NCBA10 - Two Producers Trying to Make a Difference for the Cattle Industry

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Being someone that has served on boards for a couple different agricultural associations, I respect people that commit the time necessary to make a difference.  Whatever your beef politics are it is important to understand the work that happens behind the scenes.  Trying to run your own business and also commit the time to cattle politics is not a easy proposition.

Chuck Maclean has been in the cattle business his whole life.  Chuck is from the Southern Alberta area recently became the Chairman of Alberta Beef Producers.  Chuck is working hard for the Alberta Beef Producers to try and raise the exposure of Alberta beef and have a positive influence on domestic and international policies.  I think that Chuck summed up his reasons for being at San Antonio very well when he discusses the need to have open discussions with the individual states to ensure clear lines of communication.

I thought that it would be a great idea to interview Chuck to have him explain to the viewers why Alberta Beef Producers was engaged in different NCBA committee meetings and one on one sessions.

I spoke to John Gillespie, Chairman of the Beef Information Center about what he thinks the he and the Beef Information Center accomplished at the NCBA.  John is a farmer from Ontario who has committed an immense amount of time to serving the beef industry in Canada.

I really enjoyed my time getting to talk to both Chuck and John about the things as they saw as positives at the NCBA convention. When there is financial stress on an industry, many times it is easy to cut out certain expenses.  Many people view conventions like the NCBA as nothing more than an opportunity to have drinks and eat great food.  I was pleasantly surprised at the effort and hard work that the Canadian delegation put forward trying to make a difference for the Canadian cattle industry.   Next time at the coffee shop someone says that Canada is doing nothing to develop markets are fight things like COOL, try to better understand the work that is going on behind the scenes to enhance our industry.

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