New Leader Has Lofty Goals for Cattle Industry

Buck Wehrbein, President-Elect of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association operates a feedlot in eastern Nebraska. As he prepares to take on the role as the new president, he has focused on key industry priorities and looks forward to advancing initiatives that he says will support cattle producers nationwide,

“We have a five-year plan called the long-range plan that was started back in 1995 by some really forward-thinking cattle people that saw we had some real problems, and so it's served as a guidance for us for a long time. We'll create a new one of them and then a strategic plan for the staff to follow. Those are two things that don't happen every year, we've got the farm bill and the tax cuts and jobs bill that needs to get reauthorized and so forth, all the attendant problems with regulatory and whatnot. Another

one of his goals is to encourage youth to get involved in the industry's future.”

“I personally would like to see us, the older people like myself, target youth and young people to get involved and be willing to mentor them.”

Wehrbein emphasizes that the cattle market is largely driven by supply and demand, and with tighter supply and strong demand, prices remain high and the market is performing well. He says he highlights the role of quality, genetics, strong animal husbandry and industry promotion efforts in demonstrating the values of well raised beef as consumers continue to pay a premium for high quality products.