BEEF BOARD SEATS NEW MEMBERS, ELECTS LEADERSHIP

Curry, Svajgr, O'Brien are CBB Officers for 2004

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - (February 3, 2004) - The Cattlemen's Beef Board seated new board members and elected officers and representatives for its 2004 Executive Committee and Beef Promotion Operating Committee during its annual meeting in Phoenix Jan. 27 - Jan. 31, 2004.

After being appointed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in December, a total of 35 board members were seated for service on the CBB in 2004 - including 15 reappointments of existing members to a second term and appointment of 20 new members.

New members seated and the states they represent include: Dick Nock, California; Jack Cowley, California; Don Hullman, Kansas; T.B. Porter, Louisiana; Chuck Markley, Michigan; Charles Hull, Mississippi; Jerry King, Missouri; Margaret McKeen, New Mexico; Mark Pendleton, North Carolina; David Boyer, Oklahoma; Chuck Kiker, Texas; Walter Lasley, Texas; Peter Case, Texas; Richard Nielson, Utah; Nancy Thomas, Wisconsin; Mark Riechers, Wisconsin; Dianne Kirkbride, Wyoming; Quilly Ward, Mid-Atlantic Unit; Lucinda Williams, Northeast Unit; and Jenny Senn, Southeast Unit.

Reappointments and the states they represent include: Jim Webb, Arizona; Wade Zimmerman, Colorado; Laurie Bryant, Importer; Greg Silpe, Importer; Mike Cline, Iowa; Stan Zylstra, Iowa; Ron Estes, Kansas; Greg Hilgeman, Minnesota; Dave McCracken, Nebraska; Nancy Meyring, Nebraska; Steve Lucas, Nevada; Gary Sharp, South Dakota; Pat Blum, South Dakota; Mac Pate, Tennessee; and Hope Huffman, Texas.

New Officer Team 
At its annual meeting, the board also elected Nelson Curry of Paris, Kentucky to serve as its chairman in 2004. In addition, board members elected Alan Svajgr of Cozad, Nebraska to serve as its vice chairman for the coming year, and Jay O'Brien of Amarillo, Texas to serve as secretary/treasurer of the Beef Board for the year.

Curry was the 2003 vice chairman of the board, and served as secretary/treasurer in 2002. He was nominated to the Beef Board by a caucus of certified nominating organizations in Kentucky - including the Kentucky Cattleman's Association, the Aberdeen Angus Breeders, Kentucky Dairy Farmers of America, and Kentucky Farm Bureau - and was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture in 1999. Curry is farm manager of Clay Charolais, a 2,200-acre intensive grazing beef operation in Paris, Kentucky. The farm runs 1,500 stocker steers annually.

Svajgr served as secretary/treasurer of the Beef Board in 2003. He is a stocker/feedlot operator from Cozad, Nebraska, who was nominated to the Board by a caucus of certified nominating organizations in Nebraska - including Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Cattlewomen, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Farmer's Union, and Nebraska Dairy Farmers of America - and was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture in 2000. Svajgr is owner and manager of a farming/ ranching/ stocker/ backgrounding operation of about 5,000 head per year and is co-owner of a 30,000-head commercial feedlot that owns and finishes about 8,000 head/year.

O'Brien was nominated to the Beef Board by a caucus of certified nominating organizations in Texas - including the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Texas and Southwest Cattleraisers, Texas Dairy Farmers of America, Texas Independent Cattlemen's Association, Texas Farm Bureau, and Texas Cattlewomen - and was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture in 2002. He is a managing partner in Corsino Cattle Company, JA Cattle Company, and JJOB, Ltd., which pasture cows and yearlings on wheat and grass in the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma, and feed cattle in commercial lots in the High Plains. O'Brien is a past chairman of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and the Texas Beef Council.

Executive Committee 
Based on recommendations from the Joint Beef Industry Nominating Committee, the CBB elected the following members to its 2004 Executive committee: CBB Vice Chairman Alan Svajgr of Nebraska, who will serve as chairman of the Executive Committee; and members Nelson Curry (CBB chairman) of Kentucky; Jay O'Brien (CBB secretary/treasurer) of Texas; Mike Brooks of Oklahoma; Laurie Bryant, importer; Michael Cline of Iowa; Jim Little of Idaho; Charles Miller of Kentucky; Kay Richardson of Florida; Gary Sharp of South Dakota; and Pat Woods of New Mexico.

The 11-member CBB Executive Committee includes the board's three officers and another eight members elected at large. In addition, the immediate past chair of the Beef Board (Andy Tucker of Florida) serves on the committee as an ex-officio member. The committee operates under the direction of, and within the policies established by, the full board, and is responsible for carrying out Beef Board policies and conducting business and making decisions necessary to administer the terms and provisions of the Act and Order between meetings of the full board.

Operating Committee 
The Beef Promotion Operating Committee was created by the Beef Promotion Research Act to help coordinate state and national Beef Checkoff Programs. The 20-person committee includes 10 members of the Cattlemen's Beef Board, among them the Board's three officers and seven others elected directly by Beef Board members.

CBB members elected to the 2004 Beef Promotion Operating Committee during the annual meeting in Phoenix include: Chairman Nelson Curry of Kentucky; Vice Chairman Al Svajgr of Nebraska; Secretary/Treasurer Jay O'Brien of Texas; Dave Bateman of Illinois; Tracy Brunner of Kansas; Lisa Hefner of Oklahoma; Ken Stielow of Kansas; Linda Joy Stovall of Texas; Dave True of Wyoming; and Stan Zylstra of Iowa.

The other 10 members of the committee are representatives of state beef councils, including the chair and vice chair of the Federation of State Beef Councils and eight other members elected by state beef councils. Those representatives include Bob Rolston, Federation chairman from Colorado; Myron Williams, Federation vice chairman from South Dakota; Alan Albright of Iowa; Kent Bamford of Colorado; Ann Bruntz of Nebraska; David Dick of Missouri; Lowell Hobbs of Oklahoma; Ferren Squires of Florida; Jim Wilson of Oregon; and Dale Spencer of Nebraska.

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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.