Bylaws Change Gives Every NCBA Member the Right to Vote

Members of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) Jan. 31 concluded their annual meeting in Phoenix by transferring power on policy decisions back to the rank-and-file membership.  By changing the bylaws of the national organization in separate unanimous votes, NCBA members and the Board of Directors verified a system that ensures policy decisions begin and end with the members at home.

"Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts of America, describes this decade as one that will be tenuous, turbulent, and tough, but also inclusive, wide open, and promising," said Terry Stokes, NCBA chief executive officer.  "We can look at our future as a glass half full or a glass half empty.  We can respond to the future with fear or with faith.  Fear and faith have the same definition. Believing that what you don't see will happen."

The bylaws change approved at convention ensures that NCBA members will see an official policy ballot in the February issue of Beef Business Bulletin.  The ballot will include all new or amended policy passed by the NCBA Board of Directors and ratified or amended during the annual NCBA Membership Meeting at the Annual Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show.

For the mail ballot election to be valid, there must be at least a 20 percent return rate of the ballots, and that must include a 20 percent return rate from four of the seven NCBA regions.  The regional qualification was added to prohibit a single region from dominating the election process.

Under the new bylaws, the NCBA Board of Directors can approve, reject or amend policy with a simple majority vote. 

Proposals that pass the Board must be approved in the Membership Meeting with a simple majority vote.  Policy passed by the Board can be amended in the Membership Meeting with a 2/3 vote.  Also, policy rejected by the Board can be brought back for consideration with a 2/3 vote, and then passed by a simple majority.

The final policies that emerge from the Membership Meeting then will be forwarded to the entire membership by mail ballot.  For mail ballots to be valid, they must be completed and returned within 30 days to NCBA's auditors, Ehrhardt, Keefe, Steiner & Hottman, PC.  The mail ballot will be sent to members in the February issue of Beef Business Bulletin.

A Growing Organization

Stokes revisited his "Five to the Fifth" plan that he unveiled last summer, and the convention provided the perfect place to showcase some of the progress already made.  Stokes outlined some of the association's achievements, such as a new membership structure, new membership revenues, satellite town halls sponsored by McDonald's, and the BeefUSA.org Web site.

Stokes’s goal for the organization in five years under the "Five to the Fifth" is to have:

- 50,000 members

- $5 million in dues revenue

- $5 million in non-dues revenue

- $5 million in funding for the National Cattlemen's Foundation

"Our members and stakeholders demand a return on investment.  Effective demand building programs, research, representation in Washington D.C., issues management initiatives, and producer education programs are all necessary for a profitable and viable industry," Stokes said.

One of the more dramatic announcements of the Convention came Jan. 29 when Pfizer Animal Health announced a $3 million grant to the National Cattlemen's Foundation.  The money will be used for educational purposes over three years.

"The response to the events of the last eight months and particularly the last 35 days has consummated the vision of those who created the beef checkoff program and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association," said Stokes.  "It speaks to the impact of your organization that has 'one vision, one plan, one budget, and speaks with one voice.'"