NCBA holds town-hall teleconference

By JULIET BRISKIN | Staff writer

Going live .... Beef producers throughout the nation were able to listen in on the live NCBA and CBB summer conference. During the televised event, several leaders within the beef cattle industry answered producers' questions. -- Staff photo

August 19, 2004 - Touting communications and information as the cornerstone of their summer conference, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and the Cattlemen's Beef Production and Research Board (CBB) hosted a 90-minute, nationwide, town hall meeting on Aug. 11. The live broadcast gave beef cattle producers, who were unable to travel to Denver for the meeting, an opportunity to call in and pose questions directly to NCBA and CBB leaders.

The first half of the broadcast focused on the national beef checkoff program and featured CBB's Chairman Nelson Curry and Chief Operating Officer Monte Reese answering questions from audience members, callers from across the United States, and the show's moderator Al Pell.

According to Pell, beef demand registered a sharp increase in 2003 and he kicked off the program by asking Curry and Reese to explain what role the beef checkoff played in the upturn.

"The thing you have to remember about the beef checkoff is that we've got three primary areas," explained Curry. "The first is promotion, and that is where the tagline 'Beef, It's What's for Dinner' comes from; then there is beef safety; and finally nutrition. We certainly can't take all the credit for the increase in demand but there are some specific instances where the checkoff dollars helped it along."

Curry pointed out that since they began the convenience products initiative several years ago, the checkoff has been involved in the development of over 2,100 new products.

"These products have created convenience for the consumer and, in turn, increased demand," he asserted

Reese added that one major factor in the demand increase is the result of solid research that established a nutrient profile of beef. "This allowed us to go to the consumer with ads focusing on the nutritional benefits of beef," he said. "This gives people permission to enjoy beef and that's what we've been missing in the past. Beef is back."

A caller from Nebraska then brought up the topic of beef importers and asked why they do not have to contribute to the checkoff program.

"That is a misconception," explained Curry. "Beef importers do pay a checkoff, although they do not do it on a 'per head' basis because it's coming in already processed. We have a formula that gives a per head equivalency. Importers pay the $1 checkoff for their beef, and as a result of that, there are eight beef importers that sit on the CBB that also make decisions on how checkoff dollars are spent."

Reese then explained that if the import is a live animal, the $1-per-head fee is assessed at the port of entry into the United States. "We watch this very closely," stated Reese. "In most years the importer contributions amount to about $8 million of our total checkoff revenue. Everyone pays and nobody gets a free ride by benefiting from the program without contributing their fair share."

Cory Coward, an audience member and president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, addressed Reese with his concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow disease."

"Why in the world is this even an issue since only one person has ever died of mad cow disease in the United States and they did not even contract it here," Coward asked.

In response, Reese confirmed that the individual had been a citizen of England and had contracted the disease there. "Variant CJD disease, that some say has been tied to BSE, is an issue because it is on consumer's minds," asserted Reese. "They read about it in the press and they hear about it on television. If consumers have the perception that there ought to be something they should be concerned about healthwise when eating beef, we as an industry have a problem and we have to address it. That is why we have devoted a tremendous amount of checkoff dollars over the years to beef safety research."

The second half of the program focused on policy issues and featured NCBA officers: Terry Stokes, chief executive officer; Jan Lyons, president; Jim McAdams, president-elect; and Mike John, vice president.

"We deal with a lot of issues," stated Lyons when asked by an audience member what she considers the biggest issue facing the beef industry today. "One of the biggest issues we are dealing with right now is making sure our voice is unified. We are also working on the animal identification issue and BSE issues and the disease's implications for our industry."

A caller from Oklahoma asked panel members to explain what was being done about protecting the markets in the United States from Canadian BSE-infected cattle.

"We are certainly working with the USDA and our Canadian partners on how we resume trade," explained Stokes. "The fundamental premise we use to make those decisions is that they be made based on science. The actions that have been taken have clearly shown that BSE is not in the food chain and that we provide the safest product in the world."

The topic of discussion then moved to the Federal Land Bank when a caller asked about the NCBA's position on the Ag Service Agency's decision to consider selling the bank to a Dutch corporation.

"We are very concerned about foreign banks buying one of our credit system banks," stated McAdams. "We divide our membership by regions and this issue was discussed at the Region Four caucus earlier today. I'm sure there will be a resolution coming out of region four addressing this."