Lacey Wants NCBA Summer Meet
Focus Diverted From Checkoff

SHERIDAN, Wyo. — At its mid-year conference in Nashville, Tenn., the National Cattlemen's Beef Association may be fighting the same battle as when it was born in strife at San Antonio, Texas, last January.

John Lacey, president of the new organization, was meeting with state cattlemen's groups earlier this summer to listen to complaints. The dialogues may be a preview of some sour notes at the group's mid-year meeting July 31 through August 3 in the music city.

In Sheridan for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association meeting, Lacey ticked off the accomplishments of the NCBA during its first six months and laid out what he expects to be discussed at the mid-year conference.

Lacey indicated he wants to move beyond the discord that preceded the formation of the NCBA last January and deal with industry issues including packer concentration and integration, captive supply, international trade and public rangeland grazing.

Most of the debate at Nashville, however, will probably center on beef checkoff dollars.

"I tell everybody we definitely need the checkoff," Lacey said here. "Whether it does worlds of good for the market is an intangible thing, but I can tell you it does do some good. People say, 'How can you say it'll do any good when you've got a 60 cent fat market and five dollar grain?' I'm telling you if we didn't have the checkoff, we probably would have less than $60 cattle, but I can't prove it."

Yet the checkoff continues to be a hot-button issue.

"I think there are a lot of things people have been concerned about," Lacey says. "We've traveled the country from one side to the other, explaining the merger, explaining to people that it's very important that they don't tie their concerns over the market and the operations of the organization to the checkoff. We desperately do not need to have a referendum on the checkoff to see if we need it."

Lacey expects to spend time at Nashville justifying NCBA actions.

"We need to be sure as an association as we move to Nashville that we continue an educational system about the new organization," he said, "that people who have a desire to learn what their organization is doing and can do for them have the opportunity to come in and ask questions about it. We will have a forum down there."

Such a forum in San Antonio in January ran well beyond the two hours allotted to it. It could do so again in Nashville this summer.

"They're blaming the checkoff," he said of the opposition. "They have to realize that beyond what they want to say, we do have a supply problem. We have a magnificent system of production, processing and distribution that has moved a lot of beef during times when we've had tremendous amounts of competing protein supplies available. I mean, we're competing with poultry and pork. Poultry is at the maximum production level. Pork is just under their maximum production level. We're at our maximum production level.

"I think we have a pretty good system and we've moved it on. That says something about the segments of the industry. It says something about the promotional part of our organization. We've made a big effort to move more beef overseas, too."

While Lacey admits that there is always room for improvement, he insists the existing system does not need to be destroyed to make changes.

"I think people need to realize that our system isn't all that bad," he said. "It damn sure isn't broken. We have tremendous competition. What's caused this terrible drop in the market isn't just supply. It's the corn deal, too. It's BSE. It's a whole lot of things that hit us all at one time."

The problem is that some people are looking for a scapegoat in dealing with some very complex problems, he said.

"The poultry and pork people are right there rubbing their hands together, praying to God that we do away with our checkoff system," Lacey said. "Those guys who would be responsible and lead the charge to get rid of it because they're mad at somebody, aren't using their heads. They need to step back and take an objective view of what they're proposing to do.

"I would just say don't hold the checkoff hostage to some disagreements they have with the new organization. Take those disagreements out on the organization, come to the meeting or get the officials of the organization, hammer away on them, change the things they think are wrong, but don't hold the checkoff hostage."

Opponents to the formation of the NCBA have charged that some organization leaders have secret agendas to the detriment of the industry, a charge Lacey dismisses.

"These guys who think they know all the answers, I challenge the idea that they're perfect," Lacey said. "We're not perfect. We're telling them we're not perfect. There are a lot of perfect guys out here who are telling us what to do.

"I ask them, 'Do you have an answer? If you've got the solution, you give it to me, and we'll put it in force.' This might not be the greatest organization of the beef industry, but it's way ahead of whatever's in second place.

"We'll never be perfect, but there's a whole lot of volunteers in this country who work their butts off trying to make it as good as they can. I've never seen anybody as long as I've worked in this industry that has any devious things in their minds to foul it up. They all work for what's best in the industry at the time they're there."

Yet Lacey still expects challenges to the new organization.

"The checkoff will be discussed when we get to Nashville, and why we need it," he said, "but we're also going to be discussing concentration and integration. We're going to be discussing the Packers and Stockyards study, plus the commission's report on that study and what the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is going to do with that study and those recommendations."

He said the conference will look at recommending to the packing industry that they accept some of those recommendations, specifically reporting wholesale boxed beef prices in much greater volume than they've been doing in the past.

"We're going to probably ask them why the grids that have been developed so far are the way they are," Lacey said. "Maybe we need a new national grid to determine price. We're going to be asking the marketing people who represent us — that's the volunteer marketing people — to look at the captive supply area and determine whether it's something that has undue influence on daily markets the way it's been used in the past. We're going to be asking them to find out if it can be used in a different way that's more beneficial to the overall industry."

But the topic Lacey would like to see addressed is instrument grading.

"We're going to be looking at some new research projects and maybe how we might be encouraging through investment to have instrument grading and how fast we can move toward instrument grading," Lacey said. "I think it's extremely important because of the way the marketing system of this country's going that we get away from these human decisions on whether it's choice or select."

Instrument grading has been a pet project of Lacey’s for several years.

"It's been my suggestion for at least two years," he said. "I recommended to the Cattlemen's Beef Board committee that we have a incentive that they could receive if someone can come up with a machine that goes on line as an instrument grading machine."

The topic attracted some attention in San Antonio last January, and in February, Mike Engler, speaking for his father, Paul Engler of Cactus Feeders, suggested at the International Livestock Congress in Houston that a prize of $5-10 million dollars be offered as an incentive for industry to perfect such a system.

"I think Paul Engler's suggestion is excellent," Lacey said. "I think we need to move forward, and we need to move fast to get instrument grading. We're ready for it. We've put up with all this objective grading we can afford. We need to be looking at the Canadian instrument grading machine that they have on line up there. I think the packing industry is ready for it.

"I think we need to get away from this average buying and selling and average of everything. I think the packing industry needs to start being more objective in their approach to marketing, quit talking about negatives and how they're going to discount us and start talking about how they're going to reward this industry for good performance cattle.

"They'll get much more and the industry will move much faster when we talk about positive things rather than the negative. All they want to do is to discount somebody. I want to hear them talk about rewarding us for something. Discounts will take care of themselves."

Lacey is a cattleman who has spent his life ranching near Paso Robles, Calif., on the central coast of California.

"I grew up on the ranch," he said. "Our ranch has been in business since 1867."

Having been involved with the cattle business for over a century, Lacey says his family is going to stick with it.

"We don't intend to leave," he says. "That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm hoping it will make it so we can all stay in business."