Looking into the future and with member input, leaders of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association have found how to best leverage the group’s strengths for future industry prosperity.

At this year’s ICA Winter Conference, Dec. 8-9, association leaders presented voting delegates their Long-Range Plan (LRP) for how the organization will move forward. After a delegate vote during policy discussions Dec. 9, the plan was unanimously adopted and made official. The positive vote was the final step in a process that began earlier in the year with the distribution of a survey to ICA members, in which respondents identified the organization’s strengths, or “leverage points” upon which to build strength in the future. Leverage points were identified for both the Iowa beef industry in general and the ICA itself.

For the beef industry of Iowa in general, four strengths were identified by survey respondents. In addition to the positive image of Iowa’s high-quality beef, Iowa’s family farms and Iowa producers’ best management practices, members indicated they feel the state’s advantage in cost of production is the number-one strength of the industry that should be promoted.

“Iowa is a low-cost producer of quality feeder cattle and fed cattle because of low-cost, available feedstuffs including corn co-products. Iowa beef producers have superior stockmanship skills and family owned and operated farms,” according to the LRP as presented to ICA members Dec. 8 by Kent Pruismann, ICA planning committee member and Rock Valley cattle feeder, and Bill Scheitler, ICA president and LeMars cattleman.

These leverage points weren’t merely for the sake of conversation at the ICA conference, however. Pruismann laid out definite goals for action for each point, including a plan to maintain Iowa’s cost-of-production advantage.

“For example, to maintain Iowa cattlemen as low-cost producers, the ICA will work to encourage 100 percent of Iowa’s feedlots of more than 500 head to use co-products in at least 15 percent of the rations,” Pruismann said.

From an operational standpoint as an organization, three leverage points were identified during ICA’s Winter Conference in Des Moines Dec. 8-9. First, the organization’s member services are a point of strength, according to respondents to the member survey. This includes education, service, certification and tools for members to “be more economically successful.”

Secondly, as included in ICA’s long-range plan is the organization’s work in the legislative arena, or “member involvement in ICA committee process to develop a consensus on issues affecting the Iowa cattle industry.”

“Obviously we need to build relationships with legislators around the state,” Scheitler, ICA president. “Just because we may disagree with somebody doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have a working relationship with them.”

A third strength identified is ICA’s staff and leadership as the enactors of both member services and policy relationships as pinpointed in the previous ICA leverage points.

Identifying the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association’s strengths is not an end in itself, but should be a point from which to base future actions as an organization, according to Scheitler. Bringing these identified strengths to action will require not just ICA staff and leaders, but work by every member.

“Without coordination, everything becomes more difficult. We need participation to make this work—your participation,” Scheitler told ICA members. “If we proceed as a team, we’ll be successful. I’m going to ask your help in making this organization succeed.”

Jeff Caldwell can be reached by phone at 515-280-5405 or by e-mail at jcaldwell@mchsi.com. For more on the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association long-range plan, go online to www.iacattlemen.org.