Sixty-one cattlemen and women leaders from across the nation gathered together for the week long National Cattlemen’s Beef Association 2018 Young Cattlemen’s Conference. Among those participants were two young cattlemen from Nebraska, Terryn Drieling of Ashby and Scott Peterson of Valentine.
The program kicked off in Denver, Colorado, with classroom type sessions. These sessions were designed to provide the participants with more information about NCBA and the work the organization conducts on behalf of members. Along with background information on NCBA the group participated in leadership development, media training and hands-on demonstrations of NCBA’s consumer marketing programs.
While in Colorado they toured Five Rivers Cattle Feeding’s Kuner Feedyard and the JBS processing plant as well as meeting the executive team at JBS Headquarters. Prior to leaving Denver, participants also stopped at one of Safeway’s flagship stores to learn more about beef marketing at the retail level, giving the group an in-depth understanding of every aspect of the beef supply chain.
The group stopped briefly in Chicago for a tour of Hillshire farms, the new McDonald’s Campus and OSI, one of the nation’s largest premiere beef patty producers.
Washington, D.C., brought the young leaders face to face with the impacts of public policy on their operations and an in-depth briefing on current policy issues from NCBA lobbyist and policy experts. While at the Capitol the participants had the opportunity to advocate for industry policy priorities to 200 of their elected officials.
“YCC was the experience that I needed to fully grasp the entire beef chain. Understanding the challenges of JBS and Tyson in staffing and marketing gave me a greater understanding of the challenges facing the beef industry as a whole. I am grateful to the Nebraska Cattlemen and all those individuals who assisted in my selection. This experience energizes me to continue to work for beef producers and to seek other ways of impacting the industry. The experiences and friendships will last a lifetime,” Peterson said.
“I had high expectations going into YCC, and this trip exceeded them all. I learned something new at every stop, made solid connections, built lasting friendships and was once again impressed by the NCBA team. The highlights for me were visiting with the McDonald’s team, seeing how their burgers are made and visiting our representative on the Hill. Kudos, to our team at Nebraska Cattlemen for being a constant voice for us not only within our state, but also in DC. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to attend YCC and look forward to what the future holds for the beef community,” Drieling said.
