Agricultural News
While Others Throw Rocks to Get Attention, NCBA's Colin Woodall is Building Bridges
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:53:18 CDT
Long-time lead lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Colin Woodall, was recently named the organization's chief executive officer. This past week, he participated in a meeting with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) in Washington, DC. According to Woodall, having these cross-industry interactions is good for cattle producers, though he acknowledges how some stakeholders see it differently.
"It's really easy in our industry to throw rocks at the packers. We see it all the time. We've seen it here over the last couple months in regard to the market turmoil and everything that happened with the Tyson fire in Holcomb," Woodall said. "But, what separates NCBA from the other groups is that we go out and talk to people. We don't just go and throw rocks behind cover. We go out and have conversations because we feel that's the only way you can fix problems. You have to build those relationships if you truly want to be effective in making change."
The meeting was comprised of what Woodall called a "barnyard panel" with representation present from NCBA as well as the National Pork Producers Council, the National Turkey Federation and the National Chicken Council, aside from NAMI. Woodall reported that a wide range of topics important to both the livestock sector and the packing industry, including such issues as Country of Origin Labeling, international trade, traceability and foreign animal disease preparedness. The conference also broke out into a beef-specific meeting during which Woodall says the representatives from NAMI were able to learn about the Beef Checkoff and how it operates. Woodall remarked that this served as an excellent opportunity for both groups to learn about each other's challenges.
"Overall, it was a great opportunity to educate the packers of a process they're not that familiar with and we had a lot of feedback that they really didn't know how that program worked," he said. "Really, just a great chance to educate them on what we're doing and the challenges in our industry."
Listen to Woodall talk more about NCBA's recent meeting with the packers and processors belonging to NAMI on today's Beef Buzz with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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