New CEO Stokes Touts NCBA's
Service To Cattle Industry

CASPER, Wyo. — The new chief executive officer of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association was at the Wyoming Stock Growers Association last month, reminding them what NCBA has done for them.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association's purpose is to increase the potential profitability and viability of the beef producer, said Terry Stokes, who was named CEO of the NCBA March 7.

"We want our members to be able to grow their business, to be able to preserve their way of life and to have the ability to pass their ranches on to the next generation," Stokes said.

In visiting with his constituents, he added, the number one reason they give him for paying the checkoff dollar and their NCBA dues is so they can preserve their ranch and family and pass the ranch on to the next generation.

Stokes said NCBA represents its individual members and also as a state affiliate.

Stokes joined NCBA as chief financial officer in 1996 and was named executive vice president of finance and operations in 1999. NCBA has an annual budget of $65 million and a staff of about 130 people in its Denver, Chicago and Washington offices.

A native Texan, Stokes is a graduate of Angelo State University with a degree in animal agriculture. He also has a master's of business administration with an emphasis on operations management and managerial accounting from the University of Texas in Austin.

With past experience in cow-calf operations, feeding and packing, he partners with his brother-in-law in a small stocker operation in South Texas.

NCBA's philosophy, Stokes said, has three dimensions, and they are about market-driven solutions.

"We support the free enterprise system," Stokes said. "It's about your ability to have the right to make choices that you want to make in the marketplace."

The second dimension is about having less government in the beef business.

The third dimension is that NCBA is consumer-focused.

"We're focused on providing a satisfactory eating experience for those folks who eat beef every time they want to," Stokes said.

He said NCBA is a producer-directed organization that has a disciplined, democratic governance process.

"If you look at our policy division," Stokes said, "93 percent of our policy division board of directors are producers, either cow-calf, stockers or feeders. Six percent are from allied industries. One percent are packer processors."

He said the organization is governed by a democratic process in which the state affiliates appoint their representatives to the board of directors and to the committees.

"So Wyoming has the opportunity to name their own directors to represent them on our board of directors," Stokes said, "and on our committees."

NCBA also has council meetings for the different sectors of the beef industry in which individual members can participate.

"Each of these groups have the opportunity to develop policy on behalf of the organization," Stokes said. "Dues-paying members have the last say, however, at our stakeholders' congress on what those policies are if they disagree with the direction or decision of the board of directors."

He said all policy comes through resolutions from the state affiliates.

"We're a multi-issue organization," Stokes continued. "We've focused efforts on many fronts, such as the environment, endangered species, tax issues, trade issues, ag policy, conservation, cattle health, food safety, public lands, property rights, fighting activism — which is one of the things I like to do most as we take on our true enemies — and also help to develop nutrition policy as it relates to our product."

Stokes said NCBA is specifically focused on permanent repeal of the estate tax.

"We see this very handily as one of the watershed issues for our industry," he noted. It will make it easier to pass a ranch on to the next generation.

Earlier this month, he said, NCBA with its coalition of family businesses opposing the estate tax were successful in lobbying the U.S. House of Representatives to permanently repeal the estate tax.

In the area of public lands, he said, NCBA is working with Bureau of Land Management officials on a proposed rangeland reserve program that rewards producers for voluntary conservation practices.

"We participating in a sustainable rangeland resource round table project that is establishing new criteria for evaluating the sustainability of the nation's rangeland," Stokes said. "We're also exploring options related to developing a policy to buy out grazing rights on grazing permits."

In the area of food safety, he said, NCBA was successful in working with the USDA and FSIS in eliminating the inequities that existed between red meat and poultry inspections.

"We eliminated the ability for poultry to add water to their specific product," Stokes explained.

With regard to animal health, he said NCBA is working to develop science-based animal care and handling guidelines that will be discussed at the organization's summer conference July 16 through 20 in Reno, Nev.

"This is the emerging issue with our activists," Stokes said. "They are walking through the front doors of our consumers to address this specific issue."

Stokes said they recently dealt with the issue with Applebee's Restaurant chain.

"Applebee's came out several months ago and issued some unsound, irresponsible animal care handling guidelines," Stokes said. "We were able to work with them to retract those guidelines they had developed as a result of pressure from the activists."

He said NCBA is working with various restaurants and groups, including the Food Marketing Institute and the National Association of Chain Restaurants, to develop responsible guidelines.

"I tell you that we're doing such a good job of it," Stokes said, "that Congress sees no need to regulate it."

He said NCBA was instrumental in a farm bill provision to modernize animal health statutes.

"We worked closely with Canadians to eliminate health-related trade barriers," he said, "so we have year-around access to export feeder cattle into Canada."

Stokes said he hopes to be able to accomplish that in the next 19 months.

"We're working several fronts of the marketing area," he said. "Of course, this is one that due to lack of profitability is really at the top of list for us all. We've got some serious issues here."

Stokes said that after March 13, NCBA was among the first to go to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and ask for an investigation of market manipulation in response to the foot and mouth scare at a Kansas sale barn.

"We're also working with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on various fronts to improve futures contracts to provide more effective risk management for producers," Stokes said.

They are also working with USDA, he added, to improve the flow and value of information in mandatory price reporting, specifically retail price information, export sales and forward boxed beef sales.

"Wythe Willie, in response to the profitability issue that we're facing today, has established a price recovery think tank with producer leadership," Stokes said.

And NCBA has also started an environmental education program that has been successful.

"We're looking at how we can expand that," Stokes said.

NCBA is engaged as well in litigation against the Environmental Protection Agency concerning total maximum daily loads, TMDLs or the amount of pollutants that can be carried by surface water sources.

"We're exploring legislative reform for the Environmental Species Act," Stokes said. "We were successful in getting two bills introduced related to invasive species, and we're working in Colorado to have some land trust workshops to help folks be able to set up a land trust to be able to preserve their farms and ranches."

He said NCBA was successful in getting disaster relief money for the Klamath River Basin.

"We successfully lobbied to get $20 million directed to folks in that area," Stokes said. "The Klamath River Basin, we need to keep at the top of the burner because it is an example of where activists and environmentalists are flat going to put us out of business. This isn't about protecting a fish. It's about getting you off the land."

With regard to trade, Stokes said NCBA is resisting requests from Australia to increase or re-allocate trade quotas to export more product into the United States.

"Now, that's very important us," Stokes said.

NCBA, Stokes said, is also working with chains like McDonald's to find a solution for their long-term lean meat needs.

"They're testing imported beef," Stokes said. "We told them that at that point in time that we adamantly opposed any increase in the supply of imported beef, but that we did want to work with them long-term to help address any supply concern that they may have."

He said NCBA is also working with McDonald's to establish an export strategy to help meet their needs in foreign markets.

"We understand that there is pain in the country as it relates to drouth and lack of profitability and uncertainty," Stokes said, "but we are your organization."