I recently attended the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA, http://www.beefusa.org/) annual convention in San Diego California.

The NCBA convention and trade show is always a whirlwind of meetings, a massive trade show, visits with customers and a rocking good time.

Isa Beefmasters (http://www.isabeefmasters.com/) shared booth space in the trade show with Beefmaster Breeder United (www.beefmasters.org), The Texoma Bull Sale (http://texomabeefmasters.com/) and Vaughan Family Farms (http://www.vaughnfamilyfarms.com/). The trade show was a little slower than previous years, but Beefmasters made a good showing. The BBU Board even met here which was very cool!

I serve on the NCBA Marketing and International Trade Committee. We are dealing with a lot of issues relating to market volatility and price discovery. The CME (http://www.cmegroup.com/) gave an enlightening presentation on how electronic trading and high frequency trading (HFT) are affecting the markets. They also gave a lot of detail on their security procedures to prevent “spoofing” and other nefarious practices.

One of the highlights for me is always the Cattlefax Outlook (http://www.cattlefax.com) . This incredibly detail forecast of world commodity and (much more importantly BEEF markets!!) is always informative. My main takeaway was that feeder cattle should average $165 for 2016, which is a number I think Isa Beefmasters and our customers can live with!

There was an awesome evening event where NCBA rented out the U.S. Midway (http://www.midway.org/) for a dinner and show. This massive aircraft carrier was built entirely by women at the end of WWII. I wonderful museum of old aircraft and the ship itself is a gem. If you are ever in San Diego, don’t miss it. I was fortunate to have Leslie go with me to this one. This photo shows her helping launch planes of the Midway.

My absolute favorite though, was a talk by Robert O’Neill (http://www.robertjoneill.com/), the Navy Seal who killed Osama Bin Laden. He gave an extraordinary presentation on the Navy Seals, his battle experiences. It was a moving testimony to how awesome our armed forces are. Please visit his website and donate to his non-profit “Your Grateful Nation” (http://yourgratefulnation.org) which helps veterans. He makes me very proud to be an American.

We also went out to Coronado Island (where the Seals train) and had dinner. This is the spectacular view looking back to
San Diego.
#Beefmeet will be in Nashville next year, which is always a blast. Watch for the Isa Beefmaster booth there.