The Southwestern drought has been a main topic of conversation at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. There’s been a lot of networking going on between southern cattlemen who need pasture and hay and northern and western producers who have it.
Bob McCan ranches near Victoria in southeast Texas. We talked to McCan about the drought and steps he is taking to preserve his cow herd.
Don Pemberton of Hopkinsville, Kentucky is the vice-chair of NCBA’s policy division. We visited with Pemberton about the three key policy issues facing cattlemen—government regulations, the GIPSA rule and free trade agreements—as well as his own cattle operation back home in western Kentucky.
AUDIO: Don Pemberton (6:50 MP3)
A lawyer for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board—the beef checkoff organization—has exonerated the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association of charges of financial improprieties.
CBB legal analyst Wayne Watkinson made that pronouncement during a CBB meeting on Wednesday at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Florida.
One of the big issues has been whether NCBA breached the so-called “financial firewall” between the checkoff dollars it receives and money spent on policy-making activities of the organization. But Watkinson tells Brownfield that is not the case.
AUDIO: Wayne Watkinson (1:46 MP3)
During the CBB meeting, members approved changes to the CBB Roles and Responsibilities document. And, after considerable discussion, the board decided to form a special committee to review the group’s by-laws, including the process for nominating board members for positions on the executive committee and operating committee.
Neligh, Nebraska cattleman and CBB member David Wright—president of an NCBA-rival group called Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska—argues that NCBA has too much influence and exerts too much control over checkoff dollars and the CBB.
AUDIO: David Wright (4:27 MP3)
But former Iowa Cattlemen’s Association president Kent Pruismann of Rock Valley, Iowa, who joined the Beef Board in 2010—and sits on the CBB Audit Committee—says he was encouraged by Wednesday’s meeting. Pruismann was especially pleased with Watkinson’s exoneration of NCBA.
AUDIO: Kent Pruismann (3:14 MP3)
In other actions, CBB members elected New Mexico rancher Wesley Grau as their new chairman. Grau replaces Tom Jones of Arkansas, who resigned from the top position in July. Secretary-treasurer Weldon Wynn moved up to vice-chair and Roger West of Florida was elected as the new secretary-treasurer.
The CBB executive committee has appointed Polly Ruhland as interim CEO. Ruhland previously served as Director of Evaluation with CBB. Prior to that, she worked in issues management, membership and communications with NCBA.
New Mexico cattleman Wesley Grau is the acting chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB), which handles the national beef checkoff. As vice-chairman, he stepped into that position after former chairman Tom Jones resigned in mid-July.
CBB members will officially elect a new chairman on Wednesday. Grau says if he is nominated and elected, he will serve as chairman.
In an interview with Brownfield on Tuesday, Grau discussed the differences between the CBB and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, saying “the dust is settling down.” He says the CBB is working to be more “inclusive” of different groups and stressed the need for unity in the industry.
Grau also talks about how the Southern drought has affected his cattle operation.
As a central Kansas farmer and rancher, Keith Miller of Great Bend has seen his share of hot and dry weather. But Miller says the current drought is the worst he’s ever seen. He’s only had six inches of rainfall since last July—one-third of his normal precipitation. Miller says he’s trying to keep his cow herd intact, but he is concerned about finding enough feed in the coming months.
Continued declines in the nation’s cow herd are a big concern to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
Although the cattle market is sending strong signals to cow-calf producers to rebuild their herds, another weather event—this time, the major drought in the Southwest—is causing further reductions in the cow herd.
At the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Florida, fellow farm broadcaster Ron Hays and I visited with NCBA’s executive director of producer education Tom Field about the situation.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has been highly critical of what it feels is the Obama administration’s “overregulation” of agriculture, including the USDA’s proposed GIPSA rule on livestock and poultry marketing and a slew of regulations proposed by the EPA. And NCBA is not very happy with the continued delays in passage of the free trade agreements, either. We visited with NCBA’s vice-president of government affairs Colin Woodall about these issues, as well as efforts to reduce the federal deficit.
As the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Cattlemen’s Beef Board meet in Kissimmee, Florida this week, many are wondering if the two groups will start to resolve their differences.
The two organizations have been deeply divided for some time over organizational structure and, more recently, allegations of financial improprieties. But NCBA president Bill Donald tells Brownfield’s Ken Anderson that the two sides have made some progress towards healing the wounds.
Donald also comments on other industry issues, including the nation’s shrinking cattle herd and “overregulation” by the federal government.
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