For immediate release

March 19, 2008

For more information, contact:

Wade Moser, NDSA executive vice president, (701) 223-2522

Julie Schaff Ellingson, NDSA communications director, (701) 445-7309

ndsa@ndstockmen.org

Stockmen’s Association to regulators:

Monitor JBS proposal carefully

North Dakota Stockmen’s Association (NDSA) leaders agreed that the proposed consolidation of several of the nation’s largest meat processors warrants regulatory scrutiny by the Department of Justice and other agencies responsible for monitoring agricultural mergers and acquisitions.

NDSA officers and directors discussed the intention of JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, to buy National Beef and Smithfield Beef Group at their quarterly meeting in Mandan, N.D., on March 12.

The NDSA Board of Directors voted to monitor the acquisition review closely and to ask for the North Dakota Congressional delegation’s help in ensuring that regulators preserve a competitive environment at every level of the beef industry. The action mirrors that called for in the NDSA’s Beef Industry Reform policy, which instructs the federal government to use the authority afforded to it in the Packers and Stockyards Act and other anti-trust laws to monitor such transactions and to ensure that competition is preserved.

“Our industry depends on these regulators doing their job,” said Wade Moser, NDSA executive vice president.

If the deal is approved, JBS and its three largest remaining competitors will hold an estimated 76 percent of the nation’s beef slaughter capacity.

At the meeting, the NDSA board also voted to monitor the dispute several border states – Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California – have ignited with Mexico. Texas took the lead on March 4 when its Department of Agriculture issued an order that stopped state-operated exporting facilities from allowing Canadian cattle to pass through to Mexico. This came after Canadian and Mexican officials signed an agreement that allows Canada to trade breeding cattle less than 30 months old. Meanwhile, however, Mexico prohibits imports of U.S. breeding cattle, with the exception of dairy heifers, under 24 months of age.

“Mexico is a critical market for U.S. cattle producers, importing about 2.2 million metric tons of beef each year,” Moser said. “That’s why it is so important to reopen our trade with them and correct the country’s trade inequity, which Texas and other states have highlighted in recent weeks.”

Last week, NDSA leaders also discussed the negative attention the beef industry has received after the recent Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. video was released. They reaffirmed their commitment to humane animal handling in all segments of the industry and commended several North Dakota auction markets, in particular, for their proactive animal care practices.

In other business, NDSA leaders did the following:

• Reviewed National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) policy items tentatively approved at the Cattle Industry Convention in Reno, Nev., in February, including support for beef checkoff enhancements. Policy will only become official once NCBA’s mail-in ballots are counted.

• Opposed expansion of trade with Argentina due to its incidence of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease. Moser said the proposed rule has been the same since 2004, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service continues to seek comment on its adoption.

• Were updated about several national environmental issues and federal legislation pieces that could affect the beef industry. Among them are the National Ambient Air Quality Standards; the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Rule; the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Rules; and bills designed to regulate ammonia and the ozone.

• Discussed the North Dakota State Board of Animal Health’s new tuberculosis import order to address the disease threat posed from cattle, bison, goats, farmed cervids and camelids imported from Minnesota.

• Learned about the North Dakota Legislature’s interim work on a bill that would prohibit the sale of hunting rights or easements separate from land’s surface rights. The NDSA will support this bill when presented during the next state session, since it matches members’ opposition to the severance of hunting rights. They outlined that opposition in a resolution passed at their last convention.

• Heard about the NDSA Membership Committee’s recruitment plans for 2008, including ramped-up radio ads and recruitment incentive packages. The year’s top membership recruiter will, once again, receive a trip to the National Finals Rodeo, sponsored by First International Bank & Trust. NDSA Vice President and Membership Committee Chairman Jack Reich of Zap, N.D., reminded directors that Membership Months run through March and encouraged them to encourage other members to sign up their friends and neighbors to strengthen the organization. NDSA membership as of March 11 was 2,648.

• Heard the NDSA Feeder Council’s goals to tour Sunnyside Feeds, a new feed plant in Mandan, N.D., and add other educational opportunities for feeders to their regular meetings from NDSA Feeder Council Liaison and Director Lee Anderson of Bismarck, N.D. The Feeder Council has been discussing the elevated sulfur levels of some distillers grains and the need for this to stabilize, Anderson said.

• Accepted the NDSA Brand Board report from Brand Board Chairman Warren Zenker of Gackle, N.D., as well as the Brand-Board-recommended increased estray care reimbursement amounts. Effective now, but subject to the approval of the NDSA Brand Board, those who care for estray animals will be paid the following amounts: $20 per month for summer pasture; $30 per month for winter roughage feeding; $45 per month for feedlot grain rations for larger cattle; $30 per month for backgrounding rations for calves; $1.75 per mile (one way) to the nearest auction market; and actual veterinary and medicinal costs. NDSA Chief Brand Inspector Darryl Howard reminds producers that they must report estrays to him, the east or west river fieldmen or their local sheriff’s department in order to be considered for payment. “The ‘clock’ starts running from the day you make the official report,” Howard explained.

• Accepted the retirement of Moser and the resignation of NDSA West River Fieldman Blaine Northrop of Grassy Butte, N.D. Moser plans to retire on Dec. 31, 2008, after 26 years as the NDSA executive vice president. Northrop has accepted a lead livestock investigator position with the State of Nevada and will begin his new job approximately May 1. He has worked for the NDSA for more than 15 years. The board commended both men for their many years of service to the association and the livestock industry.

• Established a seven-member vice presidential search committee to identify an appropriate candidate for the position when Reich’s term expires in September 2008. To be eligible for consideration, potential board members must be members in good standing and be serving or have served on the NDSA Board of Directors. Search committee members include the following: Anderson; Jeff Dahl of Gackle, N.D.; Jim Lowman of Fairfield, N.D.; Joel Olson of Almont, N.D.; Tom Schmid of Oberon, N.D.; Arlyn Schmidt of Medina, N.D.; and Richard C. Tokach of St. Anthony, N.D.

• Accepted the North Dakota Beef Commission (NDBC) report prepared by Jason Schmidt, Commission chairman. Schmidt informed the board about the possible closing of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service laboratory in Grand Forks, which has done some instrumental beef nutrition research, and confirmed the NDBC’s intentions to work cooperatively with the NDSA and the North Dakota CattleWomen to host the annual Beef Industry Military Appreciation Day during the North Dakota State Fair in July.

• Designated June 8-13 as the NDSA Spring Roundup week. The schedule is as follows: June 8 at Feiring’s Angus Ranch near Powers Lake, N.D.; June 9 at the Amidon Fairgrounds near Amidon, N.D.; June 10 at the Morton County Fairgrounds near New Salem, N.D.; June 11 at the Lisbon Golf Course near Lisbon, N.D.; June 12 at Tobiason Lake near Sharon, N.D.; and June 13 at the Gackle Golf Course and Legion Club in Gackle, N.D. NCBA Chief Executive Officer Terry Stokes will be among the speakers during the week.

• Gave tentative approval to draft bylaws and articles of incorporation for an emerging North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation. Members directed leaders at the 2007 NDSA Annual Convention & Trade Show to investigate the possibility of establishing a foundation to raise funds for leadership and scholarship development and other projects. If approved by members, the Stockmen’s Foundation could be up and running in early 2009.

• Reviewed and accepted the NDSA’s 2007 audit prepared by Mahlum Goodhart P.C. and the Fiscal Year 2008 budget. Support for a special livestock industry biosecurity conference in Fargo, N.D., this summer is among the items budgeted for. NDSA directors also authorized staff to solicit bids for a possible remodel of the 33-year-old headquarters building. If feasible, directors are considering adding an office to the building to accommodate the growing staff.

• Selected Mark Huseth of McLeod, N.D., Russ Danielson of Harwood, N.D., and Ed Schafer, originally from Bismarck, N.D., to be recognized as NDSA Honorary Members at the NDSA Annual Convention & Trade Show in Minot, N.D., in September. Huseth is a cow-calf producer and the current NDSA president; Danielson is a long-time North Dakota State University animal science professor; and Schafer is the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Honorary membership is among the highest honors the NDSA bestows.

• Selected Scott Ressler, a Linton, N.D., cow-calf producer, as its candidate for NCBA’s Young Cattlemen’s Conference (YCC). YCC is a nine-day nationwide tour of all segments of the beef industry and includes stops at the NCBA headquarters, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the U.S. Capitol and major retail, packing, feeding and seedstock enterprises.

The next board meeting is scheduled in Mandan, N.D., on July 9.

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