2005 News Archive
BEEF BOARD SEATS NEW MEMBERS, ELECTS LEADERSHIP
CENTENNIAL, Colo. - The Cattlemen’s Beef Board seated new board members and elected officers and representatives for its 2005 Executive Committee and Beef Promotion Operating Committee during its annual meeting in San Antonio Feb. 1-5, 2005.
After being appointed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in December, a total of 39 board members were seated for service on the CBB in 2005 - including 14 reappointments of existing members to a second term and appointment of 25 new members.
New members seated and the states they represent include: Austin Brown, Texas; Virginia Coelho, California; Bob Combs, Virginia; O.D. Cope, Missouri; Jeff Dahl, North Dakota; Virginia Davis, Indiana; Terry Detrick, Oklahoma; Glenn Eberly, Pennsylvania; Robert Fountain, representing the Southeast unit; Dave Fugate, Tennessee; Glenda Fuller, Kansas; Ross Garwood, Nebraska; Donald Gray, New York; Dana Hauck, Kansas; Richard Hodge, Texas; Merrill Karlen, South Dakota; Neil Kayser, representing the Northwest unit; Louis Larson, Florida; Al Pedigo, Kentucky; Daniel Petersen, Iowa; Frank Phelps, Ohio; Doris Rush, Nebraska; Sharon Spenrath, Texas; Donald Stewart, an importer; and Al Wright, Arkansas.
Reappointments and the states they represent include: Dave Albers, California; Dave Bateman, Illinois; Peggy Biaggi, Oregon; Loretta Broderick, Missouri; Mike Brooks, Oklahoma; Bill Carroll, Iowa; Carl Crabtree, Idaho; Doug Dickmann, Minnesota; Bill Erhke, Wisconsin; Carol Mosher, Montana; Jay O’Brien, Texas; Dick Sherron, Texas; Wayne Thames, Alabama; and Mike Thoren, Colorado.
New Officer Team
At its annual meeting, the board also elected Al Svajgr of Cozad, Nebraska to serve as its chairman in 2005. In addition, board members elected Jay O’Brien of Amarillo, Texas to serve as its vice chairman for the coming year and Ken Stielow of Paradise, Kansas to serve as secretary/treasurer of the Beef Board for the year.
Svajgr was the 2004 vice chairman of the board, and served as secretary/treasurer 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 managing partner in JA Cattle Company and JJOB, Ltd. and a partner in Corsino Cattle Company. These companies pasture cows and yearlings on wheat and grass in the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma and also 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.
Stielow is owner of Bar S Ranch, an Angus and Charolais seedstock, cow-calf and backgrounding operation, in Paradise, Kansas. He also owns a minority interest in a commercial feedlot. Stielow was nominated to the Beef Board by a caucus of certified nominating organizations in Kansas - including the Kansas Dairy Farmers of America, Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas CattleWomen, the Kansas Livestock Association, and the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association and was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture in 2003. He is a past president of the Kansas Livestock Association and has experience in various segments of the beef industry. Stielow also has served as treasurer of the Paradise Township in Russell County, Kansas, as president of Agco Inc., the local cooperative, and on the board of directors of UMB-NBA Bank.
Executive Committee
The 12-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 (Nelson Curry of Kentucky) serves on the committee in an advisory-only capacity.
Based on recommendations from the Joint Beef Industry Nominating Committee, the CBB elected the following members to its 2005 Executive committee: CBB Vice Chairman Jay O’Brien of Texas, who will serve as chairman of the Executive Committee; and members Al Svajgr (CBB chairman) of Nebraska; Ken Stielow (CBB secretary/treasurer) of Kansas; Carl Crabtree of Idaho; Richard Nielson of Utah; Dick Nock of California; Sugie Sartwelle of Texas; Donald Stewart, an importer; Dave True of Wyoming; Lucinda Williams of Massachusetts; and Stan Zylstra of Iowa.
The Executive 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 2005 Beef Promotion Operating Committee during the annual meeting in San Antonio include: Chairman Al Svajgr of Nebraska; Vice Chairman Jay O’Brien of Texas; Secretary/Treasurer Ken Stielow of Kansas; Dave Bateman of Illinois; Mike Brooks of Oklahoma; Michael Cline of Iowa; Jack Cowley of California; Jim Little of Idaho; Charles Miller of Kentucky; and Gary Sharp of South Dakota.
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 Federation Chairman Myron Williams of South Dakota; Federation Vice Chairman Mike Vache of Oklahoma; Larry Jones of Kansas; Ann Bruntz of Nebraska; Clifford Dance of Mississippi; David Dick of Missouri; Scott George of Wyoming; Sid Sumner of Florida; Leo Vermedahl of Texas; and Jim Wilson of Oregon.
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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.
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