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February 16, 2001

Beef Summit tackles
industry problems

By Mike Barnett
Editor

Put a room full of cow/calf producers, auction owners, stocker operators, feeders, breed representatives and packers together, tell them to come up with solutions to problems with the beef industry and you might expect a Wild West shoot-out, or a bloody brawl at best.

What happened instead at the recent Beef Summit was a spirit of cooperation as all segments strived to provide solutions to industry problems that occur up and down the production line.

"We're really an integrated multi-owner industry that is designed poorly," said Dr. Kevin Pond, head of the department of animal science and food technology at Texas Tech University. "We have the cow/calf operator, the stocker, the feedlot, the packer and the consumer...decisions made at the front end affects what happens at the back end. If you compare our industry with some of our competition, say the chicken industry, often there is one parent company—there are no multi-owners. We are competing against an industry that has one owner...complete control."

During the summit, break-out groups made up of diverse industry segments tackled different sets of issues.

TFB Secretary-Treasurer James Maxton was just one of several Texas Farm Bureau representatives attending the meeting. Environmental concerns as they relate to the beef industry was the topic discussed in his group. Nutrient management in watersheds probably received the most attention, Maxton said.

"There's quite a bit of discussion on TMDLs, non-point source pollution of water, and it's an issue that is at a high level for agriculture at this time, and the beef industry as a part of that," Maxton said.

"I think it's time to be proactive," he offered as a solution. "We've seen this coming for a couple of years and we're trying to get involved in the process of working through that, taking corrective measures where they need to be taken and informing the public of what we're doing."

District 8 State Director Dan Dierschke participated in the same discussion. Concerning nutrient management, he suggested beef producers would benefit from using best management practices by not overgrazing, keeping good grass cover, and utilizing various kinds of restoration projects so they could return grasslands to the optimal ranges for grass production and water retention. The group felt that others that benefit from such practices should help share in the cost.

"For example, downstream water users such as the large cities should be willing to kick in and pay part of the cost to achieve best management practices," Dierschke related.

Education as it relates to the production aspect of the beef business was the focus a group attended by another Farm Bureau representative, former District 8 State Director Hope Huffman.

"We came out with a solution that we need to look at our system of education, whether it be for the cow/calf producer, the stocker operator or whoever," Huffman said. "And certainly, it's important that all of the organizations, all of the stakeholders, be willing to sit down and talk and try to reach a common goal that will enhance our ability to sell beef."

Reaching that common goal was also important to Dierschke.

"The constant theme throughout this conference is that you have stakeholders at each step of the process," he said. "Every step of the way, traditionally each stakeholder attempts to achieve as much profit as possible. There has to be a recognition that for stability, everyone may need to give up a little bit at some point so they can stay in operation in the lean times. Whether that's going to be achieved, I don't know."

Other TFB representatives at the meeting included District 12 State Director Zachary X. Yanta; Herff Cornelius, chairman of the Beef Cattle Advisory Committee, and Pat McDowell, a member of that committee; and Jon Johnson, associate director of TFB Commodity and Regulatory Activities.