Agricultural News
As Cattle Producers Gather in Tampa- Drought Worries From Back Home Come With Them
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 03:40:11 CST
As the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention ramps up at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, we had the opportunity to visit with the President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, JD Alexander. Alexander is a cattle producer from Nebraska- and told us as we sat down to do this interview that he had not been home for a month, as he covered the country, representing cattle producers in his role as the NCBA President.
The conversation with Alexander covered the waterfront of what has been going on in the cattle business over this past year- as he and Farm Director Ron Hays talked drought, death tax, regulations, the declining US beef cow herd(and how to turn that around) and groups that hate US Animal Agriculture. In his articulate way- he handled all subjects easily as the conversation flowed.
Alexander says that the one common conversation that has come up- not just in the last few months- but really over the last year- has been the drought. He worries about how dry it is in his home country in Nebraska- but says that worry has been seen in the eyes and heard in the voices of cattle producers all across the United States. One of the worries that has surfaced is the ability to rebuild the US cattle numbers, which have been reduced by drought over the last couple of years, after being on the decline for several years before that. Alexander says that rebuilding the US cattle herd will be a huge challenge for everyone that stays in the business over the next few years.
The final question for Alexander was a simple call to arms to each and every person involved in raising beef cattle across the countryside. Hays asked Alexander why be involved in a group like the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Alexander says that independently, cattle producers can do some things- but working together for the betterment of the industry and its future- you can do a lot more. Alexander says that work needs to be done at the local level, the state level and the national level. "Any producer can do it. We realize that they are short on time but you really have to be involved in something bigger than yourself and if you are really looking at the industry and its future- you need to be a member."
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the full conversation between Ron Hays and JD Alexander as recorded on Tuesday, February 6th at the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention in Tampa, Florida.
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