Date: 11/21/2011 12:00:00 AM

Title: New members join state beef checkoff board

New members join state beef checkoff board

The Missouri Beef Industry Council (MBIC) Board of Directors and staff welcomed three new board members and elected a new officer team at their October board meeting in Columbia, Mo.  

Justin Brown of Rolla, Mo., now represents region three, the southeast quarter of the state. He takes the spot of Jim Freeman, who is the most recent chairman of the MBIC Board of Directors.  Justin is a third-generation cattle farmer. He and his dad, who is also a veterinarian, run their farm, and Justin’s two young boys are gaining interest in farming as well. Justin also works as a lender at Town and Country Bank in Rolla, Mo.

 

Kenny Lenz of Bunceton, Mo., is serving a one-year term as the Missouri Dairy Association representative and takes the place of longtime MBIC board member and Cattlemen's Beef Board member Kevin Frankenbach. Kenny has been involved with the Missouri Dairy Association in a variety of ways for more than 30 years. He began dairy farming with his brother in 1968. Today, the Lenz family has a herd of 100 commercial Angus cattle and 150 dairy cattle.

 

Jason McCann of Miller, Mo., represents the Missouri Cattlemen's Association in the associations’ past-president role. Jason has served on the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association board since 2005. He and his wife, Mary Lou, and their children farm with Jason’s parents and sister’s family. The McCanns moved from Arizona in 2000, noting that Missouri’s many resources allowed them to raise more cattle per acre than in Arizona. Jason also works in the medical field evaluating, fitting and adjusting artificial limbs and braces.

 

The new officer team is made up by Chairman John Ridder, Marthasville; Vice Chair Sally Angell, Centralia; Treasurer Larry Runyan, Stewartsville; and Secretary Glen Cope, Aurora.

 

“It’s a very exciting time to be in the beef industry,” said John Ridder, chairman of the MBIC Board of Directors. “I’m looking forward to working my fellow board members and producers to help promote beef in Missouri.”

 

Representatives on the MBIC board now are as follows:

 

Region 1 – Larry Runyan, Stewartsville; Pat Wood, LaMonte

Region 2 – John Ridder, Marthasville; Sally Angell, Centralia

Region 3 – Justin Brown, Rolla; Gerald Campbell, Licking

Region 4 – Chris Cloud, Carthage; Glen Cope, Aurora

Director at Large – Matt Reynolds, Huntsville

Missouri Association of Meat Processors – Andy Cloud, Carthage

Missouri Cattlemen’s Association – Jason McCann, Miller

Missouri Livestock Marketing Association – John Browning, Palmyra

Missouri Dairy Association – Kenny Lenz, Bunceton

 

It is the responsibility of the Missouri Beef Industry Council Board of Directors, along with MBIC staff, to utilize the $1-per-head Beef Checkoff Program, of which 50 cents of every dollar stays in Missouri, to conduct and implement programs in each state that are consistent with the Beef Promotion and Research Act. The councils may invest their 50 cents-per-head funds in beef research, promotion and education.

“The board is made up of Missouri farmers and ranchers who own cattle,” said John Kleiboeker, MBIC executive director. “It’s important to know that your peers are making the decisions about how to spend beef checkoff dollars!”

To learn more about the MBIC Board of Directors and the Beef Checkoff Program, visit MoBeef.org.

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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.