New Beef Council board members attend orientation

Tracy Thomas of Leawood and Jake Pannbacker from Washington joined 60 other new state beef council board members and staff in attending director orientation at the NCBA offices near Denver recently. Both currently are members of the Kansas Beef Council Executive Committee, with Thomas serving as vice chair.

The leaders spent two days becoming better acquainted with the history, coordination, management and structure of the beef checkoff program, and efforts of the Federation of State Beef Councils and the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. Attendees also were provided an overview of checkoff-funded research and information and promotion programs conducted by NCBA as a beef checkoff contractor. In addition, the group toured facilities at NCBA that help support those programs, such as the Culinary Center and Digital Command Center. The robust financial firewall between policy and checkoff spending also was outlined.

There are more than 700 producers and other industry leaders serving on 44 state beef council boards throughout the country. These councils collect the $1-per-head national beef checkoff, which is used for state, national and international demand-building programs.