ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP WINNERS "GREEN" ALL OVER

   RENO, August 1, 1997 -- What has thousands of legs,
rotating pastures, and is "green" all over? The answer is
the winning farms and ranches for the National Cattlemen's
Beef Association's (NCBA) 1997 regional Environmental
Stewardship Award.  The program is sponsored by Park Avenue
by Buick.

     During its summer conference in Reno, NCBA named the
six regional winners of its seventh annual Environmental
Stewardship Award Program (ESAP). The award honors cattle
farmers and ranchers who use innovative practices to improve
natural resources while maintaining or increasing the
profitability of their businesses.

     "By recognizing that their own economic gains are
connected to a healthy environment, such as cleaner water
and thriving fauna and flora, these winners ensure that
their ranching operations will continue to prosper
environmentally and financially for a long time," said NCBA
President Max Deets of Beloit, Kansas.

     Selected by representatives from the Environmental
Protection Agency, USDA's Soil Conservation Service, US Fish
and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, American
Farmland Trust, American Sportsfishing Association, Texas
Tech University, South Utah University and NCBA, this year's
winners represent Kentucky, Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma,
Wyoming, and North Dakota.

     Following are highlights of each of the winners:

     The Williams Family of Marion, Kentucky ensure their
cattle are reaching their genetic potential by adding
legumes such as cinnamon red clover and lespedeza into
pastures, which provides a higher level of nutrition. The
thickened vegetative cover also reduces soil erosion.
                             
     Ed Mitchell of Barnesville, Georgia use intense but
shorter periods of grazing to maximize forage production.
Since initiating this practice, the grass responds better to
stress such as drought and closer grazing during adverse
weather. Less continuous grazing also minimizes their need
for fertilizers.

     Dave Lubben of Monticello, Iowa provides on-farm
research and demonstrations for an average of 50 to 60
farmers and agricultural scientists each year to demonstrate
farming systems that are ecologically sound, profitable and
beneficial to the local community. The Lubbens also recycle
tractor tires into portable feed troughs.

     John Dunkin of Tulsa, Oklahoma improves vegetative
cover in riparian areas by leaving a strip of unharvested
wheat or soybeans next to these areas, which helps to
prevent erosion and provides wildlife habitat to the fish,
deer, turkey and quail that share the land.

     Tony Malmberg of Lander, Wyoming took over the ranch
for his family when he was just 28. The ranches dependence
on fossil fuels has nearly been eliminated by converting
intensive haying operations to irrigated pastures, using
solar energy in fencing, and relying on horses instead of
tractors or trucks.

     The Vigens of Killdeer, North Dakota help the soil
better absorb water in the semi-arid climate of Killdeer by
renovating and adding water sources, which helps reduce
concentrated grazing, water run-off, and soil erosion, and
provides more water resources to the wildlife on the ranch.

     Each winner will receive an expense-paid trip to the
January 1998 convention and trade show in Denver, courtesy
of Park Avenue by Buick, where the national winner will
be announced.

     Initiated in 1898, the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association is the marketing organization and trade
association for America's one million cattle farmers and
ranchers.  With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington,
DC, NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed
organization representing the largest segment of the
nation's food and fiber industry.

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