National Cattlemen - August 2020

N A T I O N A L CATTLEMEN

To be the trusted leader and definitive voice of the U.S. cattle and beef industry.

Aug 2020 • Vol. 36, No. 10 • NCBA.org

NATIONAL CATTLEMEN’S BEEF ASSOCIATION 9110 E. NICHOLS AVENUE, SUITE 300 CENTENNIAL, CO 80112

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Released: 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Report In July, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) released their scientific report, which represents an objective assessment of the latest available science on specific nutrition topics and is designed to inform the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as they develop the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). Since 1980, new DGAs are published every five years, and as the cornerstone of all federal nutrition policy, influence policy makers, health professionals, and federal nutrition programs alike.

NCBA understands how important the DGAs are for shaping nutritional policy in the U.S. and works to ensure the science supporting beef’s role in a healthy diet is highlighted and recognized throughout every step of the process. NCBA’s engagement in this process dates back to the start, when we provided input on the scientific topics and questions for DGAC consideration and then nominated eight highly qualified experts to serve on the

DGAC, two of whom were ultimately selected to serve on the committee.

The DGAC held five public meetings in total, two of which included an opportunity for oral public comment.

NCBA had representatives deliver oral comments during both of those meetings, and through the Beef Checkoff, submitted over 21 sets of written comments and more than 100 research studies demonstrating beef is a high-quality protein with essential nutrients like iron, zinc and B vitamins, with overwhelming scientific evidence that consistently shows balanced diets with beef nourish and sustain good health. After the public meetings were held and the comment period ended, the committee worked to finish drafting its report.

The Dietary Guidelines is no small task, and NCBA appreciates the time and effort spent in developing the DGAC report. NCBA CEO Colin Woodall released this statement shortly after the report was released: “Cattle and beef producers appreciate the evidencebased recommendations of the DGAC.

We believe beef is a wholesome, nutritious food that plays an important role in a healthy diet and we are supportive of many of the committee’s findings. NCBA and its members have made this work a priority for more than two years, and we’re pleased that the report reinforces the strong science that supports beef’s nutritional value in a healthy diet.”

The public comment period on the DGAC report opened on the day of its release, and USDA and HHS will be taking comments until Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. Even though the 2020 DGAC report is generally balanced and evidence-based, NCBA believes the Committee missed several opportunities to further reinforce beef’s role in healthy diets. As USDA and HHS work to finalize the 20202025 DGAs, now is the time for beef producers to make their voices heard.

Visit policy.ncba.org to find out how you can get involved and submit comments to DGAC.

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IN THIS ISSUE Leadership Comments

3

Federation News

6

Market Matters

8&9

Checkoff 10 Governance 11

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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN

Providing Regulatory Relief to Producers

United We Steak

By Colin Woodall, NCBA CEO

By Marty Smith, NCBA President When most people think of lobbyists, they probably envision professionals in business suits working the halls of Congress to build support for legislation that helps their clients in one way or another. That’s certainly one aspect of lobbying - and something that our team in Washington does as well as any lobbying team in the nation.

But there’s another aspect of lobbying that many people often don’t think about, but which is as important as working in the halls of Congress, if not more so. I’m talking about lobbying on regulatory issues in the Executive Branch, and it’s something that NCBA’s team in Washington also does every single day. Over the past few years it has produced a lot of positive results for cattle producers across America.

Just last month, for example, NCBA’s lobbying team was successful in pushing to rework often-onerous regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in more than 40 years. Over the past several decades, NEPA regulations have been used by activists and bureaucrats to tie up or

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF NCBA 2020 NCBA Leadership: President President-elect Vice President Treasurer Federation Division Chair Interim Federation Division Vice-Chair Policy Division Chair Policy Division Vice-Chair Immediate Past President Chief Executive Officer Senior Editor Associate Editor

Marty Smith Jerry Bohn Don Schiefelbein Joe Guild Buck Wehrbein Clay Burtrum Todd Wilkinson Mark Eisele Jennifer Houston Colin Woodall John Robinson Brittany Schaneman

Contributing Writers Walt Barnhart

Ed Frank

Steven Johnson

Creative Director Don Waite Graphic Designer Dancinee Jennings Copy Editor Judy Van de Mark For ad sales, contact Jill DeLucero or Nicole Bechtel at 303-850-3465.

Contact NCBA: 9110 E. Nichols Ave., Suite 300, Centennial, CO 80112 (303-694-0305); Washington D.C.: 1275 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Suite 801, Washington, D.C. 20004 (202-347-0228). National Cattlemen’s Beef Association reserves the right to refuse advertising in any of its publications.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association does not accept political advertising in any of its publications. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association does not accept any advertising promoting third-party lawsuits that have not been endorsed by the board of directors. ©2020 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. All rights reserved.

The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or part, without the prior written consent of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

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block critical infrastructure projects or improvements to agricultural operations for years on end. In midJuly, after years of hard work by NCBA’s lobbying team, President Trump announced a final rule that will ease these regulations and make it more possible for producers to do what we need to do to raise cattle and feed the world.

Of course, the NEPA victory comes on the heels of the repeal and rewriting of the terrible Obama-era 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. On July 16, NCBA member and Arizona rancher Jim Chilton stood on the South Lawn of the White House and explained to President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and several Cabinet Secretaries how important the repeal of WOTUS will be to his operation and many others.

“Cutting the red tape set us free as private property owners,” Chilton said at the White House event on deregulation. “Our ranch has approximately 100 dry washes – these are washes with no water. The Corps of Engineers and EPA who wrote the Obama 2015 regulations ruled that any dry wash that had more than 12 inches of sand in the bottom became a water of the United States. It was outrageous. The 2015 rules and regulations were overreaching red tape and threatened me and other farmers, ranchers, businessmen, and landowners with the possibility of going to jail and facing huge fines.

The heavy hand of government is no longer on our shoulders.”

Also in July, the Department of the Interior answered NCBA’s call to halt the reintroduction of grizzly bears to the North Cascades ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest.

Ranchers and public lands users in these communities already face overwhelming losses and impacts from huge gray wolf populations, and when paired with the economic hardship of the coronavirus pandemic, the introduction of yet another apexpredator would prove devastating.

July was a very busy month, with the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) making its final recommendations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Over the past two years, our team has worked closely with the DGAC, USDA, and HHS to keep the guidelines focused on sound science and nutrition, and as a result, the final draft guidelines recognize beef’s role in a healthy diet, including the essential role of beef’s nutrients at every life stage. While the guidelines may not technically be considered regulations, they are the cornerstone of all federal nutrition policy, which is why we’re urging all beef producers to submit public comments to USDA and FDA before the Aug. 13 deadline.

Of course, there are many other examples of regulatory relief over the past three and a half years - numerous waivers of Electronic Logging Device mandates for livestock haulers, for example. The cumulative results have been impressive and historic: as President Trump pointed out at his recent South Lawn event, this Administration has removed more than 25,000 pages of federal regulations, and for every new regulation added, eight others have been removed. That’s the most impressive record of deregulation in our nation’s history, and it’s due in part to the hard-working dues-paying members of NCBA, who make our team’s work in DC possible - both in the halls of Congress and in the halls of the Executive Branch’s departments and agencies.

While Labor Day may be approaching faster than any of us are prepared for, it is important we remember that one-third of summer grilling season still remains. “United We Steak” is the cornerstone of the checkofffunded summer grilling promotion NCBA manages, and we are thrilled with the results.

If you haven’t seen NCBA’s latest checkoff-funded campaign, head on over to www. unitedwesteak.com to check it out. The first thing you’ll see is a map of the United States where each state is cut out of steak.

That isn’t a computer-generated image, but rather the result of diligent work by the NCBA team to hand-cut each of those steaks.

Have you ever tried to cut the shape of Maryland out of a steak?

Not an easy task, but it shows the innovative spirit of this campaign.

United We Steak is more than just a unique graphic designed to get your attention. It’s meant to be a multi-pronged approach that draws our customers to the recipes and producer stories, and then leaves them with a passion to fire up their grills.

The roll out of United We Steak included a satellite media tour where NCBA’s very own meat scientist Bridget Wasser started at 3:00 a.m. doing live interviews from the NCBA Culinary Center, funded by the Beef Checkoff, with media outlets across the country.

We also put the steak map on one of the larger-than-life billboards in Times Square in New York City.

We truly took this launch prime time. The campaign was also rolled out to key food bloggers, chefs, retailers, and foodservice operators to help them support and promote beef. If you haven’t seen the campaign yet, don’t worry because it is headed your way. It’s another in the long line of Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. promotions from NCBA. Yep, you read that right, from NCBA, which is home to the Federation of State Beef Councils. The councils were critical partners in this campaign.

Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. is the beef brand we manage as a contractor to the Beef Checkoff.

This checkoff-funded tagline is inarguably one of the most successful marketing efforts in history because of its uncanny ability to take sizzling images of beef, combine them with Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown” music, and instantly make mouths water.

It’s also a brand that must evolve to stay relevant. Now, I’m personally partial to the television ads from the early 90s voiced

by Robert Mitchum. To me, that will always be Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. As a society, though,

we aren’t sitting around the TV on Sunday nights waiting for Mitchum’s iconic voice.

The way Americans watch TV these days is much different.

Fewer and fewer people are watching live TV. Many use a digital video recorder so they can watch at their convenience and fast-forward through the commercials. Digital TV platforms are growing in popularity and that is why we have evolved our promotional campaigns to take advantage of today’s technology.

The video of sizzling steaks is still there. The “Hoedown” music is still there. The distinctive voice is still there. Just the format has changed. We will continue to look at ways to keep Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. famous and relevant to the times.

While NCBA may be the creativity behind these campaigns, we can only do it because of the checkoff financial investment. We have to earn the checkoff dollars we use.

Contrary to the belief of some, these dollars are not “given” to us. The Beef Promotion Operating Committee is made up of cattle producers who decide which programs presented by contractors get funded. It is then up to us to deliver on our commitment, or we don’t get reimbursed, and we don’t get funded again.

Most producers don’t appreciate that we do this work on a cost recovery basis. In short, we only get paid AFTER we’ve made the investment and done the work.

If the work doesn’t pass muster from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, we’re on the hook for the costs.

That is a measure of accountability that few appreciate.

We must defend our use of checkoff investments at multiple levels, and we are happy to do it because we have nothing to hide. On their first day at NCBA, each employee is schooled on compliance to the rules we must follow as a contractor, and that focus on compliance is a constant part of our work.

In my role, I will not compromise the integrity of NCBA or the integrity of the checkoff. The work is too important, and your trust in us is at the heart of all we do.

Let me be clear: checkoff money does not pay for any of our policy efforts…period. So, share your support of the checkoff with your friends, neighbors, and fellow cattle producers because…

United We Steak!

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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN

NCBA, PLC Celebrate Vast Improvements NEPA Background to Environmental Policy Trump Administration NEPA Rule Returns Focus to Issues at Hand, Removes Duplicative Environmental Reviews The NCBA and the Public Lands Council (PLC) are celebrating landmark improvements to environmental policy through finalization of the Trump Administration’s rulemaking on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The NEPA updates make the process more efficient and timely, while also laying the groundwork for healthy and resilient open spaces and pastureland.

“The modernized NEPA rule brings common sense back to an important rule that was established to protect our land and water resources,” said NCBA President Marty Smith. “President Trump and his team at the Council on Environmental Quality embraced a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure this country has the strongest possible environmental policy for years to come. They deserve an abundance of thanks. American ranchers that care for hundreds of millions of acres of private and public lands across the United States know the importance of implementing timely improvements based on the best knowledge at hand.

These changes ensure NEPA does not delay good management practices.”

“The process updates to NEPA are celebrated across the West,” said PLC President Bob Skinner. “Today’s rule recognizes the severe limitations of a policy that had not been updated in more than 40 years. Over the last four decades, ranchers learned and adapted to new needs of wildlife and other rangeland users, but outdated NEPA policy prevented us from responding to many critical situations. The changes finalized today bring NEPA up to date, focus the attention on the real issues at hand, and ensure the government is avoiding speculative and duplicative environmental reviews. Thank you to the Trump Administration for engaging and listening to stakeholders on the ground.”

The updated NEPA rule does not change the substantive NEPA law, but rather, improves the management, interpretation, and engagement of NEPA processes. This includes establishing presumptive time limits of two years for environmental impact statements (EISs) and one year for environmental assessments (EAs), codifying relevant case law and determining appropriate levels of environmental review, expanding outreach and utilized technologies, and ensuring meaningful and effective environmental reviews.

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NEPA requires federal agencies to assess environmental effects of proposed major Federal actions prior to making decisions.

Ranchers who hold federal grazing permits are subject to NEPA reviews for many reasons, including renewal of a term grazing permit, construction of range improvements, or to become eligible for participation in many USDA conservation programs.

NEPA has not undergone substantive regulatory revision since 1986.

NEPA has been used as a way to bog down routine processes and delay critical projects. In fact, according to a 2018 report from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the average time it took Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (from the issuance of a Notice of Intent to the Record of Decision) was 4.5 years.

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY These are companies that have teamed with NCBA as corporate members, demonstrating their commitment to the beef industry. Their involvement strengthens our future. NCBA members are urged to support these partners in turn by purchasing their products and services.

Those who would like to become corporate members with NCBA (securing premium booth placement at the annual convention and trade show as well as other membership benefits), please call the Corporate Relations team at 303-694-0305.

GOLD LEVEL SPONSORS (Minimum $100,000 Investment)

Bayer Animal Health www.animalhealth.bayer.com Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Inc. www.bi-vetmedica.com/species/cattle.html Caterpillar www.cat.com Central Life Sciences www.centrallifesciences.com Corteva Agriscience™ www.corteva.com IMI Global, Inc. www.imiglobal.com John Deere www.deere.com Merck Animal Health www.merck-animal-health-usa.com Micro Technologies www.microtechnologies.com Moly Manufacturing www.molymfg.com New Holland Agriculture www.newholland.com Purina Animal Nutrition LLC www.purinamills.com/cattle Ritchie Industries Inc. www.ritchiefount.com Zoetis Animal Health www.zoetis.com

ALLIED INDUSTRY COUNCIL Allflex Livestock Intelligence Animal Health International CHR HANSEN Elanco Animal Health Farm Credit Council Huvepharma, Inc.

Lallemand Animal Nutrition Massey Ferguson Norbrook, Inc. Rabo AgriFinance RAM Trucks Roto-Mix

ALLIED INDUSTRY PARTNERS 44 Farms ADM Animal Nutrition, Inc. Agri-Pro Enterprises of Iowa, Inc. Alltech, Inc. American Hereford Association American National Insurance American Wagyu Association Anipro Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production Arrowquip Bank of America Merrill Lynch Barenbrug USA Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Beef Magazine Behlen Manufacturing BFGOODRICH® Tires Bimeda BioZyme Cargill Animal Nutrition Case IH Certified Hereford Beef CME Group DATAMARS Livestock Dell Technologies Diamond V ENDOVAC Animal Health Furst-McNess Company Gallagher Gravely, an Ariens Company Greeley Hat Works Growsafe Systems LTD Hayden Outdoors Real Estate Hyundai Construction Equipment Insure My Forage International Stock Food Kent Nutrition Group

Krone Kubota Tractor Corporation Kunafin “The Insectary” Laird Manufacturing Meat&LivestockAustralia,Ltd. Micronutrients Neogen New Generation Supplements Noble Research Institute Novus International Parker McCrory PBS Animal Health Phibro Animal Health Priefert Ranch Equipment Provimi QualiTech, Inc Quality Liquid Feeds R&R Machine Works Red Angus Association RFD-TV Rice Lake Weighing Systems Roper/Stetson/Tin Haul Apparel and Footwear Stone Manufacturing Superior Livestock Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment The Hartford Livestock Insurance The Vit-E-Men Co. Inc./ Life Products Trans Ova Genetics U.S. Premium Beef Vermeer Vitalix Westway Feeds Y-Tex Zinpro Performance Minerals

PRODUCT COUNCIL American Foods Group Cargill Meat Solutions Certified Angus Beef Culver’s Darden Restaurants empirical Fareway Stores, Inc. Five Guys

JBS McDonald’s Corporation National Beef Packing Omaha Steaks Performance Food Group Preferred Beef Group Tyson Fresh Meats Wendy’s International

NATIONAL CATTLEMEN 5

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Producers Asked to Complete Survey About Record-Keeping Methods Collecting and recording cattle health and production information is an essential part of improving the system of beef production in the United States.

Cow-calf producers are the foundation of the U.S. beef industry, and often have need to collect various forms of information, such as treatment events, weaning weights, or calving records. The recordkeeping systems of cow-calf producers vary from using one of the many different commercially available software programs to keeping hand-written records.

As technologies and management in the beef industry continue to improve, cow-calf producers need continued access to improved methods of capturing and using cattle health and production data to make objective decisions that improve production, increase efficiency, and lower disease risk.

To provide cow-calf producers with additional tools that aid in their ability to capture and record important information on their herds, researchers at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine (MSU CVM) seek to better understand the system of record-keeping in the cow-calf industry. Cow-calf producers are encouraged to participate in an anonymous survey regarding their methods and opinions of cattle health and production record-keeping.

“Collecting health and performance data on their

cattle offers producers the opportunity to see the impact that management decisions have on their bottom-line and adjust those decisions accordingly,” said Dr. David Smith, project director and professor at MSU CVM. “Data must be captured in a format that can be analyzed before it can help producers and their veterinarians understand what decisions are leading to disease and what interventions would be most helpful at reducing disease.”

“Our priority is creating a convenient and userfriendly method of capturing information to aid cow-calf producers in decision-making," adds Dr. Isaac Jumper, co-investigator and population medicine resident at MSU CVM. “The smartphone is a powerful piece of technology that many producers already use, and it offers great potential as an easy-to-use, reliable method of capturing information such as which calf was sick, when it was treated, what it was treated with, and whether the therapy was successful or not.”

Work is currently underway at MSU CVM to create a smartphone-based cattle health and record-keeping software for cow-calf producers that is simple, secure, and easy to use. Developers are interested in what information producers are currently collecting, what information is most important to them, challenges producers face in record-keeping, and the role of veterinarians in assisting producers in collecting and

using cattle health and production records.

This information is being collected via a survey that takes about 15 minutes to complete. All responses are completely anonymous and cannot be traced back to the respondent. Responses are summarized to further protect the anonymity of the respondent.

“NCBA values and works to encourage accurate record-keeping procedures for cattle health, production, and performance information on cattle farms and ranches, consistent with the recommendations found in the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program,” says Kathy Simmons, DVM, Chief Veterinarian, NCBA. “I encourage you to take the time to complete this short survey to better inform on current record-keeping procedures and to enable future enhancements to record-keeping protocols within the beef cattle industry.”

Visit this link to complete the survey: https://msudafvm.co1. qualtrics.com/jfe/form/ SV_1GgmS4UTyWY8VrT Or scan this QR code with your smartphone: For more information about this study or the survey, please contact Dr. Jumper at isaac. jumper@msstate.edu.

Cattlemen’s Webinar Series is Always on, for Viewing on Your Own Time!

By Jesse Fulton, M.S. – Director of Producer Education With the beef industry continuously looking to improve everyday practices on the farm or ranch to help producers be more sustainable and profitable, it is important producers have the most up-todate information and resources. This is where the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Producer Education team comes into play.

The Producer Education team oversees the Cattlemen’s Webinar Series (CWS). These webinars reach thousands of cattlemen each year in a unique format that allows for audience interaction with presenters. Leading industry speakers from across the country present the latest information on topics ranging from grazing and forage to mineral nutrition.

For 2020, the CWS kicked off with a cattle genetics webinar focusing on “Making the Best

Use of Current Genetic Selection Tools.” This session, led by genetic selection experts Alison Van Eenennaam, PhD (UC Davis) and Matt Spangler, PhD (University of Nebraska), provided an overview of how best to understand changes in genetic evaluations and new or updated indexes from the major breed associations. The team also covered the results from the BEEF magazine producer survey on genetic selection.

In the spring, the CWS conducted a five-part series that focused on soil health, forage systems, grazing management, drought management, and utilizing legumes, crop residues and cover crops.

This series partnered with experts from across the country who serve at places like the Noble Research Institute, King Ranch Institute, NRCS and land grant universities, as well as many producers who have been recognized as outstanding stewards of land, forage and cattle.

For the first time ever, the CWS held a webinar

focusing on the mental health of producers on the farm or ranch, an issue that is on the rise with an increase in suicide rates of farmers and ranchers across the nation. This webinar discussed how to identify issues with mental health and how to bring up the conversation. The CWS also hosted webinars focused on health issues in mid- to late-fed cattle and navigating today’s cattle market.

Finally, the CWS just wrapped up a four–part series focusing on beef cattle mineral nutrition. This series, sponsored in-part by Multimin®, Provimi®, and Vitaferm®, walked producers through the basics of mineral nutrition, how to understand mineral tags and manage consumption, and the role of minerals in beef cattle production and immunity. This fall, the CWS plans to host a series of webinars focusing on protein and energy supplementation for the cow herd.

If you missed these webinars or any of our other past webinars “live”, they are recorded and “always on” – just visit the “Producers” tab at NCBA.org.

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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN

T H E F E D E R AT I O N O F S TAT E B E E F C O U N C I L S Building beef demand by inspiring, unifying and supporting an effective state/national checkoff partnership.

Independence Day Concert Promotes Beef in Washington

WASHINGTON STATE

COMMISSION The Washington State Beef Commission teamed up with 98.9 The Bull country radio station in Seattle for the Red, White and Bull virtual concert, which streamed live all day July 3 and 4. Billed as Seattle’s Largest Live Virtual Music Festival, the 19-hour event featured popular radio personalities and the music of, and interviews with, some of the station’s favorite artists, including Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and others.

The concert also featured a virtual pop-up concert store where listeners could order a special “United Steaks

of America” concert t-shirt. The whimsical t-shirt features steaks cut in the shape of the United States of America. Proceeds from the t-shirt sales will go to benefit Beef Counts at Food Lifeline to provide beef for hungry families. The Beef Counts program was established in 2010

by WSBC to fill the need for highquality protein in local food banks.

Proceeds from the t-shirt sales topped $1,350, with the entire amount donated by 98.9 The Bull to Beef Counts at Food Lifeline.

The Independence Day promotion generated 3,474,000 impressions for beef on-air and digitally. Listeners were also reminded to visit the WSBC website at wabeef.org for beef recipes to put on the grill during the concert.

United Steaks of America t-shirts are available for purchase all summer via bit.ly/BeefCountsTee.

Arizona Expands Reach Through Virtual Ag Tour

There are few silver linings to the COVID-19 cloud. However, this year more Arizona teachers were reached with important beef and agricultural messages when the Arizona Summer Agriculture Institute went virtual.

Typically a maximum of 30 teachers are able to go on the week-long tour; this year five days of virtual tours and presentations replaced the bus

trip, and 218 educators participated in the event, with an average daily attendance of up to 200.

The event is a coordinated effort between Arizona’s agriculture education groups, including the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and Maricopa Agriculture Center, Arizona Beef Council, Arizona Farm Bureau Federation, Arizona Milk Producers, Arizona State Cowbelles, and the Arizona Departments of Education and Agriculture. Support is also provided by the Arizona Foundation for Agriculture Literacy.

Fourteen presenters from a variety of ag operations, from beef

Get to Know your Federation Regional Vice Presidents In National Cattlemen we are helping you get to know the seven Federation regional vice presidents who serve on the NCBA Executive Committee. Here is the representative for Region V. Please reach out to Sallie with questions or thoughts if she represents your state! For information on the other vice presidents, please see the Federation page in www.ncba.org.

Region V Sallie Miller, Colorado Sallie Miller and her family have raised registered Red Angus cattle in Northeastern Colorado since 1982 with Croissant Red Angus. They now have three generations of the family in the operation, which has received numerous recognitions for excellence through the years.

Sallie thinks misinformation is one of the biggest challenges for both the cattle industry and agriculture in general. “Many people do not know

how cattle are raised or their critical role in the ecosystem, eating byproducts and grazing where it isn’t feasible to grow crops,” she says.

“Furthermore, they don’t always recognize beef as a nutritionallydense food that’s convenient to prepare. Our work through the Federation can help bridge the knowledge gap that exists between cattle producers and consumers.”

Serving as the president of the Colorado CattleWomen from 20152017, Sallie was recently recognized for her extensive work to improve the industry’s outreach with the Colorado CattleWoman of the Year Award, helping extend beef industry messaging through the Colorado Farm Show, hosting farm tours and traveling to foreign countries to promote beef. In addition to her work with the CattleWomen, she has been active in the Colorado Beef Council and the Federation of State Beef Councils.

ranchers to beekeepers, from dairy farmers to lavender and rose farms, were able to reach out to the mostly K-12 educators. Collectively, the participants reach nearly 28,000 students per year.

In a post-institute survey 82 percent of participants said they are likely or very likely to incorporate information from the cattle and beef portions of the virtual tours and information presented into their curriculum.

This would have been the 30th anniversary of the in-person educator tour of Arizona Agriculture. The 2020 virtual tour was held June 8-12.

Iowa, New York Team Up to Educate Consumers, Students Both cow-calf and feedlot operations were in the spotlight when the Iowa Beef Industry Council and New York Beef Council teamed up for a live-streamed virtual farm tour. The 50-minute Facebook Live Stream introduced attendees to Betsy Hicks of Maple Acres Farm in McGraw, N.Y. and Nate Graham’s finishing lot in Cherokee County, Iowa.

V Included in the virtual tour were discussions of what cattle eat and how farmers manage their land through rotational grazing.

Other topics included cattle identification, record keeping and herd health management.

In addition to being streamed live across Facebook, the tour was also posted on the NYBC website, allowing students to learn online and giving consumers another option for taking the tour. The trip was hosted June 11 and reached more than 11,000 people and was viewed 5,000 times, with more than 1,000 engagements on social media. Recordings of the virtual tour are still available on the Iowa Beef Industry Council Facebook page and NYBC YouTube page.

The IBIC and NYBC partnership was a unique opportunity to reach a populous state (New York has 19.5 million consumers and just 7,300 beef farms) with additional information from a state that has more cattle than people (there are 3.9 million head of cattle in Iowa, versus 3.17 million consumers). New York primarily has cow-calf operations and dairy farms, while Iowa focuses on the finishing phase of cattle production, utilizing the state’s cropland and corn production.

N O C A L F L E F T

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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN

Market Matters Lack of Production = Pressured Beef Exports

Drought Conditions a Concern for Beef Producers

By Troy Bockelmann Analyst, CattleFax The trade data for May was released, and as expected total exports faced a headwind as COVID-19 made its way through plants, causing temporary closures and smaller production. In May, total beef, pork, and poultry exports were 1.437 billion pounds, down 2 percent from a year ago and down 5 percent from April. Exports of all proteins are expected to rebound in the second half of the year.

Beef: Beef exports were significantly lower as smaller production and record high beef prices limited export potential. Beef exports in May totaled 188 million pounds, down 31 percent from a yearago. Weekly sales data is indicating a recovery in exports in the second half of the year. The current CattleFax expectation is for 5 percent growth

By Don Day, Jr. Meteorologist

in 2020 when compared to 2019. But as exports are down 1.5 percent in the first five months, strong shipments will need to occur for the remainder of the year.

Pork: U.S. pork exports continued to have a strong showing in May, driven by exports to China. Pork exports in May totaled a record high 33 percent of production.

While 4 percent lower than April, U.S. pork exports in May were 618 million pounds or 21 percent above a year ago. China accounted for 41 percent of total pork exports, as record high exports to China offset declines to other major markets.

African Swine Fever continues to disrupt the Chinese markets, as prices are six times higher than the U.S. market. Pork exports are expected to continue to be strong for the remainder of the year.

Editor’s Note: NCBA members can read weekly updates from meteorologist Don Day, Jr. by logging onto www.NCBA.org.

As we head into the home stretch for the second half of summer, August will prove to be an important month regarding the weather across many areas of the U.S. At the end of July, drought conditions intensified across portions of the Rockies, Southern Plains, Pacific Northwest and parts of the Desert Southwest. The North American Monsoon season was almost nonexistent in late June and early July across the Southern Rockies, Desert Southwest and Southern Plains. The weak start to the monsoon season combined with a drier spring pattern has many beef producers concerned about worsening drought conditions for the rest of the summer across parts of the Southern Plains and the western states.

On the flip side, at the time of the writing of the article the amount of tropical storm and hurricane activity has been low. While the low tropical activity will likely not last through August it has been a relatively quiet tropical season so far.

The biggest concerns for August will be the dry conditions in the Southern Plains and Rockies and any growth of that dryness into the Corn Belt.

As we take a look at August, all indications suggest that while the drought conditions in the west and Southern Plains will not be erased, there will be a better chance for rain in parts

of the Rockies, The Desert Southwest and Southern Plains as subtropical moisture will have an easier time getting pushed northward out of Mexico and Central America and into the western United States.

The graphic above shows expected precipitation trends in August. The green areas represent above average precipitation and brown areas below normal precipitation while gray areas show near normal precipitation. Note the drier patch over portions of eastern Colorado and the Panhandle areas.

Temperatures are expected to be warm to hot, as you would expect August to be; however, we are not anticipating any prolonged heat waves.

The warmest areas are highlighted in yellow/orange with the blue areas showing the coolest areas in August.

The gray areas will have temperatures near normal.

NATIONAL CATTLEMEN 9

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Market Matters Prime Graded Carcasses Continue to Rise

By Katelyn McCullock, Director of Livestock Marketing Information Center Weekly National Steer and Heifer Estimated Grading Percent numbers, released by USDA AMS, completed data release for the first half of 2020.

National trends of beef carcasses grading Prime have increased from last year, a weekly estimated average of 10.39 percent compared to 8.72 percent over the same period in 2019. The last five years have shown tremendous growth, rising from just over 5 percent in 2015 and 2016.

The increase has been multifaceted and takes into account a range of influences. One of the longer-term influences has been the genetic advancement in emphasizing greater marbling to enhance the eating experience. In 2006, the beef industry introduced beef camera grading. That technology has continued to evolve and offer greater consistency and uniformity across all carcass grading. In addition, cattle feeders have extended days on feed, which can enhance quality grades and increases dressed weight. Dressed weights have climbed significantly since the 1980s and only recently showed a temporary plateau from 2017-2019. In the short term, COVID-19 has further pushed days on feed out by backing up cattle in feedlots to accommodate changes to slaughter capacity. This not only has increased the number of cattle on feed longer but has increased dressed weights dramatically from 2019.

The year-over-year increase in carcasses grading Prime can be seen in all the regions reported in the National Steer and Heifer Estimated Grading Percent report. This report breaks down regions 1-5 (1- CT, ME, NH, VT, MA, & RI; 2-NY & NJ; 3- DE, MD, PA, WV, & VA; 4- AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, & TN; 5- IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, & WI), Region 6 (6- AR, LA, NM, OK), Region 7-8 (7- IA, KS, MO, & NE; 8- CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, & WY), and Region 9-10 (9- AZ, CA, HI & NV; 10- AK, ID, OR, & WA). Additionally, it provides data for Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas.

Regions 1-5, as a group, generally has a larger percentage grading Prime than the other regions but also has seen some of the largest changes over the last five years. From 2015-2019, the percent of carcasses grading Prime rose more than 5 percent, jumping to a weekly average of 17 percent in 2019 up from 11.5 percent in 2015. The next largest increase was in Regions 7-8, increasing 3.9 percent over that timeframe. Region 6 and Region 9-10 increased less than 2 percent each.

In the individual state data reported, Nebraska showed the largest gain in percent of carcasses grading Prime and was just under 10 percent in 2019, up from 5.7 percent in 2015. Nebraska’s first half of 2020 showed that percentage is averaging 12.7 percent weekly. Kansas and Texas have not seen nearly as large jumps in the last five years, but 2020 has shown higher percentages overall.

F.I. STEER DRESSED WEIGHTS Annual

Pounds 920

Cattle on feed longer is likely a contributor to these sharp rises in grading percent. Genetic potential for grading higher can be unlocked by longer days on feed for some cattle, but not all cattle will necessarily reach a higher grade by being on feed longer. The June Cattle on Feed report

by USDA NASS indicated that although cattle are backed up, the total number on feed was below a year ago. Days on feed, though, look to continue to increase with cattle on feed over 120 days about 1.1 million head higher as of July 1. Calculating days on feed for over 150 days shows a large increase over prior year figures as well, with some states showing indications that some cattle may be over 180 days on feed, but very few states are showing cattle over 200 days on feed, though it is still likely happening.

By state, breakdowns are supportive of higher grading percentages moving forward at least for the next few months. It is expected that the cattle feeding industry will still be dealing with backlogged cattle into the fourth quarter of 2020, even if there are no more slaughter disruptions. Nearly all individual states estimated show an increase in the cattle on feed over 150 days. Nebraska ranks one of the highest with an estimated 80 percent increase from July 1, 2019. For cattle already on 150 days or more of feed, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma all calculate to hold 50 percent more than a year ago.

Higher percentages grading Prime has compressed the spread between Prime grades and other quality grades. Lower slaughter numbers of the second quarter drove quality premiums higher across all quality grades and have since fallen lower along with the boxed beef cutout.

However, the spreads into June have remained narrow. The spread between Prime and Branded cutout values was the lowest on record in May, followed by the second lowest in June, and both under $3 per cwt. The Prime to Choice spread also narrowed to the lowest on record in June, to $7.25 per cwt.

Although there has been an increase in retail offerings of Prime graded beef in recent years, the economic condition will be a key to whether consumers are willing to spend extra on Prime graded beef, and at what premium.

White tablecloth restaurants too face a slow reopening in the U.S. and are still a key demand piece for Prime graded beef. That sector has been relatively absent for the better part of this year and recovery is likely to be slow. Prime premiums face these demand and supply factors, which may limit large spreads between Prime beef and the other quality grades.

870 820 770 720 670 620

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Data Source: USDA-NASS

2017

04/22/20

Livestock Marketing Information Center

CATTLE ON FEED OVER 120 DAYS US Total, Monthly

Mil. Head 5.8 5.3 4.8 4.3 3.8 3.3 2.8

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

Avg. 2014/18

JUL

2019

AUG

SEP

OCT

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2020

Data Source: USDA-NASS, Compiled by LMIC Livestock Marketing Information Center

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PERCENT GRADING PRIME Annual Weekly Average

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Percent of Carcasses Grading Prime

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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN

NEWS United We Steak Campaign Results in 130 Million+ Impressions In First Two Weeks According to market research conducted by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and funded by the Beef Checkoff, nearly one-third of consumers say that they plan to grill more this summer than they have in the past. To encourage Americans to make beef their protein of choice this summer grilling season, NCBA, which manages the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand, funded by the Beef Checkoff, launched “United We Steak,” a new summer grilling campaign showcasing 50 steaks and all 50 states. “United We Steak” celebrates not only a shared tradition of grilling delicious steaks, but also what makes each state unique when it comes to this beloved pastime.

The idea comes to life at UnitedWeSteak.com with an interactive map of the United States made from 50 hand-cut state-shaped steaks. The interactive map is packed full of grilling spirit and state-specific recipes and fun facts that can help consumers nationwide “beef up” grilling season this summer. Visit UnitedWeSteak.com to see your home state.

Underpinning the campaign is a recognition that across all 50 states and a million tastes, there is a universal love of beef sizzling on the grill with beef being the preferred summer holiday grilling protein. The state and U.S.-shaped steaks are being featured in national advertisements, including still images and videos shared on digital and social media platforms.

The advertisements are also being shared on video platforms including YouTube and Connected TV in an effort to inspire Americans to grill up their favorite beef meal no matter where they live.

The campaign is a perfect example of the importance of the state and national partnership that NCBA has through the Federation of State Beef Councils. At the national level, NCBA, through Beef Checkoff resources, developed the campaign and all of the creative assets, including providing still images of each state-shaped steak, a local state headline and a variety of creative assets including still imagery, radio ads and video ads to state beef councils to extend at the local level.

State beef council partners worked collaboratively with the national staff to build out 50 individual state landing pages that show how beef is raised in that state by profiling a local beef producer, offering facts about beef and cattle in each state and serving up a beef state-inspired recipe. States are extending the campaign through a variety of tactics and digital platforms.

A variety of earned media stories were also pitched to news outlets around the country to share information on how to cook the perfect steak or beef burger on the grill this summer. NCBA was able to place a number of positive media stories, • The DailyMeal.com, a well-known website that reaches 2.2 million people nationwide, provided tips from NCBA on cooking a steakhouseworthy steak at home.

• FoxNews.com, which reaches 72 million+, did a feature story on steak swaps to help consumers enjoy a wide variety of beef cuts, even if they

can’t find their favorite beef cut in the store.

• The website for Good Morning America, the national morning news show with a reach of more than 480 million across their ABC networks, featured a 5-minute interview with Chef Lamar Moore, a popular chef influencer who partnered with Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner., on how to grill a burger without a grill.

As part of United We Steak outreach, NCBA hosted a satellite media tour live from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Culinary Center, funded by the Beef Checkoff. On June 30 ahead of the July Fourth holiday weekend, NCBA’s own in-house butcher and culinary expert, Bridget Wasser, was interviewed by 24 TV and radio stations across the country to inspire viewers and listeners to grill up a delicious steak. During the interviews she answered questions and gave tips for grilling the perfect steak and showed off the amazing hand-cut state-shaped steaks central to the United We Steak campaign. In addition to the live interviews, several were taped and distributed to additional media outlets around the country.

NCBA also placed a United We Steak image on a billboard in Times Square in New York City. At 23 stories tall and more than 7,300 square feet, it's one of the largest digital signs in the world. The United We Steak image appeared five times during morning and evening rush hours.

Bloggers around the country also shared tips on how to make the perfect steak meal on popular blogs like The Daley Plate and Vindulge. Masters of Beef Advocacy graduates are also being encouraged to share resources and content with their followers and local communities to further extend the campaign.

Finally, an e-commerce pilot project is also underway to inspire shoppers to purchase beef during summer grilling season by serving up mouth-watering beef recipe ads that appear on digital platforms.

The ads are “shoppable,” meaning that they allow consumers to add beef to their online shopping cart and then have fresh beef delivered directly to their door from

national grocery retailers like Kroger and Walmart.

Recognizing that beef sales have been strong over the past several months with more consumers than ever before using online grocery delivery, this e-commerce project will track beef sales and also provide better understanding for which messages perform best when it comes to converting beef sales.

The campaign launched on June 29 and will run through Labor Day. The response from consumers and producers has been overwhelmingly positive, with the following results in just the first two weeks: • More than 113 million impressions through paid advertising and social media efforts alone • More than 24 million video views • More than 386,000 pageviews of UnitedWeSteak.com • More than 800 radio and TV interview airings from the satellite media tour, resulting in more than 22 million impressions Follow Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and visit BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com to continuously see new content.

NATIONAL CATTLEMEN 11

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Governance Instilling a Corporate Culture

By Bob Harris, CAE

used to do it.”

Editors Note: Bob Harris, CAE, is an association consultant and was the presenter at the 2017 Richard McDonald Leadership Institute which honors the memory of Texas Cattle Feeders Association’s former CEO Richard McDonald.

Corporate Ingredients An association’s corporate culture develops organically over time from cumulative processes and behaviors.

While there are precise governing documents the culture is usually silent or implied.

Some organizations consider governance to be a meeting, an agenda, reports, minutes and adjournment. These are ingredients of a board meeting, but a business culture requires more.

To instill a corporate culture, include these aspects:

Harris provides free association governance tips and templates at www.nonprofitcenter.com I suggest that boards adopt a corporate culture to increase their impact and outcomes.

Corporate culture can be described as the beliefs and behaviors that determine how volunteers and staff interact and handle decisions.

Some nonprofit boards refute the idea of corporate culture.

Association executives ask, “Are you suggesting we adopt a business model?” The answer is a resounding, “YES.” From the perspective of volunteer leaders, I’ve heard some unique replies, “We are an association, not a corporation.” Or, “We are nonprofit so I don’t think a corporate culture would benefit us.”

Working as a Business An association is a business. I’m not the first to advise that “nonprofit” is a legal designation, not the model for volunteer behaviors.

Some directors leave their business skills at the boardroom door. They work in successful organizations, but come to the board meeting to see friends. Meetings are characterized as the “lunch bunch” or a time to share stories.

The purpose of a board is to govern. Members and stakeholders expect results.

Read the recent meeting minutes and one might ask why the board met. Agendas average a dozen reports to which the directors are forced to listen or read. For directors who arrived without preparing the most frequent phrase is, “I just have a question.”

Culture Evolves Culture settles into an organization, often without realization. Meetings planned just to meet may become the norm. Or a lack of quorum becomes the standard.

The worst characterization of a board is, “good old boys.” Nobody purposely sought this reputation but it happens.

You may recognize it by looking around the board table realizing the directors don’t reflect the composition of the membership.

Or you hear awkward statements like, “We’ve always done it that way” and “That’s not how we

•

Performance – How can leaders gauge and recognize success if performance measures are not set? Under- performing programs should be enhanced or cut; the same for committees.

Report on performance through a series of dashboards to visually communicate trends, growth and gaps.

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Strategy – A board should be strategic, leaving the tactics to committees and staff. The board sets a multi-year roadmap. Keep the plan on the board table and report on progress at meetings.

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Impact – Members expect results. Does the organization have enough influence to sway decision makers and affect public policy?

Members may say they are not interested in politics but nearly all of them desire a better operating climate with less regulation.

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Brand Strength – Corporations rely on a contemporary brand, logo, media and messaging to communicate with power. Discuss the reason for the image of the logo and if it communicates a clear, positive message.

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Behaviors – Leadership behaviors have an impact on the board and its outcomes.

Somebody playing devil’s advocate at every meeting seldom adds value. Arriving late or unprepared is unacceptable, diminishing board performance.

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ROI – Corporations deliver dividends and equity. Associations should provide value or return on investment for dues paid. Do decisions of the board, and the programs and services provide enough value to sustain or grow the membership?

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Principles – Principles are the values developed in the organization. Values guide the discussions and decisions of the board.

Be sure the board is aware and considers the stated values. They often include respect for accountability, transparency and diversity.

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Processes – Question why certain processes exist. How is the agenda developed? Do guests sit in or distract meetings of the board? Do

reports dominate the agenda leaving little time for substantive discussions?

Changing the Culture Few boards make time for an introspective discussion about image, behavior and results.

Start with the question, “Are we the best board possible?” “What can be improved?”

It can be a difficult conversation. They might ask; Should we be more diverse? Do board meetings produce outcomes? And, do processes and behaviors reflect good governance?

Use a self-assessment tool to guide the conversation. Consider a facilitator to advance the discussion and reach consensus for action.

Ask directors to judge their individual performance. Use their input to improve processes and meetings. For example, if they feel they are not strategic enough, find a way to weave the strategic plan into meetings.

If the board is the wrong size, decide on the right number of directors to allow for meaningful conversations. The average is 15 persons.

If the board meets too frequently discuss an agenda that advances business for at least 90 days.

With technology and the authority of an executive committee, work can be accomplished in between duly called meetings.

If there are too many reports to digest, implement a consent agenda process to reduce time spent reading and listening. Directors will have to make time to read before meetings.

Through honest self-evaluation, introspection and a commitment to be the best, business principles can become the norm.

Trustee Roles Directors should understand they are trustees of a corporation. The membership has entrusted them with resources to advance the mission and goals.

Board members are to perform their duties in accordance with corporate laws and the governing documents.

Most directors have the business skills necessary for good governance. They should ensure this board strives to be a model of excellence.

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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN

Region l Report - States Impacted by COVID-19

By Tim Schwab, Region l Vice President There are eight states that are affiliates of NCBA (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia) in Region I. It has approximately 2,100 NCBA members that are cowcalf operators, stockers and farmer feeders.

The recent shutdowns in state government and stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19 have had a significant impact on the state affiliates in this region, both legislatively and financially. Most of the state affiliates have been able to utilize the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help support some shortfalls in their budgets. It is feared by many that these deficits will take years to rebound from.

MICHIGAN The Michigan Cattlemen’s Association (MCA) has been impacted significantly by the fallout from the Coronavirus. With the high number of cases reported in Southeast Michigan, their state took aggressive steps to stop the spread of the disease. They were fortunate to be able to conduct the annual MCA/MSU Bull Evaluation Sale on March 21, just days before more restrictive orders were put in place.

Stay-at-home orders and prohibitions on gatherings caused the cancelation of the Michigan Beef Expo.

Although their breed sales were able to quickly shift to an online format, association revenue from the trade show was completely lost, along with their primary membership recruiting opportunity. They also postponed the MCA Summer Round-Up, which was to be held at Michigan State University in conjunction with the International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare in June. The conference has been rescheduled for June 17-19, 2021. They look forward to welcoming cattlemen from across the region for that event next summer.

In March, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy issued a revised NPDES permit for CAFOs. Many of the state’s CAFOs and livestock organizations have joined together in a legal challenge to the permit and called for an Administrative Appeal. MCA is continuing to monitor the status of the CAFO permit language and may be joining in future legal action. The Department is also making revisions to the permit for slaughterhouses wastewater. A draft permit has not yet been issued, but MCA is monitoring this situation closely.

They are very concerned about the unreasonable restrictions being placed on local slaughterhouses.

COVID-19 has also had a profound negative impact on our state budget, with the latest revenue estimations predicting a $3 billion shortfall. This is expected to result in a 15-20 percent cut to University and Extension funding in the year ahead. Legislative funding for livestock industry research through the Michigan Alliance for Animal Agriculture was vetoed twice this fiscal year.

They are expecting these budgetary shortfalls to result in significant cuts to livestock teaching, research and extension programming in future years, the extent of which they are unable to estimate at this time.

INDIANA Like many states, Indiana Beef Cattle Association (IBCA) will be hampered financially by the cancellation of the Indiana State Fair. The largest single fund raiser for the organization all year, the lack of revenue from the food tents will leave the organization with a large deficit within the budget.

As in years past, the IBCA will fund industry improvements through the Hoosier Beef Congress. Each year the stalling auction prior to the event raises money that is used for scholarships, leadership development and

advancing the industry through education and programs.

The IBCA will be working with state legislators this coming session on increasing the funding for the state meat inspection program. The COVID-19 crisis over the past few months has illuminated the precarious nature of the food production system in the U.S., particularly the bottleneck within the packing industries. It has become more obvious than ever that expanding the opportunities for producers to have their cattle processed for the consumer is beneficial for everyone. The IBCA Board of Directors has voted to support the initiative for funding increase while reaching out to other commodity organizations as well as Farm Bureau within the state.

IBCA continues to work with USDA Fish and Wildlife on the issue of Black Vulture predation on cattle and calves in the southern part of the state. Indiana is currently working on a model similar to the one implemented by Kentucky Farm Bureau, which allows beef producers to receive a Black Vulture permit within a streamlined process and at a reduced fee.

The Stockmanship and Stewardship scheduled for this September in Danville, Ind., has been postponed and rescheduled for September 10-11, 2021. The committee concluded that trying to host the event this year would be difficult since Indiana will likely still be in stage 5 of the Governor’s plan.

KENTUCKY Dave Maples, Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association (KCA) Executive Vice President, testified before the Kentucky Senate and House Ag Committees the first part of June.

The topics were much the same as the national issues: Beef prices at the grocery store, packing plant closures, the need for more local plants, PPP, CFAP and DOJ investigation into the packing plants. The committees voted to send a letter to Attorney General Barr.

With COVID-19, KCA has had a better relationship and more engagement with the Kentucky Congressional delegation than any time. They have worked with them on the investigation, they have asked for an extension on the CFAP program and have asked for a risk management tool for cow-calf producers, either an enhanced LRP or a new risk mitigation tool. KCA has worked with a couple of southeastern states and they have asked Ag economists from several universities to work on a white paper for them. They would like to bring a resolution to NCBA at the summer meeting.

As the cattle representative of largest beef producing state east of the Mississippi River, KCA provides fresh, source verified 80/20 Kentucky Ground Beef to approximately 140 Kroger stores. Pre COVID-19 it was about 12 to 13 head of cattle a week; since the pandemic it is up to about 50 head per week.

OHIO The COVID-19 pandemic has Ohio facing the same budget woes and resulting cuts as other states. A $2.4 billion budget shortfall is expected, and forecasts indicate that Ohio’s economy will not return to 2019 levels until the end of 2021. In the face of these significant state budget cuts, the administration preserved $50 million for H2Ohio, a farmer-focused best management practice program that will assist farmers in the western basin of Lake Erie to implement phosphorus reduction measures to improve water quality. Ohio is also debating legislation that would

How the W.D. Farr Scholarship Helped Me

By Ariel Overstreet-Adkins, 2014 W.D. Farr Scholarship Recipient I received the W.D. Farr Scholarship in 2014 from the National Cattlemen’s Foundation as a secondyear law student at the University of Montana School of Law, where I focused my studies on property, land use, natural resource, and water law.

I decided to attend law school after an awesome five years with the Montana Stockgrowers Association working as communications director and lobbyist. I saw law school as a way to continue my personal growth and to continue to serve the cattle industry.

The W.D. Farr Scholarship has been a pillar of my development as an attorney in the past six years. By helping to make my student loan debt much more manageable, the W.D. Farr Scholarship allowed me to pursue my interests at law school and begin work toward my goal of becoming a great legal advocate for farmers and ranchers. Knowing that my friends in the cattle industry supported my efforts was a constant source of encouragement in the face of a challenging and rigorous law school curriculum.

Law school gave me some incredible opportunities like interning at the Montana Water Court and serving on the Public Land and Resources Law Review. I published an article in Montana Law Review examining the potential for an amendment to the State Constitution to guarantee the right to farm and ranch in Montana called “Extraordinary

Protections for the Industry That Feeds Us.” Shortly after graduation in 2016, I was thrilled to attend the Young Cattlemen’s Conference as a representative of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, even though I had to lug around my bar exam study materials with me on the trip!

I clerked for a federal judge in Montana for a year and then worked as an associate attorney at the Moulton Bellingham firm in Billings, Mont., for two and a half years. I was able to hit the ground running with my cattle industry background to support clients with significant cattle litigation matters. I also worked on water rights and property dispute issues.

In March of this year, I started my own practice, Bluebird Law & Public Affairs. My firm is a full-service civil litigation and business transactions firm serving individuals, farmers and ranchers, small businesses and entrepreneurs, and non-profits across Montana.

My practice areas include agriculture, water, natural resources, land use, real estate, estate planning, and public affairs. I love to help ranchers with their dayto-day business and family legal needs.

Starting my own practice would not have been possible without the financial and moral support of the National Cattlemen’s Foundation and the W.D. Farr Scholarship. The substantial financial amount of the scholarship helped reduce my student debt load which allowed me to pay off my student loans much faster than I would have otherwise. This gave me the ability to take the leap of faith and financial risk to start my own practice. Additionally, my husband, Zac, and I are expecting our first child in late August,

l

retroactively grant Coronavirus exposure liability protection for Ohio employers.

The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) has lost significant non-dues revenue resulting from the cancellation of several events, including the Ohio Beef Expo and the Ohio State Fair. Many other association events, including the OCA Young Cattlemen’s Conference, have been cancelled.

OCA has convened their live cattle marketing committee to discuss the recent market issues and explore considerations for greater price discovery. OCA is completing a member survey, the results of which will be used to update the association’s three-year strategic plan.

Planning is underway for the continuation of the association’s new producer education program, the OCA Cattlemen’s Academy. The first topic for the memberonly program featured calving clinics taught by Ohio State University faculty members. OCA will continue with these, as well as add new topics for the educational series.

VIRGINIA Virginia’s Phase III Watershed Improvement Program (WIP 3) has been one of the top priorities for the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association (VCA) over the last few years. The Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Management Plan and Stream Exclusion was one of their key legislative concerns in the 2020 General Assembly (GA). This plan holds several implications for cattle producers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed area, as it requires any operator of at least 50 acres of cropland to submit a nutrient management plan and any person who owns 20 or more bovines to install stream exclusion practices that satisfy regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The Chesapeake Bay watershed incorporates 60 percent of Virginia’s landmass. Along with industry partners, they conducted a grassroots effort during the General Assembly and advocated strongly for an amendment to remove the regulatory and penalty provisions included in the original bill that would have included penalties in 2025 if certain targets had not been met. This ultimately led both the Senate and House committees to adopt a compromised amendment.

Revenue shortfalls in the state budget due to the COVID-19 crisis now creates concerns for cost share dollar availability.

Due to shutdowns throughout the state, many of Virginia cattlemen’s events were cancelled or postponed this past spring and summer. VCA had planned to host our Annual Field Day and Convention in July in conjunction with the Virginia State Dairymen’s Association; however, they chose to postpone the joint function until 2021. Luckily, VCA will be able to hold its Annual Meeting in September due to changes in Virginia’s COVID-19 reopening plan. so 2020 has been a year of significant change. We are in for quite the adventure!

I am so grateful to have an opportunity to build the law practice and life that I want so I can help my friends in the cattle industry who have helped me so much. I strive every day to live my life in even a small way to honor the towering legacy of W.D. Farr. Receiving a scholarship in his name will forever be a tremendous honor.

W.D Farr Scholarship Each year $15,000 scholarships are presented in memory of industry leader W.D. Farr to two graduate students pursuing studies that will benefit the future of the beef industry. The first scholarships were presented in 2007. Information about past winners can be found on the National Cattlemen’s Foundation website at www. nationalcattlemensfoundation.org

The 2020 scholarship application is open August 1-31 and a link can be found on the NCF home page.

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NCBA Recommended Laptop Specifications • Core i7 processor • 16GB RAM • 512GB Solid State hard drive • 14” touch screen display • Internal Wi-fi card standard, optional cellular WWAN card is also available • 4-cell long life battery • 5 year Pro Support+ with • Accidental damage protection

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*You can also consider the Latitude 7220EX Rugged Extreme as a tablet option

UPGRADE AND IMPROVE THE TECHNOLOGY OF YOUR OPERATION You can access your Dell Technologies coupon as well as all your member benefits, through the member portal at www.NCBA.org

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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN

Cattle Imports Strengthen US Beef Industry

By Dustin Aherin, PhD, animal protein analyst, Rabo AgriFinance The official implementation of the United States-MexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA) began July 1, 2020; a good day for the U.S. beef industry.

USMCA provides for continued open access to two of the U.S.’s top-five beef export destinations.

Perhaps equally important is the U.S.’s continued access to live cattle imports from Canada and Mexico. That last statement may seem counterintuitive, but as COVID-19 has drawn attention to supply chain and infrastructure resilience in the face of major shocks, the role of live cattle imports to balancing the U.S. cattle supply chain should not be ignored.

There seems to always be a part of the industry campaigning to limit cattle imports. The proposed outcome of the trade restriction would be a reduction in cattle supplies and an increase in prices for U.S. producers. Let’s play through that scenario.

In the short term, U.S. cattle prices would likely rise. However, competition for reduced cattle supplies would eventually force the least efficient feeding and packing capacity out of business, thus reducing cattle demand and bringing cattle prices back down. Recent history over the past twenty years, during both the Canadian cattle import ban and the contraction of the U.S. cow herd from 2008 to 2014, supports this theory.

Another potential consequence of closing the borders to cattle haulers could be the expansion of feeding and packing capacity in Canada and Mexico.

With more beef produced within their own borders, two of our biggest export destinations could have less need for U.S. beef. Reductions in U.S. beef production infrastructure and export demand do not bode well for long-term cattle prices.

One counterargument to the scenario described above is that the U.S. could simply expand its domestic cow herd to fill the gap from reduced cattle imports and prevent U.S. infrastructure loss. There are several reasons why such meaningful expansion is unlikely.

First, the biological time lag in beef production means it would be difficult for excess feeding and packing capacity to survive until the cow herd expands.

Expansion would likely be slow. The increased heifer retention required for herd expansion would further tighten feeder and fed cattle supplies, thus increasing the difficulty of maintaining infrastructure capacity.

Secondly, there may not be enough resource availability to economically maintain a dramatically expanded U.S. cow herd. We estimate that the 2017 cow herd required 10 percent more maintenance energy than the 2002 cow herd due to larger cow size. The industry has been able to accommodate the requirements so far even with 10 percent fewer available grazing acres in 2017 versus 2002. If grazing remains a critical component of cow-calf production, how much more can the industry stretch grazing acres?

Finally, limiting cattle imports to the U.S. does not mean those foreign cattle simply disappear. They will be added to the supply chain in Canada and Mexico. In today’s global marketplace, U.S. cattle prices are largely

influenced by global animal protein supply and demand.

The U.S. is not the only producer of marbled, grain-fed beef. It’s a North American product. Canada is readily acknowledged as a grain-fed beef competitor to the U.S. In recent years, Mexico has greatly increased its ability to produce high-quality beef, too. If the global supply of grain-fed beef stays flat or increases, the global grain-fed beef price will not rise, therefore providing no incentive for U.S. cow herd expansion.

The post-BSE environment of the past decade illustrates how feeder cattle imports can act as a balancing variable when U.S. feeder cattle supplies fall too far short of U.S. feeding capacity, thus preventing U.S. feeding capacity loss. Figure 1 compares annual net feeder cattle imports to the ratio of U.S. feeding capacity and U.S. feeder cattle supplies, all on a carcass weight basis. With the drought-induced beef herd contraction in the early 2010s, the cattle feeding sector needed more head than the U.S. could supply to fill bunk space and stay in business. If Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) weren’t in place during this time (2009-2015), there likely would have been more cattle imports. That could have saved more of the industry infrastructure that was lost.

As the U.S. beef cow herd expanded from 2014 to 2019, the need for imported cattle to maintain infrastructure receded and feeder imports declined.

Other factors such as currency exchange rates, Canadian and Mexican cattle populations and infrastructures, drought and feed availability also influenced trade volumes. Trade can be viewed as a balancing variable for any of those factors, too.

When cattle are imported into the U.S., the jobs and economic activity associated with the feeding, transporting, processing and consumption of those cattle benefit the U.S. economy. “Impacts on U.S. Beef Packers, Workers, and the Economy of Restricted Cattle Trade Between Canada and the United States” (Schroeder and Leatherman, 2004) explores such economic impacts in detail as it relates to imported Canadian slaughter cattle.

Since 2010, total cattle imports from Mexico and Canada ranged from 1.6 to 2.3 million head per year. What would happen to the rural U.S. economy if the feeding and packing capacity and jobs associated with that many cattle were lost? Some regions may feel the pain more directly, but the prevalence of interstate cattle movement implies that communities tied to cattle and beef production nationwide would feel an impact.

Within North America, the U.S. has the competitive advantage in cattle feeding and processing. This status benefits the U.S. economy, particularly in rural America. USMCA benefits the beef industries of all three nations by enabling the most efficient resource allocation across the continent and adding supply chain flexibility. The long-term ripple effects of any policies that would hamper that trade suggest that North American live cattle trade is a boon to the U.S. beef industry and its communities.

If you are interested in additional insights into the beef industry, find the closest Rabo AgriFinance office on www.RaboAg.com.

Rabo AgriFinance is a leading financial services provider for agricultural producers and agribusinesses in the United States. Adding value through industry expertise, client-focused solutions and long-term business relationships, Rabo AgriFinance offers a comprehensive portfolio of services that gives producers the right products to prepare for and take advantage of market opportunities. This comprehensive suite includes loans, insurance, input finance and effective risk management products. Rabo AgriFinance is a division of Rabobank, a premier bank to the global agriculture industry and one of the world’s largest and strongest banks. Rabo AgriFinance is an equal opportunity provider.

CATTLE INDUSTRY CONVENTION

& NCBA TRADE SHOW

february 3-5, 2021 | Nashville

#CATTLECON21

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GAYLORD OPRYLAND RESORT & CONVENTION CENTER

NATIONAL CATTLEMEN 15

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Overcoming Objections while Recruiting

By Samantha Coulson, Associate Director, Membership and Affiliate Services Recruiting others to NCBA feels comfortable during farm tours or at a mid-year meeting.

Social distancing has made that a little harder this year. However, some of the most meaningful recruitment experiences happen in a one-on-one setting. In our industry, we value friendship. It is

not uncommon to have lifelong neighbors. Asking your friends or neighbors is the easiest ask you’ll have. They know and respect you.

When recruiting you may face rejection or oppositions.

Every salesperson knows that overcoming objections is the hardest part of making a sale (just think of all the objections you give your local cattle health or pasture management sales rep!). Below

FLOW CHART graphic

are some common objections and how to overcome them.

Remember the Top Hand year ends on Sept. 30, 2020. If you need any recruitment materials, reach out to the NCBA membership Department.

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