The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Board of Directors Saturday voted to significantly change the structure and governance of its organization. 

The action creates a new governance structure, featuring a smaller NCBA Board of Directors and a new House of Delegates to include the organization’s state affiliates, state beef councils, industry and breed organizations, and allied industry councils.

The Board of Directors will have 29 members, 26 of whom are elected by the House of Delegates.

The House of Delegates is to have 250 members and also houses the Federation of State Beef Councils.

North Carolina producer John Queen chaired the 21-member governance task force, which determined that the 274-member Board of Directors is unwieldy and makes authority and accountability more difficult.

“We wanted to make it easier for the Board to maneuver,” said Queen, in a news release issued by the NCBA. “At the same time, NCBA has always sought to conduct our affairs the right way, utilizing checkoff dollars only for those programs for which they were intended.” 

Queen says the task force recommendation is legal and maintains the strict firewalls required for checkoff and non-checkoff dollars. 

Working groups will be established to further develop bylaws, investment schedules and a transition timeline. Implementation of the new structure will begin if bylaws are approved at the Summer Conference in July.