Report to the Industry

MEMO
----
November 16, 1995

TO:  Editors and Broadcasters

FR:  Kendal Frazier, National Cattlemen's Association, Lynn
     Heinze, Beef Industry Council, Bruce Berven, Beef Board

RE:  Report to the Industry

Enclosed is a report to the industry from the cattle industry
leadership involved in the transition to the new industry
organization.

Feel free to use the report in your publication or broadcasts.


Dear Beef Producer:

     As you know, the new National Cattlemen's Beef Association is
scheduled to begin operating in early 1996.  Plans call for the present
National Cattlemen's Association and the beef programs of the National
Live Stock and Meat Board to be combined and consolidated as of Jan. 30.
The newly constituted NCBA will include a joint committee structure and
an operating agreement with the Beef Board, and it will contract with the
Meat Export Federation to conduct beef export programs.  The net result
will be a new, unified industry-organization structure, focusing industry
resources -- both checkoff and dues resources -- around a single long
range plan.

     The tough times now being experienced by cattlemen underscore
the need for a more unified, more effective structure.  It was anticipation
of the cattle cycle's price-downturn and beef's continuing loss of market
share that prompted the Long Range Plan Task Force to develop a new
plan and recommend consolidation.  The task force recognized the need to
focus energies and dollars on more unified efforts.

     One final step remains before the NCBA officially becomes a
reality.  NCA members, at their business meeting January 30 in San
Antonio, must  ratify the formation of NCBA.  Approval of the
consolidated organization previously was given by the boards of NCA, the
Meat Board/Beef Industry Council, and the Beef Board.  Assuming
approval by NCA members, stakeholders of NCBA will meet later on Jan.
30 and elect officers. The new NCBA board will then meet to approve
budgets and plans -- and  NCBA will officially be in business.

     We are writing at this time to give you a progress report on NCBA.
You can rest assured that, come February, the new organization will hit
the ground running.  Transition teams of beef producers, responsible for
working out details of the merger, have been busy.  The new CEO, Chuck
Schroeder, is now on the job.  The transition executive committee, which
has been guiding the consolidation effort, will turn the existing
organizations' activities over to the new NCBA at the January 30 meetings.
NCBA, with one overall governance and one operating structure, will take
over.  We then will have just one set of committees, one staff and one
CEO -- and many fewer meetings.  This will mean greater effectiveness
and greater efficiency in the work that organizations are supposed to do for
us.  We'll get more bang for our checkoff and membership bucks.

     After 70 years of multiple organizations, the shift to a single,
unified structure at the national level has not been painless.  The change is
complex, and it is not being accomplished without sacrifices and concerns
among existing groups.  At times, we still hear questions about and
criticism of the new structure.  Be assured, though, that many dedicated
"grassroots" producers are working to see that the new organization will
deliver results.  The  real issue is not about structure -- it's about
results for all of us, the hundreds of thousands of producers who are
supplying the checkoff and dues dollars needed to do the marketing and
policy work that
individuals cannot do by themselves.

     Actually, it's little wonder that there are some questions.  Like
much of the business world,  our industry is under pressure.  Things are
particularly difficult now because of the cyclical increase in beef
production and the drop in cattle prices.  These kinds of pressure make
organizational change more difficult, too.  However, we should recognize
that we are not undertaking an untried concept.  Much of what we are
doing at the national level has already been done in other industries and, in
the beef business, at the state level.  Beef producers and their staffs in 20
states have successfully directed and managed joint association and beef
council operations for years. We will have separate checkoff and
dues/policy divisions, but all of the work will be coordinated and managed
within one consolidated organization.  The new structure includes checks
and balances to assure that checkoff dollars will only be used for allowable
programs and not for lobbying.

     The new structure means that, for the first time, we will speak with
one voice on beef issues; we will make more effective use of both
financial and human resources; we will be able to focus all available
resources around a single long range plan, with a single set of objectives
and priorities.  The resulting accomplishments will be translated into better
profit opportunities.  We will experience a stronger demand for beef and
an improved business climate for members of our great industry .  We still
are by far the largest and most important segment of agriculture in
America, and we deserve the best in the way of organizational representation.

     The plans for the new NCBA have been developed -- with a lot of
blood, sweat and tears -- by working, "grassroots" producers and
stakeholders throughout the beef industry. We are not just replacing
organizations.  We are creating a new entity -- an entity designed to help us
move more profitably into a new century.  We hope you will join in
helping to implement the new organization's plans. We hope you will be
involved at the local, state and national levels.  If possible, please attend
the national meetings Jan. 27-30 in San Antonio.  Be on hand to offer
input and help get NCBA started on the right track.  The new organization
provides us with a new opportunity to help assure a better future in the
beef business.


Sincerely,
John Lacey, Transition Executive Committee Co-Chairman, Paso Robles, CA
Jim Webb, Transition Executive Committee Co-Chairman, Phoenix, AZ
Bob Drake, National Cattlemen's Association President, Davis, OK
Dave Wood, Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board Chairman, Coalinga, CA
Jim Hauge, National Live Stock and Meat Board Chairman, Leith, ND