke Randy Irion, NCBA Director of Retail Marketing (L) and Don Stewart, importer representative on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. Randy says that he’s charged with using Beef Checkoff dollars to help grow beef demand at the retail level, so his target audience is the retailer. He says they work to give them all the tools possible to grow demand in their channel.

One example of a program supported by the Checkoff is with Kraft A-1 Steak Sauce. This year they’re distributing $1 off coupons for beef in about 10,000 supermarkets nationally. Kraft picks up 100% of the cost of the redemption.

Another example is the Hispanic Beef Retail Toolkit which won a prestigious Effie award. Don says this bi-lingual program shows store meat departments how to market beef to hispanic consumers. He says that in the markets it was tested in, beef demand grew an amazing 28%.

You can listen to my interview with Randy and Don here:

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You can also download and listen to the interview here: Interview with Randy Irion and Don Stewart (5 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Building International Markets

Right after the presentation on the officer’s international trip at today’s CBB Update Session, we got a report from Phil Seng, USMEF.

Phil came to the podium to talk about demand in Russia and how they’ve been working in many markets like this for some time. He shares some stories about that. He also says that USMEF takes a very fluid approach to working into a market. He says that a lot of countries haven’t made agriculture a priority until now. So they haven’t built up internal production and it’s not keeping up with demand. Sounds like an opportunity for us.

You can listen to Phil’s remarks here:

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You can also download and listen to Lucinda’s report here: CBB Update - Phil Seng (11 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Officers International Trip

Today’s CBB Update Session was well attended and plenty of time was given for questions and answers.

We had a report from several CBB officers like Lucinda Williams, Vice-Chair, who went on an international trip to Europe and Russia. She says they gave careful consideration to taking the trip, especially considering costs. Their goal was to gather information and impart our story about the high quality product produced here in the U.S.

She says they didn’t realize the impact they would have since they’re producers not international business people. However, the exporters and officials they met with were impressed with their visit and were very interested in how they could work together better.

You can download and view the slides from the presentation here: CBB Update - International Travel (PowerPoint)

You can listen to Lucinda’s report here:

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You can also download and listen to Lucinda’s report here: CBB Update - International Travel (18 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Report From AMS

During the CBB Update Session we heard from Craig Morris, USDA Deputy Administrator, AMS Livestock and Seed Program.

He was here to talk about AMS/LS initiatives affecting the beef industry. He says that they always preach at AMS that the purpose of the Beef Checkoff is to build the demand for beef and not to engage in policy issues. However, policy issues was a big part of what he was here to talk about.

You can download and view Craig’s slides here: CBB Update - AMS (PowerPoint)

You can listen to Craig’s report here:

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You can also download and listen Craig’s report here: CBB Update - AMS (25 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

CBB Budget Update

One of the main Checkoff activities here at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference today is the CBB Update Session. CBB Chairman, Dave Bateman, kicked things off and introduced a number of speakers like Dan Dierschke, CBB Secretary/Treasurer (pictured). Dan is a fifth-generation Texas ag producer. He and his wife, Marilynn, produce beef near Austin, Texas.

Dan provided an overview of the FY 2009 recommended buget. I recorded Dave’s introduction and Dan’s report for you to listen to yourself. Dan says that while some people say “it’s not about the money” it really is about the money. He says that one of the crucial responsibilities they have is to make efficient use of funds collected.

He describes the process for the budget and what the expectations are for revenue and expenses. He also describes some of the issues ahead that will have an impact on the budget as well.

You can download and view the slides from the presentation here: CBB Update - Budget (PowerPoint)

You can listen to Dan’s report here:

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You can also download and listen Dan’s report here: CBB Update - Budget (13 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use audio material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Focusing on Consumer Perceptions

One of the main dairy groups represented at today’s Joint Beef & Dairy Information Symposium was Dairy Management Inc. David Pelzer is Senior VP, Industry Image & Relations. DMI is a non-profit organization that manages the Dairy Checkoff.

I spoke to him today about dairy and beef producers getting together and discussing common issues. He says that on the dairy side of things it’s important for the industry to become more consumer driven instead of just production driven. As he puts it, “Give consumers what they want, when they want it and how they want it.”

He says that on-farm practices or the consumer’s perception of on-farm practices can affect buying habits. For this reason he says that all DMI related organizations are becoming increasingly focused on consumer perceptions. He wants to show consumers that it’s standard operating procedure for beef and dairy producers to care about their animals and the environment.

David thinks this Symposium is a great opportunity to get together.

You can listen to my interview with David here:

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You can also download and listen my interview with Rob here: Dave Pelzer Interview (7 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use interview material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

National Dairy Animal Welfare Program

Earlier this week the National Dairy Board met and like last year, that meeting ended just in time for attendees to meet with beef producers at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference, Joint Beef & Dairy Information Symposium. One of those people is Rob Byrne, Sr. VP Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, National Milk Producers Federation.

I spoke with Rob during today’s session. He was on the second part of the program that focused on animal care and welfare. Rob thinks that this joint meeting idea is fantastic. It’s an opportunity to discuss issues of common interest. Animal care just happens to be a primary one right now.

Rob says the dairy industry has actually worked on this issue for many years. Recently released videos have sensationalized what is a very uncommon practice though and that has brought this issue to the forefront. He says that the increased consumer interest probably won’t result in any significant changes since producers in general do take good care of their animals but the situation he says, has placed a renewed focus on it. Rob says that this is currently a primary focus for NMPF. To that end, he says they’re forming a national animal welfare and care program for the dairy industry.

You can listen to my interview with Rob here:

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You can also download and listen my interview with Rob here: Rob Byrne Interview (5 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use interview material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Joint Beef & Dairy Information Symposium Take II

For the second year in a row, there has been a Joint Beef & Dairy Information Symposium at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. This one had a special focus on animal care and welfare. Lucinda Williams, CBB Vice Chair, got things kicked off.

As a dairy producer she said that they often forget that they’re beef producers too. She says beef and dairy have much in common like working with their animals daily, feeding the world and providing a nutrient-rich product.

She called on attendees to focus on ways to strengthen both segments of the livestock industry and to help keep agriculture on the minds of consumers. As she put it, “Let’s work together.”

You can listen to Lucinda’s welcoming remarks here:

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You can also download and listen Lucinda’s remarks here: Lucinda Williams Remarks (5 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use interview material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Dairy Producer Profile

One of the features you’ll find on the new CBB website, MyBeefCheckoff.com, will be producer profiles. The idea is to find out what producers (beef and dairy) think about the programs and activities of the Checkoff.

To get things started I did a number of interviews today and will get many more before the end of the summer conference. I started out with Jim Eschliman, Ericson, NE. He’s a dairy producer and it has been his career. He says they milk 140 cows but have around 300 head all together.

So when it comes to the Beef Checkoff he says that we have to continue to promote beef and get dairy producers to understand that fact. As he says, they’re beef producers too.

Jim says it’s important for dairy and beef producers to understand how to handle their animals and especially pay attention to the shipping process.

He sells cull cows and steers and thinks the Checkoff has increased the price he receives. As he puts it, “The Checkoff really helps.”

You can listen to my interview with Jim here:

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You can also download and listen my interview with Jim here: Jim Eschliman Interview (2 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use interview material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

CBB Vice Chairman Links Beef and Dairy

The Vice Chairman of the CBB is Lucinda Williams. Lucinda is married to a 12th-generation dairy producer and farmer in Hatfield, Mass., on her 220-acre family owned farm, which dates back to 1661.

Lucinda not only got things moving in the Executive Committee meeting but welcomed everyone to the second annual Joint Beef & Dairy Information Symposium. That session split it’s focus between nutrient-rich foods and animal care and welfare.

Lucinda says it’s hugely important to work together like this. She thinks it’s very important for producers to take time out of their busy schedules to come together and work jointly on issues common to each area. She acknowledges that animal care has become a big issue.

Because of Beef Checkoff efforts though she says that they’ve been able to counteract some of the sensationalism and keep consumer confidence in both beef and dairy products. She also likes to remind dairy producers that they are also beef producers.

You can listen to my interview with Lucinda here:

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You can also download and listen my interview with Lucinda here: Lucinda Williams Interview (3 min MP3 File)

Ag journalists are welcome to use interview material in their programming.

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album