WBC and MBC hold first ever joint meeting

The Wyoming Beef Council (WBC) and Montana Beef Council (MBC) held a joint meeting on May 4 in Cody for the very first time in the history of both organizations. 

According to WBC Program Manager Gary Gwin, the idea for the joint meeting came about in February during the Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Trade Show in New Orleans, when WBC Executive Director Ann Wittmann and MBC Executive Director Chaley Harney decided the gathering would be a good opportunity for members of both councils. 

“All of the state beef councils are not only aware of each other, but generally speaking, they are all pretty good friends,” Gwin stated. “Ann and Chaley started talking about and planning the meeting at the conference in New Orleans, which is how it all began.” 

He noted the two councils decided on holding the meeting in Cody because it is a fairly central location for both WBC and MBC members who are spread out between their respective states. 

Sharing valuable information

Gwin explained the overarching goal of the meeting was to showcase and share the unique way each state beef council is run, while simply having an opportunity to learn something from one another.

“Each beef council is its own entity in its respective state, and each one is run a little bit different than all of the others,” he said. “Both Ann and Chaley thought it would be a good way for the board members to see how the other council runs and share different ideas and strategies.” 

In an effort to do this, each council held their quarterly general business meeting while the other observed. Following these business meetings, Wyoming Director of the U.S. Meat Export Federation Scott George gave a presentation to both councils on the status of beef exports.

After the presentation, WBC and MBC sat together and participated in face-to-face discussions on current happenings in their respective states and the unique and shared obstacles they are facing. 

“Asking each other questions was probably the most valuable part of the joint meeting,” Gwin shared. “I think both states got a lot out of it.”

Future collaboration

During one of the meeting discussions, Gwin noted both WBC and MBC expressed an interested in continuing to have a joint meeting with each other.

“Both groups also discussed possibly having joint meetings with other neighboring states,” he explained. “We talked about having one with Utah, and they of course neighbor Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota.” 

“There might be some potential collaborations, or at least more joint meetings with other councils in the future,” he concluded. 

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.