Have you ever wondered exactly how the dues you pay to the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association evolve into beef cattle industry support and benefits to your own efforts as a cattleman? If so, perhaps your next opportunity to see many of those benefits in action will be on January 21, 2017 during the OCA’s Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet.
The day long program is more than just meetings. The agenda is loaded with several industry speakers, the county affiliate meeting that all county cattle association members are invited to, and a number of scholarship and award presentations. Members can attend just parts of the program, or spend the entire day and then attend the annual Banquet in the evening.
The morning kicks off at 9:00 AM with all county cattlemen’s association leaders meeting to learn more about the opportunities offered to and through County Cattleman Association affiliation. Local leaders will be provided with information and resources to take back to their county organizations to utilize throughout the year.
The Ohio Cattlemen’s Foundation (OCF) luncheon will recognize the 2017 scholarship recipients, followed by the annual OCF business meeting.
Following the luncheon, OCA’s Annual Meeting will take place. Members will set policy for the upcoming year, receive program updates, and Top Hand Club members will be recognized for their membership recruitment achievements. Throughout the afternoon three different speakers will offer presentations on topics of current interest to those involved in the beef cattle industry.
First up at 1:00 p.m. will be Kendal Frazier, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Kendal was raised on a diversified livestock operation in southern Kansas and has extensive professional experience in agriculture and in the beef industry. His background includes work as a radio and television farm broadcaster in Topeka, Kansas. Frazier will discuss what the marketplace is saying (and not saying) about the types of products it presently wants.
Next up will be Alison Cooke who will present a Washington D.C. update and provide an overview of what the 2016 election results mean to the beef industry. Cooke is the Executive Director of Government Affairs for NCBA in Washington, D.C. She’s a native North Carolinian who moved to DC to work on policy and politics. She has years of experience in agriculture, defense, foreign affairs, trade, transportation, natural resources, and energy policy.
If you’ve ever wondered how your beef check-off dollars are invested, Mark McCully will explain during his session beginning at 4:30. McCully is Vice President of Production for Certified Angus Beef LLC, and leads the company’s efforts to grow supply of Certified Angus Beef ® brand products. He oversees strategies for working with cattle producers, allied industry partners, and the packing and processing industry to grow brand supply.
The annual banquet begins at 6:00 and highlights county affiliate activities, six industry leaders and families, and naming the 2017 Ohio Beef Ambassadors. The event concludes with the Cattlemen’s Social following the banquet.
Registration for the event can be divided, so you can choose to attend only the daytime sessions, just the evening awards banquet, or both. To get all the details of the day’s activities as well as a link to the registration form, simply follow this link to the OCA website: http://www.ohiocattle.org/Events-and-Programs/annual-meeting. Reservations are requested by Friday, January 6th.
While you’re there, if you haven’t renewed your OCA and/or NCBA memberships yet, review the comprehensive list of membership benefits and then find the form you need complete your membership linked here: http://www.ohiocattle.org/membership