The Cattlemen’s Beef Board seated new members and elected 2012 officers, as well as members of its Executive Committee and the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, during its annual meeting in Nashville Feb. 4.
During its final meeting at the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, the Beef Board unanimously elected New Mexico seedstock producer Wesley Grau to serve as 2012 chairman of the Board, Arkansas cow-calf producer Weldon Wynn to serve as vice chairman; and Idaho rancher Kim Brackett to fill the position of Beef Board secretary/treasurer for 2012.
After being appointed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dec. 28, 2011, a total of 29 Board members were seated for service on the Beef Board, after taking the oath of office from USDA Marketing Specialist Craig Shackelford during a CBB meeting on Feb. 2.
New members seated and the states they represent include Thomas Alger, Texas; Patrick Becker, N.D.; Andrew Burtt, importer; Sarah Childs, Fla.; Stephen Edwards, importer; Kim Holzner, importer; Cristobal Hutton, importer; Barbara Jacques, Okla.; Leon Kreisler, Mo.; Paul Looney, Jr., Texas; Stacy McClintock, Kan.; Linda Nielson, Mont.; Perry Owens, Kan.; Lyle Peterson, Mont.; Sugie Sartwelle, Texas; Gary Sharp, S.D.; Leo Sutterfield, Jr., Ark.; Doug Temme, Neb.; Sherry Vinton, Neb.; Richard Winter, Texas; and Terry Wyatt, Okla.
Reappointments and the states they represent include: Hughes Abell, Texas; Kim Brackett, Idaho; Joyce Bupp, Pa.; Wesley Grau, N.M.; Ted Greidanus, Southwest Region; Hank Maxey, Va.; Daniel Smith, Ky.; and Phyllis Snyder, Colo.
NEW BEEF BOARD OFFICER TEAM
Newly elected Beef Board Chairman Wesley Grau is a partner in Grau Charolais Farm and Ranch and also raises wheat. He served as vice chairman of the Beef Board for the first half of 2011 before filling a partial term as CBB chairman during the second half of the year. He is also past president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, past president of the New Mexico Beef Cattle Performance Association, member of the American International Charolais Association and NCBA, and past president of the New Mexico Wheat Growers Association. Wesley has served as chairman of the Operating Committee and CBB Executive Committee, chairman of the Joint Producer Communications Committee in 2010, and previously served on the Joint Advertising Committee and the CBB Administration Subcommittee.
This year’s Beef Board Vice Chairman Weldon Wynn owns Wynn Beefmaster Farms and Wynn Rice and Soybean Farm. In addition, he and his wife own and operate Wynn Insurance Agency. He is an active member of his community and industry, including service on the board of directors of the Pine Bluff National Bank of Star City; former emcee and judge of the National Beef Cook-Off; National Beef Ambassador judge; past president and active member of the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association; member of the University of Arkansas Animal Science 2000 Advisory Council; past president, treasurer, and fair manager of the Lincoln County Fair, among many others. On the Beef Board, Weldon served as secretary/treasurer during the first half of 2011 before being elected to fill a partial term as vice chairman during the second half of the year. He has also served on the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, the CBB Executive Committee, the Joint Advertising Committee, for which he served as vice chair in 2010, and the Joint Beef Industry Budget Committee.
Newly elected CBB Secretary/Treasurer Kim Brackett is a cow-calf/stocker from Castleford, Idaho. She has been an active member with the Idaho Beef Council, serving as chair, vice chair and treasurer; Idaho Cattle Association, serving as committee and sub-committee chair; and the 71 Livestock Association. Kim was an active member of the Beef Board and the Joint Producer Education Committee during her first term. She was reappointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in December 2011 to serve a second consecutive three-year term.
CBB EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The 12-member CBB Executive Committee includes the Board’s three officers and eight members elected at large. The CBB elected the following members to its 2012 Executive committee: CBB Vice Chairman Weldon Wynn, who will serve as chairman of the Executive Committee; and members Wesley Wynn (CBB chairman); Kim Brackett (CBB secretary/ treasurer); Anne Anderson of Texas; Dean Black of Iowa; Laurie Bryant, an importer; Will Frazee of Iowa; Linda Gilbert of South Dakota; Brian Healey of Oklahoma; Hank Maxey of Virginia; and Eric Smith of Alabama.
The Executive Committee operates under the direction of and within the policies established by the full Board and is responsible for carrying out Beef Board policies and conducting business and making decisions necessary to administer the terms and provisions of the Act and Order between meetings of the full Board.
OPERATING COMMITTEE
The Beef Promotion Operating Committee was created by the Beef Promotion Research Act to help coordinate state and national Beef Checkoff Programs. The 20-person committee includes 10 members of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, among them the Board’s three officers and seven others elected directly by Beef Board members.
CBB members elected to the 2012 Beef Promotion Operating Committee during the annual meeting in Nashville include: Chairman Wesley Grau; Vice Chairman Weldon Wynn; Secretary/Treasurer Kim Brackett; Joyce Bupp of Pensylvania; Spencer Ellis of Wyoming; Chuck Kiker of Texas; Kristy Lage of Nebraska; Jimmy Maxey of California; John Schafer of Minnesota; and Gary Sharp of South Dakota.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Source: The Beef Checkoff Program
