#70 - Don Schiefelbein, Authentic Matters Most

Don Schiefelbein is President of Schiefelbein Farms, a large seedstock operation near Kimball, MN. He is the past-president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Angus Association.

In this episode, Don outlines his family's business structure and efforts to sustain their family business for generations. He also shares his hopes and vision for the beef industry leadership in the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Links:

Grappling with the Family Farm - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com

schiefelbeinfarms.com

Episode Transcript

Matt (00:05):
Thanks for joining us for Episode 70 of Practically
Ranching.
I'm Matt Parrier, and we arehere thanks to Dale Banks Angus,
your home for practical,profitable genetics.
We'll be opening our SpringPrivate Treaty Bull Offering on
March 12th, so stick around atthe end of the show to hear
details about the bull offering.

(00:25):
This week we have the second ofseveral conversations that I
recorded while I was at theCattle Industry Convention and
Trade Show in San Antonio lastmonth.
Don Schiefelbein is a leader inevery aspect of the word.
I first met Donnie when Iinterviewed with him for a job
at the American GelbviehAssociation almost 25 years ago.

(00:50):
I didn't take the job, but Donreally impressed me that first
time I met him as a highlymotivated, straight shooting
student of the industry.
And guess what?
He hadn't changed a bit.
In this episode, we talk abouttwo main topics.
First, Don goes into depth aboutthe business structure of

(01:12):
Schiefelbein Farms, his family'soperation near Kimball,
Minnesota.
it is owned by him and his eightbrothers and their families.
It's a fascinating story andhistory and a tremendous model
for how a large family can growa production ag business to make
room for everybody who wishes tocome back to that farm.

(01:35):
In the second half of ourdiscussion, we talk about
leadership, specifically withinour nation's beef industry
organization.
Now rest assured this isn'tgoing to be your typical
membership drive, but Don shareswhy we need more members, more
engagement, and more visionaryleaders in the National
Cattlemen's Beef Association.

(01:57):
Now as aggressive of acompetitor as Don is, We don't
even touch on his family'swrestling careers and all the
competitive nature of thosebrothers, but you can click in
the notes, to read a SportsIllustrated article that was
written back in 1991 about thefamily.
But as competitive as Don is,he's also a consensus builder.

(02:20):
He not only expects input fromothers, he demands it.
From his family farm to theindustry organizations that he
has led, he proves that someonedoesn't just need to be a yes
man to be a good leader in anassociation.
They need to be authentic.
They need to be willing tolisten and ready to take action.

(02:43):
It's why I think you'll reallylike this conversation with Don
Schiefelbein.
Tell us kind of the size andscope and, and, family members
that are involved and everythingelse.
You won't want to goindividually because that may
take the hour podcast, but tellus if you would,

Don (02:59):
a little bit about, uh, Schiefelbein Farms today.
Well, as you know, it's an allfamily operation.
So.
Unlike many operations of oursize, we have no hired help, so
every job done at our place isall family.
And it started with dad, he, youknow, he started with dad and
mom, began the operation.
They started to have one son andgrew the operation for one son,

(03:19):
then they had a second son.
Grew the operation to hold twosons, and then three sons, and
then four sons.
Five, six, seven, and eightsons.
And finally the operation grewto nine sons.
So nine boys, dad ran the table.
baseball team of nine boys, uh,miraculously, and everybody said
he couldn't do it.

(03:41):
They said, Frank, you'll nevereven get three of these sons to
come back and farm with you.
And he did eight of nine.
So one of my brothers did notcome back to farm, but eight of
nine all farmed together.

Matt (03:52):
That's amazing.
And no sisters.
No sisters

Don (03:55):
that we know of.

Matt (03:57):
That's good.
That's good.
And the range in age of all nineof you is how many years?

Don (04:04):
Today would be 20

Matt (04:05):
years roughly.

Don (04:06):
All right.
20 year span.
We're good Catholics, so we'repretty regular.

Matt (04:09):
That's good.
That's good.
That's very good.
So the first question onanybody's mind is how in the
world does everybody get along?
Eight different families.
And now you have

Don (04:23):
We have seven in the next generation.
Okay.
That's what I thought that areback.
Yep.

Matt (04:26):
So all total, you've got 15.
And are those all maleSchiefelbeins?
They are to this point.
Okay.

Don (04:34):
And that's all been a little barrier that we, you got
to mature as you go along andget everybody comfortable.
Right now, our growth effort hasbeen so much labor focused, we
need the young, strong backs, ifyou will, sure, sure, that there
hasn't been as much need forPeople who aren't going to be
the ones lifting the bales everyday.

Matt (04:53):
Gotcha, gotcha.
Well, with technology and somechanges therein, I think that
opens some doors.
It will, it will.
And in your particular case, ifany of your children come back,
it's definitely going to needto, uh, Yes, because I've got
all three daughters.
Yes, yes, which is great.
And our daughter Ava has gottento know at least one of your
daughters, I know, at K State.

(05:13):
And so that's, that's greatstuff.
how, from a structuralstandpoint, and we can get as
deep into the weeds as you wantbecause this is really
interesting to me about how youall, keep everything going and
make decisions with anoperation, A, of that size and
scale, but B, where all thelabor, all the management, all

(05:35):
the business decisions, all thestrategy, everything comes from
within Your family.
How do you do it?
How does everybody get along andnot get too territorial?

Don (05:46):
Well, I'd be lying if I said we all get along all the
time, okay?
And it would actually surprisesome that when there's 8 of you,
or 15 when you go with theoutside family members, or with
the family members in the nextgeneration as well.
Wow, I mean, basically, youcould be mad at a brother for a
long time and it not even impactanything, right?

(06:07):
There's just so many of us.
What Dad did when he set it up,and I think it was absolutely
genius, you may know the story,but he basically sent us out to
colleges across the UnitedStates.
And his idea was gatherinformation far and wide, and
once you gather thatinformation, come back home with

(06:28):
something that you can bring tothe table to grow the pie.
So, from our standpoint, and I'msure you're familiar, is like,
we got degrees then from KansasState, Iowa State, Michigan
State, University of Minnesota,North Dakota, South Dakota,
Texas A& M, and Colorado State.

Matt (06:49):
Wow.
And so was that specified byyour folks that each of you have
to go someplace different or didthey just kind of gently push
you or nudge you?
How, how was that allstructured?
Or did he know you're going toA& M?
Nope,

Don (07:04):
it was totally your choice.
Now, as the, you can imagine asa 20 year span of the children,
right?
Right.
Okay.
Dad tended to direct you kind oftowards which college was.

Matt (07:16):
The leader at the time.
And

Don (07:19):
so that's kind of how it evolved.
Where we went, why we went, whenwe did.

Matt (07:23):
And then I know you and Tim, went elsewhere to work,
straight out of college.
Did everyone take a place ofemployment after their
undergrad, or did some comestraight home?

Don (07:33):
No, some came straight home, but the rule was for dad
is, You didn't have to go tocollege after you graduated, but
you had to leave the farm forfour years.
You just had to go somewhere.
Most of them chose to go to college.
One brother went to the schoolof hard knocks.
He didn't go to college.
But, uh, you had to leave forfour years.
Then you came back withknowledge to say, okay, now what

(07:55):
can I bring back home?
And before you come back home,it was very different than in a
lot of cases today, where youhave a last name right to come
back home.
We
basically had to interview back home to how you're gonna do
what you're gonna do so that yougrow the pie so that because

(08:15):
you're back, the operation isn'tdividing the pie more ways, it's
growing the pie, and the neteffect is having more pie for
everybody.

Matt (08:25):
That's, that's fascinating.
So that interview process, whenyou decided it was, and let's
just take you for instance.
I know everybody's was probablya little bit different, but um.
When you decided that, hey, it'stime for me to leave the, and I
guess we should say you moved upthe ranks and were executive
director, executive secretary,CEO of the American Gelbvieh

(08:45):
Association, um, and then movedback to the family farm in,
what, 2003?
2003.
Okay.
When you did that, in thatinterview, how was that
structured?
I mean, Were your folksactually, or was your dad
actually listening in thatinterview to what comes out, and

(09:06):
then I know where Donnie isgoing to be, or was it just a
thing that you have to do, butin the back of his mind, he
already knew what you werereally capable of and what you

Don (09:17):
were destined to do?
In my situation, it's probablydifferent.
It probably has more merit inthe grandchildren phase of it.
Okay, fair.
I had established with Timmy,those South Dakota sales where
most of our revenue wasoccurring.
So I was well established.
You were a value creator for theoperation and you were the ones

(09:37):
creating the sales and gettingthe bulls sold, etc.
So that was where we werecontributing at that time.
Where it really has merit now,and this is where most
operations get into trouble.
It's not the first generation.
They usually are the ones thatFigure out they have to bust
their butt and they've got toearn it.
But once you create an assetthat somebody can use and are

(10:00):
used to using and not having topay a fee to use, it becomes
real complacent for a lot offolks to say.
Uh, I'll just live on what'sbeen made.
And that's where Dad drew theline, and it was when the
grandkids came back, by andlarge, saying, okay, if we're
going to come back, you're notjust going to take your dad's

(10:21):
role, or you're going to takesome sub par of the group from
the, some of the whole, you'regoing to say, how are you going
to carve out more space for usto be more successful long term
in the operation?

Matt (10:35):
So it's not, I know some families will set it up as when
you come back, you have to bringbusiness that day.
You have to either start a newsegment of our business.
You've got to take on some extragrass or some extra cows or
whatever the case may be.
It sounds like your setup wasmore that if we hire you, you're

(10:58):
going to come on board and weexpect you to grow our business
in some way, shape, or form.
It's not that you have to bringassets to the table.

Don (11:05):
We're actually maybe a notch more formal, so you have
to be gone for four years.
Okay,

Matt (11:07):
right.

Don (11:08):
You come back and you have to present us with an interview
where, what is your plan?
Okay,

Matt (11:12):
so you have a plan of how you're going to pay.
What do you

Don (11:15):
entail?
What are key elements are yougoing to bring to this operation
to make it successful?
Then what we do different thansome.
Is, we accept the plan and wemay adjust the plan with them
and say we think you should do Xand Y or we really need Z done.
Okay?
But then what we do is we do atenure period of five years.
So you are just, as an employee,not a part owner, for five years

(11:40):
and you're earning your tenure.
You're earning your ability tostay a full partner.
And at the end of five years, wevote on Did they accomplish what
they set out to go?
Are they growing the pie likethey said?
And if so, do we vote them in asa partner?

Matt (11:57):
Interesting.
Has anyone, stop me if I'masking too many questions and
getting too deep, but has anyonenot made the vote thus far?

Don (12:04):
They have not, but as you can imagine when you're going
through that period, and you'vebeen in a family situation.
You know if you're doing good ornot doing good, right?
And so you learn and you say, Ibetter start drifting back here
to the left where I need to go.
Right,
right.
And so it's been actually incredibly a positive situation
because believe it or not, it'sunhealthy for young people

(12:27):
coming back not to have a truepurpose.
Sure,
sure.
What, what are you bringing to the table and make them feel
like I'm not just Don's nephewwho's carrying on his coattails,
right?
I'm blazing my own trail heretoo, and this is how I'm doing
it.

Matt (12:43):
And so how do you divvy up, let's just start at the
tactical level of, of, you know,cleaning pens or building fence
or some of these things that,that, you know, may be
considered a little moremonotonous types of jobs.
Um, gets to do those, or do youhave so much breadth and depth

(13:05):
that there's somebody thatabsolutely loves doing some of
the tasks that someone elseDespises and does it just work

Don (13:11):
itself out The answers both?
Okay, but but the reality is andthat's that's we're growing up
as a pure group of brothersNobody feels they're exempt from
having to work.
Okay
Everybody feels, when it's hay time, guess what we do?
We square bale hay, right?
When it's time to processcalves, guess what we do?
It's time to process calves.

(13:32):
When there's time to build fenceYou're
there.
You're there.
We build fence.
And there isn't like, by gosh, Iam Don Schiefelbein, president
of Schiefelbein Farms, I do notfence.
There's none of that goes on andit wouldn't carry water with
anybody if I tried that.

Matt (13:47):
You probably wouldn't be president next year.
Exactly.
Exactly.
I think that's part of yourstructure.
And again, I'm getting ahead ofyou, but as president of
Schiefelbein Farms, you're, Ibelieve, elected to that
position by your board.
Yep.
Which is made up of whom?

Don (14:03):
Each one of the family streams has a leader.
Okay.
Right now it's all brothers,right?
Because they're all still aliveand they're all still active.
Okay.
But the way our system is set up is when let's say my
oldest brother Frank, if he wereto pass on, he would pass his
voting decision to one of hissons who are back with the farm.

(14:26):
And the reason we did it thatway is because that way no one
family Can begin to corner thepower structure of the whole
family.

Matt (14:34):
Okay.
So there's basically eight boardmember positions.
And at least, unless somethingchanges in your structure, that
will maintain throughout.
Whether you have one, zero,three of your kids come back.
Correct.
There'd be, there, that would,that would be static.
So that's interesting.

(14:54):
Correct.
And then.
That board votes on what,besides who the president is?

Don (15:00):
The big things on the overall, what is our strategic
plan for the coming year.
So just the big, the macrothings, the big things of, are
we going to be a growthposition?
Are we going to be aggressivelypurchasing land?
What is the vision that we havefor the coming year?

Matt (15:20):
And then within those, if you're president, do you also
have a CFO or individual, um,folks that are a sublevel below
you as managing anothercomponent or the farming or the
cattle side or things like that?

Don (15:34):
And let me make this, this real clear because you said
level, and there's no levelswith us.
Okay.
I want to clear that.
Absolutely.
Good.
So, even though I have a titlethat says president.
The group trumps the president,okay?

Matt (15:48):
No veto power.

Don (15:49):
Yeah, exactly.
In our system, the group trumps,regardless of your position,
what you may think we ought todo.
Okay.
So we have a chief operating officer, somebody who
calls the day to day operations.
Sure.
Okay?
He calls day to day, but if hegets out of hand, the group can
always trump him, they canalways trump me, the group still

(16:10):
drives decision making, and itkeeps that balance of authority
in place, and this is the wisething that dad did, is you don't
want somebody to be in aposition where everybody's angry
at him or because they'reenvious of him.
They're saying the reason he'sthere is we think he's the best
at it.
He has no more power than I do.

(16:33):
But he's more capable in thatarea to make that part work the
best for us.
And we take the politics out ofit that way, so that, uh, Boy,
the title president sounds good,but the reality is, do they want
to do the book work?
Probably not most of them,right?
Probably not.
Okay, and they're saying you're best equipped probably to
do that book work.

(16:53):
You're probably more equipped todoing some of the public
relations that I do, and solet's put the best people in the
best places, and this is whatdad did, which I thought was,
uh, ingenious.
Regardless of age, where theyneed to be.
So just because you're theoldest doesn't mean you are the

(17:14):
president, right?
You used to say, well, let's putthe skillset where the skillset
belongs and let's grow the waywe ought to grow with people
doing what they're best atdoing.

Matt (17:25):
And what's fascinating to me is that as competitive and
capitalistic of a family as whatyou all are, it almost has hints
of this commune or socialisttype of structure, so the
business can be as effective.
And there are ironies there, butit is fascinating that that's

(17:46):
how, that's how your folks setthat up.
And, and, uh, going forth thatit's obviously withstood the
test of time.

Don (17:53):
And dad actually has been on record saying from a, from a
management standpoint.

Matt (17:58):
Right.
If

Don (17:58):
everybody gets along.
Communism works really well.

Matt (18:02):
Interesting.

Don (18:02):
Yeah.
And so if you look at oursystem, it is very much along
that way.
It's just, uh, we have checksand balances to hold everybody
accountable, but the whole ideais if you cooperate together,
good things happen.
Yeah.
And I'll add one thing that'lleven make it even more communist
sounding.
Okay.
Okay?

(18:23):
Regardless of how long you'vebeen working there, regardless
of your age, Regardless ofwhether you're a brother or a
nephew, everybody earns thesame.
Wow.
Okay?
Where we are set up is, thedifferentiation where you really

(18:43):
gain value is profit share iseverything.
Okay.
And profit share is divided equally among the workers, 50%.
And 50 percent among the owners.
So that's our distribution, ifyou will.
So all we do is take the netprofit, half of it gets divided

(19:04):
up among who owns the business,where the brothers primarily own
it, there's nephews that aregetting increasing percentages
of it every year, okay?
The other 50 percent getsdivided equally among the
workforce that created the netgain.

Matt (19:22):
So, total workers today would be how many?

Don (19:27):
Would be 15.

Matt (19:28):
that's what I thought.
Eight brothers

Don (19:29):
and seven nephews.

Matt (19:31):
Nephews.
Now let me correct it.
They aren't

Don (19:32):
all vested.
You have to be vested to get theprofit share.

Matt (19:35):
Okay.
Even on the worker side ofthings.
Even on the worker side.
Okay.
Yep.
And so that's that five yeartenure.
Correct.
That they're on their way,hopefully.

Don (19:42):
Correct.
Yep.

Matt (19:43):
from a structure standpoint.
And I think sometimes as we talkabout generational transfer and
ownership and things like this,we get too hung up on estate
transfer and the death tax andall these things.
Share if you will and if youcan.
What kind of business structure?
I mean, are there LLCs?
Is the grand umbrellaorganization different?

(20:06):
How did you set that up?
And I remember you saying, I'mleading the witness here a
little bit, but I remember yousaying one time on a panel.
15 years ago that, um, youtalked about how you set that up
and when attorneys got involvedand things like that.
But share a little bit about,about how that structure is
today.

Don (20:23):
Yeah.
And it actually has evolved andthat's the idea everybody has to
get in their mind.
Things can evolve.
So they, they worry aboutgetting it perfect first.
No, do something first, perfectas you go along.
And what.
What creates a lot of peoplefrom getting into it is they
want the perfection from thestart right off
the bat, and
you really learn by doing, and we really haven't perfected

(20:45):
our operation till we areprobably 10 years into actually
trying to live the rules we putinto place, right?
The way we are structured is ouroperating companies.
So we are separated into twooperating companies.
We have a feeding operatingcompany, and then a farming seed
stock operating company.
So it's Schiefelbein Farms andSchiefelbein Feeders.

(21:07):
They're both limited liabilitycompanies.
Okay.
The key is we have our land in aLLP, limited partnership.

Matt (21:17):
Okay,

Don (21:18):
gotcha.
So Schiefelbein Angus FarmsLimited Partnership.
So that's a partnership.
So that's very different than anLLC.
That is where all the land getsheld into.
The way our operation is set,and it's, it can be set up
differently forever, but the wayour operation is set, the way
dad set it up, is the land isthe key to the success for the

(21:40):
operation long term.
It's the big asset, right?
Sure, always.
It's the big asset.
So, when land goes into thelimited, uh, partnership, it's
in a lockbox.
It doesn't get sold.
So
you can transfer ownership.
I can transfer it to mydaughters, and you can transfer
it to your sons, or whomever.
But you can't get it out.

Matt (22:00):
Interesting.
Okay.

Don (22:01):
But we, we basically, the operating company, Farms, the
LLC, rents the ground,
right,
from the limited partnership.
Okay, so income flows into it.
Okay, and then that income getsdistributed back out to The
owners of the land.
And it allows, and as you knowfrom estate planning, what you

(22:24):
really want to do is you want totransfer assets that are
appreciating, not depreciating,right?
Sure, sure.
So you want to put it in thatlockbox, okay?
And then when it's in thelockbox now, you can be free to
transfer it, get it out of yourname early, so that as
appreciation occurs.

(22:45):
You're safe from an estateplanning standpoint.
So it's in the lockbox.
My daughter can have lots ofacres in that lockbox, right?
But all she really has controlof is she gets the dividend
receiver from the rent moneythat it earns.
The other thing we diddifferently than most on that

(23:06):
limited partnership is therealways has to be a general
partner.
Okay?
Okay.
So in a limited partnership,there's a general partner.
And he is God.
Okay?
General partner can do anything.
Okay?
They can sell land, they canmortgage land, they can do
anything.
Okay?
Dad used to be our generalpartner.

Matt (23:26):
Right.

Don (23:27):
When Dad, when we were transferring it over, Dad was
like, Well, Donnie, you becomethe general partner.
And I stopped and I hesitated.
I want this, because I thinkit's a worthwhile learning
experience here.
Sure.
How are your other brothersgoing to think if you have full
control over the biggest asseton the operation?

Matt (23:47):
Just what he didn't want from the whole farm structure.

Don (23:52):
Exactly.
And exactly.
And I said, Dad, that's notgoing to work.
So we, midstream, we changedthat before we initiated it.
And we made the operatingcompany, the LLC, the general
partnership.
Oh,

Matt (24:07):
okay.
So

Don (24:08):
they are the general partner for the LLP.

Matt (24:14):
So when that LLP was created, did you move?
Obviously as you purchase landand expand, that goes into the
LLP.
The original acres that werealready in the operation, did
you transfer them over at thatpoint in time?

Don (24:31):
We did.

Matt (24:32):
So you can move that into a partnership.
It's just that the differentpartners own that and their
percentage of that ownership inthe partnership is if they put a
hundred acres in and there werea thousand acres total, they
have 10 percent ownership.
That's exactly how the

Don (24:47):
math is done.
And every year, the only landthat goes into the lockbox is
paid off land.
Okay.
So as you're paying for land outside, the operating
company's paying for it, right?
Okay.
And so, when the land is paidfor, whoever the current owners

(25:07):
are in the operating company,become the transferees into the
lockbox.

Matt (25:15):
Okay.

Don (25:15):
You follow me?
I

Matt (25:16):
think.

Don (25:17):
Okay.
So, if, for example, Dad is nolonger in the operation.
Okay?
My dad passed away.
There's eight brothers, and nowfour, I believe, vested nephews.
So there's twelve of us.
Okay.
If we pay off land this year, that acreage, divided by

(25:37):
twelve, and those various names,get transferred into the
lockbox.
Okay?

Matt (25:43):
So there won't necessarily be Don Schieffelbein goes out
and buys a quarter of land andit goes in and that increases
his percentage ownership of theLLP.
It's still entering into thatLLP through your LLC.
Correct.
Okay.

Don (26:00):
Correct.
Got you now.
Correct.
Actually, you have to go out andin to be actually more
technically correct.
Okay.
So, you do have to go out andin, but we do that all in one
seamless transition.
Sure.
Sure.
Yep.
Yep.
And so then it begins to grow,so your percentage begins to
flex depending on how yourownership goes.
And a good example of this tovisualize is my brother Mike,

(26:22):
right?
Right.
He's the one who never cameback.
Okay.
So, but he got Dad's initial one eighth of the land.
Gotcha.
You follow me?
Yes.
Because Dad wanted all of hisland to go equally to his
brother's.
Right.
Well, since that time, as our operation has continued to
expand, Mike's percentage shareIn the lockbox,

(26:42):
is less,
is less and less and less as we keep dumping it in.
He's got equal or more value asit's appreciated, but his
percentage number is less.

Matt (26:51):
Gotcha.

Don (26:51):
Gotcha.
Yep.
Yep.

Matt (26:52):
That's fascinating.
And you know, that's, to me, apretty complex structure, but it
has to be.
In order to do what it is thatall of you and your families
need.
And that's something that Iremember when we were on that
panel.
It was at an NCBA Cattleman'sCollege, like I said, I, maybe
15 years ago.
But I remember you saying thatas folks look at starting this

(27:16):
generation, this estate planningand transfer, everybody wants to
go hire the lawyer and say, drawup a deal that fits us.
And your advice to them at thattime was, do not hire the lawyer
until you've already figured outwhat will work for you.
Then hand it to the lawyer andlet them put it into the

(27:36):
legalese that will hold up in acourt.
But if you go to a lawyer andjust say, hey, we need you to
draw something up, it's notgoing to be right.
Yeah,

Don (27:43):
and it costs a fortune.
Yeah, exactly.
You know, because they'rerethinking and there's multiple
iterations and you can't affordit.
If you tell them precisely whatyou want, lawyers can convert
stuff to legal ease forrelatively cheap.
When you ask them to startthinking, the bringer starts
going in terms of dollars.
It's thinking it's hard for themto put a price on in terms of

(28:04):
what it costs for them to thinkthat up.

Matt (28:06):
Yeah, yeah, it's uh, no doubt about it.
And, and I think that it getsmore confusing if we don't
already have in our minddesigned out what we, what we
want the outcome to be at thevery least.
Exactly.
And then they can draw it up andwrite it.

Don (28:21):
And, and everybody can do it differently, I'm just telling
you our situation.
And the reason we're, we'relocking the land up as you know,
is that's where all the realasset is.
And if you look at most of thereasons family operations don't
exist, it's because they had tobreak up the asset of the land.
If you can allow that brother orthat sister or that relationship

(28:44):
to still get economicopportunity from the land they
own, but not have to sell it outcompletely, and they know it 5,
years before something occurs,All of a sudden, it's changed
the whole dynamic that mychildren, as an example, are
never expecting to get athousand acres for them one day

(29:08):
to sell.
They know they'll be gettingtheir rent value from those
thousand acres.

Matt (29:13):
And I think that, as we talk about, sustainability of a
business, and as we talk aboutlegacies of a farm and ranch,
and all of these things, you'vealmost formed your own land
trust.
I mean, you've almost put thatinto perpetuity that it will be
a productive agriculturebusiness for as long as the

(29:34):
majority of your owners orshareholders of Schieffelbein
Farms.
You understood it perfectly.
You can't sell a little bit outfrom under the group and make it
hard for the group to carry thatbusiness on.

Don (29:47):
And dad's vision and dad's actually rule was
of the advantages to be withthose that run the land.
And that's what it is, right?
Because you could sell that landand get more money for it for
those that are not part of it.
Sure.
But that's not the way the rules are written.
The rules are written that theland is to serve those that

(30:07):
operate the farm.

Matt (30:09):
Interesting.
That was, I mean, so visionaryand so insightful.
And, and, uh, yeah, it's, it'shard to look that long term and
make it where everybody Getswhat It is quote unquote fair
and equitable, however youstructure that, but yeah,
that's, it's a great way to doit.
I mean, it's a great way to doit.

(30:30):
And everybody, like you said,does it differently, but I think
that gives, hopefully gives allof us, at least a perspective of
what can work as we look atthese, these difficult
decisions.
Let me add one more thing to

Don (30:42):
you.
I mentioned early kind ofcasually that we're Catholic,
right?
Yes.
But the, the other thing thatplays into this is, as you know,
sometimes marriages don't work,right?
Right.
When it's in the lockbox, whether you make a good or bad
decision with who you choose tobe your wife,
it
doesn't matter because it's in the lockbox, right?
It just may not be your namethat's getting the benefit.

(31:04):
It might be that ex wife gettingthe benefit.
You follow me?
And so it really keeps a divorcefrom having a breakup of a
family.
Interesting.

Matt (31:16):
Interesting.
It may break up the, that coupleand that part of the family, but
not the whole family farm orranch.

Don (31:23):
Yes.
And they may choose to buy eachother out, if you will, in that
partnership if they wanted to.
At some decrease more than thevalue, right?
Because there's limited cashvalue to it.
But as you know, I said beforewe're Catholic.
We've had zero divorces to thispoint.
We're 15 in a row.
So we're, we're crossing ourfingers and hoping things go
well.

Matt (31:44):
that is a challenge on so many levels and it never fun for
anybody.
But dad never

Don (31:49):
wanted to be the one to get in there and say, you know, they
have all these advancedprenuptials and all these things
you do now.
Right.
Dad was never one to begin Arelationship on a negative.
And he said, let's build therules behind the scenes so that
you don't have to put thesecreated negatives up front.

(32:10):
We're gonna plan on yousucceeding.
Okay?
We're gonna plan that thismarriage goes forward.
We're gonna plan on success.
But if it doesn't happen to bethis way, our safety net is it's
in a lockbox.
Wow.

Matt (32:23):
I never got to meet Frank.
But I see where your strategicthinking might have come from,
because that's again, that'spretty visionary to think
through it and make sure thatthat it can hold up something
like that.
We could go on for the wholepodcast on just this type of
topic, and I still would beasking questions, but I do want,

(32:46):
because of where we are today,and the meeting that we're at,
and in the town that we're at, Ido want to touch a little bit on
industry leadership, and youhave, um, served as a board
member and president of theAmerican Angus Association for
seven or eight years, I guess,total, with the officer
position.

(33:07):
And shortly after, what, a yearor two years after you finished
as president of the AAA, youwere president of the National
Cattlemen's Beef Association andprobably were on the board for
what, nine or ten years prior tothat?
Correct.
Are you just a glutton forpunishment or how in the world,
that coupled with beingpresident of Schiefelbein Farms

(33:28):
and family and everything else,how'd you do it?

Don (33:31):
Well, I don't know if it's how I did.
The key is I have the backgroundof all the family members at
home, right?
And Dad, again, going back toDad, I'll give Dad credit, is
Dad said, You can't complainabout an organization if you
don't do your time.

Matt (33:46):
Good for him.

Don (33:47):
And if you think about those organizations, and we've
seen it oodles of times withinCBA, It's the easiest
organization for people who havenever put one effort towards
making it successful.
Complain about it, right?
So dad's deal is, don't complainabout it.
Engage, be part of it.
And let's go about that positiveway of doing our part to make it

(34:11):
successful.
And he, he believed, and Ibelieve it as well, is that if
you aren't willing to put in thetime, you don't have a right to
say anything.
Yep.

Matt (34:22):
And that is what is so frustrating.
I've had lots of people, thisweek.
Asked me, you know, tell meabout this podcast.
Why'd you start this podcast?
I said, there's various reasons,but the number one reason was
because I wanted to be able toshare the conversations that
happen at meetings like this.
Meetings like the localextension meeting, whatever the
case may be.

(34:43):
And put that nuancedconversation on issues that, if
you just heard at the local cafeor saw on Facebook, And had one
guy or gal's opinion on an issueand why they thought NCBA or
whomever, was opposed or forthis issue, it gets lost.

(35:06):
And so that's why I think, andagain, I bring up the town,
we're in San Antonio, Texas.
And in 1996, I was a senior incollege.
1996.
The National Cattlemen'sAssociation, which policy arm,
you know all this as I'mpointing to Don Schiefelbein
here, who's given this talkplenty of times.
But for the listeners, theNational Cattlemen's Association

(35:28):
was the policy arm, membershiparm of the cattle industry.
And then we had the BeefIndustry Council, the National
Livestock and Meat Board, who,for lack of a better
description, oversaw the beefcheckoff.
With USDA, of course.
Those two, and I guess maybewith some other things came

(35:50):
together as a merger in 1996.
So that was where it wasformalized, right here in San
Antonio.
And in my opinion, of course, Iwas 21, 22 years old at the
time.
I thought it was exciting ascould be, because finally I
thought we're going to quit thisisland mentality of having the
Packers on one island, trying tosteal a profit from the feed
yards on another island, fromtrying to steal a profit from

(36:12):
the cow calf producer, thestalker operator, or whatever
the case may be.
And we're going to come togetherand we're going to build an
industry that communicates.
Don, I'm not sure if maybe ithasn't even made a bigger rift
sometimes between the islands.
And that's frustrating to methat here we are.
That decision was made.
It was the right decision.

(36:34):
It was made for the rightreasons after a lot of
discussion and meetings andeverything else.
And yet, here we are stillfighting about whether we should
have merged in the first placeor we should still be out here
on the islands.
What do you think?
What, what were the reasons?
What are the advantages?
What have we been able toaccomplish?
Because we came together andstarted looking at these issues

(36:57):
from all of our differentperspectives.
And then I guess we'll also talkabout some of the challenges
it's, it's brought up.

Don (37:03):
Yeah, and I, I think regardless of the structure, and
people think it always, alwaysis the structure.
I don't think it's as thestructure as much as it is the
people.
And I think the key to thestructure is getting the right
people, okay?
And that's where I think we'vereally come and gone.
If you look at NCBA and you lookat where we are today, I think

(37:27):
we're in probably a betterposition today than we were
probably 20 years ago.
It's because we had a leadershipgroup who looked beyond what
they decided was right and said,You know what?
Let's listen to what thatregular Joe's and Fred's and
Mary's and Susie's are sayingout there, and let's listen to

(37:47):
them and let them have a say.
So moving it from top down tobottom up, and to me, if you
have leadership that does that,good things happen.
If you get the leadership thatyou sometimes get into an
organization like NCBA, who aredoing it for the wrong reasons,
for the power sources, and itbecomes top down, bad things

(38:07):
happen.
So I, I think that's any, almostany organization, but that's why
I really believe, and that's whyI said it just a little bit
earlier, it's incumbent uponthose in this beef industry to
make sure we have the rightpeople.
You know, you can't complainthat you're being told how to do
things by A person that youdon't trust and don't like, and

(38:30):
then you don't show up to votewhether there should be the
person or not the person.
Engage.
Choose the leadership.
Get involved with theleadership.
And, uh, truth or, truth betold, and I don't know if you're
one of, there's a lot of folkswho never believed that someone
like me could ever get electedNCBA president.
A guy who pretty much will saywhat he believes most of the

(38:52):
time, almost 100 percent withzero filter.
But I'm very transparent in myfeelings and I will take
somebody else's opinion andcreate my decisions that way.
And I think we need to get backto grassroots people deciding.
What's this about?
And quit worrying about thiscomplicated structure that we

(39:14):
have and vote in good people todo good things.

Matt (39:17):
Yeah, and you're right.
I mean, it doesn't matter whatwe're talking about.
It is the people that make thedifference.
Um, you can fix a poor structurewith good people.
You can fix,, past decisionsthat didn't end up there.
You can do all of these thingswith the right people and then I
think the next thing is, notonly do we have to have good

(39:40):
people showing up to serve inleadership positions like
yourself, to vote for those whoare about to serve, to vote on
those issues, there is anincredible amount of value to
showing up to these meetings andjust hearing the conversation,
the debate in the room.
This is the first NCBA meetingthat I've been to in like seven

(40:03):
or eight years, I think.
And I've even caught myself, andI believe that that merger was
the right thing to do.
I believe that we've had goodpeople making these decisions,
even if they weren't on theright side, in my opinion.
I think that the intentions havebeen right.
I think that the judgment hasbeen sound.
But when I'm at home in Eureka,Kansas, and I hear nothing but

(40:27):
This was the decision that NCBAmade on whatever issue.
Marketing, Checkoff, whateverthe case may be.
And I don't have the context tohear how they got to that
decision and whether or not theyconsidered all unintended
consequences of said decision.
It's harder for me to sit athome and go, Well, that was the

(40:51):
right thing to do.
I get out here.
And I think I'm ready to fightfor or against a certain cause
and I get into the room and Istart hearing the arguments and
I go, wait a second.
Maybe I didn't have all theinformation that I needed to
have.
And now that I get, quoteunquote, outvoted, I at least

(41:12):
understand why I got beat.
Because There are chances thatthat guy or gal knew more about
this than I did and now that Ihear their perspective heck I
may even change my vote and wedon't have very many people who
get this opportunity that's onereason again that I started the
podcast so we can haveconversations like this because
Man, oh man, it is so easy totake one issue Especially if

(41:35):
that is a marketing issue wetalk imports and exports we can
talk checkoff or whatever thecase may be It's so easy to take
one issue and say, well, NCBAsaid this about that issue.
Well, I'm opposed to that, andI'm not going to pay my NCBA
dues.
I sat in the Washington, D.
C.
issues update this morning.

(41:56):
They had ten lobbyists that wehave working for us in D.
C.
And they put on the back screena high point, just a few of the
issues that this lobbying teamis working on, on our behalf.
It was like 50 some differentissues.
And, uh, most of them, I didn'teven realize existed, much less

(42:18):
that we needed to be lobbyingfor, and they told us why.
And then I went, yeah, there's areason that we have a full time
DVM who is sitting therewatching.
When is the next screw worm flygoing to hit far enough north in
Mexico.
And she's been talking aboutthis for six years.
Watching that on behalf ofcattle producers.

(42:39):
I didn't even know she had ajob.
Much less that she was lookingat that one issue.
And, and, and formulatingpolicy.
Science based, economic focusedpolicy that will hopefully help
us as cattle producers.
But we never hear about that.
Unless we're sitting in the roomhearing her talk about what it
is she does every day.
So.
You know, there's, there's, it'ssuch a complex issue, and I

(43:00):
think that gets in the waysometimes.
Because NCBA has a lot ofdifferent components, because it
is very nuanced, because thebeef industry today has so many
components, they can't get onone or two issues and just focus
on those.
They've got to be on 56different issues.
They've got to also be In aseparate set of rooms, figuring

(43:22):
out how we do more with lesscheckoff dollars.
And, and all of these differentthings that are, that are, uh,
being tackled at a meeting likethis.

Don (43:31):
And they have to balance that with the political reality,
right?
That we are one and a halfpercent of the population.
Exactly.
So we, we, we, we tend to gointo our home communities and
think, what I believe God hasspoken Then you realize, but
you're out voted 99 to one.
Right?
So you have to have the right vision and the right

(43:51):
people explaining why it'simportant.
here in D.
C.
to make sure your messageresonates.
Yeah,

Matt (43:57):
and that's tough to do, and they have to play the games.
Hopefully, maybe there are goingto be fewer games at that
bureaucracy level and at that D.
C.
lawmaking level as we go forth,but there is a certain amount
of, like it or not, negotiationand communication, and we have
to kind of play the game at thatD.

(44:18):
C.
level.
And I, I think that's, whilethat's hard for any of us to
understand, it's, it's wellworth having, uh, those dues
dollars and those politicaldollars going to D.
C.
to work on our behalf.
Just like it is good forseparately, of course, but those
checkoff dollars going tocommunicate with those consumers
on our behalf.

(44:38):
Exactly.
In the midst of that, whether welike it or not, all segments
have to be at that table saying,okay, from the feed yard
perspective, this is what weneed.
From the packer processor level,this is what we need.
From the cow calf and thestocker and the seed stock, all
these different segments.
I mean, we have differentperspectives and we're a whole

(44:58):
lot better off when we're allsitting around the same table
figuring out the good of the one

Don (45:02):
thing I think that's apparent that everybody gets Is
that they, they always say NCBAand you've said it many times,
it's almost, it's like thisthird party, this, this
organization far removed.
Who is NCBA?
It's us.
Those that are members, right?
And is there a restriction onyou being a member?
No.
The quickest way to gain powerof NCBA is to gain the most

(45:25):
members.
Okay?
That's true.
Sign up people.
Don't, if you're mad at NCBA,the worst thing you can do is
quit the organization becauseguess what just happened?

Matt (45:34):
Yeah, you lost your vote.

Don (45:35):
Yeah, the vote went down.
It went the wrong way in yourfavor.
You should not, if you're mad atNCBA, you should gather six
people, get them to be NCBAmembers and strengthen your
vision of where you think itneeds to go.
And that's, I think, thementality that's a little bit
offset with how people think ofNCBA.
It's a membership organization.
Those with the most membersdecide where we need to go.

(45:59):
Get more members.

Matt (46:01):
It's a little like Having ownership in the LLP at
Schiefelbein Farms.
The minute you quit contributingmore and staying active in your
management and everything else,your percentage of that and your
ability to hopefully move thatbusiness and profit from that
business goes down.
Exactly.
Exactly.

(46:22):
What's the biggest challenge, ofthat merger and the wake?
And, and when we talk about themerger, and I had to, I had to
learn this myself as I wentback, just trying to remember,
okay, what year was it?
What happened?
So I googled NationalCattlemen's Merger.
And I didn't realize this, butthere have been two or three
mergers throughout the years.

(46:42):
Once in the 50s, again in the70s.
And then again in the 90s ofdifferent segments because we
were even more fractured andfragmented back then than we are
today.
But the most recent one isprobably the one that all of us
or most of us remember or atleast the fallout from.
What has been the biggestchallenge from your perspective

(47:04):
of that merger and of the waysome people packed up their
marbles and went a differentdirection?

Don (47:10):
You know, that's, that's hard to say.
I, I think if you look atchallenges going forward,
getting more involvement,getting people to believe it's a
system that works, is the key.
And right now, I just, I am justso frustrated that people see
NCBA, oftentimes, there'll be abandwagon of people thinking
they're the enemy, when they canbe the vehicle to do things.

(47:33):
You saw the lobbyist efforts.
If you get in the majority andyou want something done
correctly, Wow, we've got anincredible vehicle.
Yep, no doubt.
Get
people on board.
And I want you to think aboutthis, and this is maybe a
challenge.
And you've got some history inthis.
If you look at the history ofNCBA, and you look at the
history of the leadership ofNCBA, how many have come from

(47:57):
breed associations or seed stockproducers?
When you go to the leadershipnumber, it's amazing how
concerning the political risk ofbeing a leader in that
organization could impact yourbottom line.
Yeah, that is true.
And you think of it.
So you don't put yourself outthere.
Yeah, they don't put yourself out there.
And I want you to think abouthow costly that is long term to

(48:21):
the industry.
Yeah.
Here are the leaders, and some of, I believe, the very
best leaders in the beefbusiness, our seed stock
producers, right?
Because they are on the cuttingedge of lots of technologies,
right?
Right.
But you ask them, do you want tobe a part of NCBA?

Matt (48:37):
It's too dangerous.

Don (48:38):
It's too dangerous?
Yeah.
And talk about a bad, long termoutlook for your industry.
And that's what concerns me themost.
Is people, when they thought Iwas, when I decided I was going
to go through NCBA, Whoa, yourbest bull sale's over.
Wow, yeah, and think about thepressure that is people don't
want to take the risk of Whatthe naysayers may do.

(49:00):
Yeah,

Matt (49:01):
I get it and and you're exactly right.
I mean even of course KansasLivestock Association is an
affiliate of NCBA and So therewould be a segment Maybe some
that are listening to thistoday.
that would not be members orwould have some heartburn over
stances that KLA have taken.
And we have, as a family, hadlost a few customers when Dad or

(49:24):
I were fairly involved in KLA.
And we still are, but as I waspresident and things like that,
I know there were times whenpeople said, you know, if
you're, if you're with thosefeed yards at KLA, I'm not going
to buy bulls from you.
And, um, yeah, it's It'sdisappointing, it's
disheartening, um, and it's,it's scary for the future.
And I think we absolutely needto break that mold.

(49:45):
I

Don (49:45):
really, and that's one of the messages I'm trying to get
across in this podcast.
We gotta break that mold.
We gotta say, you know what?
If you want a successful longterm industry, Seedstock guys,
put your money where the futureneeds to go.
Get involved.
Forget about short term lossesor gains, and look at long term

(50:07):
what the opportunities are if wecould get together.
And by gosh, being a seed stockguy means you have a leadership
requirement.
You better start leading thisorganization, leading those
people and saying, If we don'tlike the way the rules are
written today, Let's change therules.
Yeah,
let's get involved.
Let's
get enough volume to change the rules.
So I think that needs to be aflip.

(50:28):
And that's my only concern.
And I don't know if you saw thatat our upcoming sale.
Okay.
We have a guest speaker there.
I saw that.

Matt (50:39):
I did see that.
And

Don (50:40):
I'm throwing that out here because this industry just hates
confrontation, right?
And they're just like, you gottabe on team A or you gotta be on
team B.
Okay.
For the rest of the folks, whois coming to speak at our sale?
Corbett Wall.
Corbett Wall.
And people would say,Schiefelbein, have you lost your
marbles?
Corbett Wall.

(51:00):
I've met Corbett Wall.
Do we agree on everything?

Matt (51:03):
Probably not.

Don (51:04):
No! Do we disagree on some things aggressively?
Sure.
But gosh, if you guys want tomove forward, the guys you need
to get along with is guys whohave audiences that you can
somehow then gain agreement onand say, we may not agree on
this issue or that issue, but wecan move forward with this
issue.

(51:25):
Yeah,
and to me, that's what's broken in this industry, and you
would not believe how manypeople ththought Scheifelbein
had crossed over to the thenefarious land by inviting him
to speak.
And I'm telling you guys, that'swhat it's gonna start taking to

(51:45):
make this world better.
We're going to have to startopening our eyes to other ideas,
thoughts, and that's how youmove an organization and an
industry forward.

Matt (51:54):
That's a little why, and I've said it time and time
again, that's a little why westarted this podcast.
Because I was tired of hearingthese one sided conversations.
And, like you, I love havingthese, I like talking with folks
who agree with me.
But I like even better sometimestalking with folks who don't, or

(52:14):
at least have a differentperspective.
because, you know, some, alwaysI learn something.
Sometimes I may shift myviewpoint a little bit.
other times I figure out why Ibelieve that I do.
But you have to have thoseconversations.
And like you said, I mean, ourindustry absolutely hates
confrontation.
And, um, we And we just shut itdown.

(52:35):
We put a wall up and we sayNope, not part of our team.
And to me that's a deadly wall.
I'm not going there.
I'm not attending theirmeetings.
I'm not going to the samelivestock market.
Whatever the case may be, I'mjust going to, yeah, build that
wall.
And

Don (52:52):
so it raised a lot of eyebrows as I've been walking
around here with peoplesuggesting that.
But to me it opens up thisconversation that's needed
saying So we don't want thatportion of the beef industry to
be on board with whatCollectively it's best for the
industry, we don't.
We just want to just
force us on top of them.
No, you don't win the big warthat way.

(53:15):
You win it by bringing morepeople in.
By encouraging them with thebest thoughts, the best ideas.
And saying, you know, now thatwe have a dialogue, I'm probably
not nearly as stupid as youthought I was.
Right?
And then you begin to lure himin and say, you know what?
He, he may have an idea on that.
Maybe.
So, NCBA is good at defending usin these certain reasons

(53:39):
legislatively, you know, becauseI always do hear that, but boy,
Chekhov, we don't, they don'tspend the money wisely there.
I hear that a lot.
Sure.
But all of a sudden you startbringing them in and they become
part of the solution together.

Matt (53:51):
And not only do, hopefully, those folks that you
bring in see things from alittle bit broader perspective,
we You and I as NCBA memberssee, Hey, you know what?
There is validity in what it ishe or she is saying on this
point or that point.
And we can make better decisionsgoing forth.

(54:12):
And I mean, that's just again,you've talked about growing the
pie.
You've talked about building abusiness so that everybody gets
a little bit more because thesum total there's more to divvy
up.
That's it.
I mean, if you look at and Ilove, I absolutely love these
charts that showed The totalbeef industry profitability per

(54:34):
head from, like, back in the1960s.
Maybe even you could go backfurther than that to today.
And we sit around there fordecades and decades and decades.
And the total industryprofitability spread amongst 3,
4, 5 different segments wassomewhere around 20 or 30 bucks,
average.

(54:54):
That's not counting all thelosses and then one or two good
years in a cycle.
But we did not move that.
We just bumped it around.
Somewhere around 96 or 97.
And granted, a lot of thingshappened.
We formulated a bunch of, memberowned beef companies.
You know, value based marketingtook root., so many other
things.
We're bringing consumer dollarsin.

(55:14):
But guess what else happened in96?
That merger.
And we finally got everybodyaround the same table.
And made some hard decisionsthen and have been ever since
then.
But we've done exactly what wesaid we needed to do.
We had a more transparent, notless, a more transparent

(55:34):
industry that allowed us, A, totalk in the same meeting rooms,
and to fight, and to discuss andcuss, and B, To figure out how
we get more dollars into thebeef industry so then we can
figure out and let the marketshare those amongst all the
different participants.
But without doing that in 96,without saying that, like it or

(55:56):
not, we may have to listen toother participants and other
segments of our industry, I'mnot sure that we'd be here
talking about$2 fed cattle plusand$3 yearlings and knocking on
the door of$4 calves.
And 8 or 10 or probably atSchieffelbein Farms,$12, 000
bulls.

(56:17):
I mean, all of this.
Not all.
A big part of that, I think, isthanks to those decisions that
got us more focused on theindustry and on the consumer
together.
And without that, without thatcommunication, you don't get the
result that we've finally seenin 2025.

(56:37):
So, If you got the opportunity,whether it's Corbett or whether
it's folks that were sitting inthat room in San Antonio in
1996, who still maintain that,that wasn't the right decision.
what do you say?
What, what besides that graphthat shows industry
profitability, why was it theright decision?

Don (56:59):
Well, and I don't know whether you decide whether it
was the right decision or thewrong decision, what you have to
believe, and this is the key forme, is you have to believe
people made the best of theirability to make the industry
better at the time.
Good point.
Do I believe that?
100%.
Anybody involved in therehappened to be at that meeting

(57:19):
way back in 1996.
I'm a little older than you.
So I was actually a participantback then.
And by gosh, they meant well,was it perfect?
No, absolutely not.
Do we need more people involvedin this process to make all of
our decisions better?

Matt (2) (57:36):
Absolutely.

Don (57:37):
We absolutely do.
And that's, that's my plea tothis industry is.
Don't make haves and have notsand he's in the club or he's out
of the club.
Share your opinion, getinvolved, go to the organization
that has the influence to makethe changes that matter.
Which NCBA is the one whetheryou like it or not.

(58:00):
If you don't like what they'redoing, get enough members to
make sure you're in themajority, right?
And if you're persuadable andit's a good idea, Smart people
listen to good ideas.

Matt (58:11):
That's right, and I've seen it happen this week.
I mean, already, and we'vebarely gotten started in
committee meetings, but it's notjust the power play states or
votes or whatever else that getan ear.
And, uh, yeah, it is a markeddifference.
Let me just go back to

Don (58:27):
your 1996.
If you go back to that 1996, andhere was Don Schiefelbein, do
you think anybody in 1996, as Iwas sitting there among the
thousands of people there,Looked it over there goes.
Oh, that guy's gonna have aninfluence one day.
No, probably not right nothingagainst you That's just a guy
that's taking it in I don'tremember us 24 probably or

(58:49):
something like that and justtaking it all in but if you
engage and get involved and bygosh, what I just tell guys is I
don't care what your opinion is,I really don't.
I, what I want you to do is tellyour opinion as honestly as you
possibly can.
And that's what I appreciateabout sometimes the other side's

(59:10):
a little better at that than weare.
If I were to be critical ofNCBA, sometimes we're better at
sugarcoating things versus justlaying it out.
And letting grown men hearthings in a grown man manner and
let them say, you know what?
They're talking straight withus, we know that, and to me that

(59:31):
fades a lot of issues thatoccur, and I'll give you an
example of that.
Last year I was president, theywere saying, boy we need more
money, uh, this dues increase isabsolutely necessary.
As we're going through thatprocess, they laid out like a
five year plan on how toconvince members that we needed
to increase dues.

(59:52):
Right.
And I just shook my head, and Isaid.
This sounds like a marketingploy.
I said, let's just go and tellthem we need the money and tell
them why.
And let's do it in a year.
And guess what?
When we did it straight up, whenwe did it exactly in a
simplified, to the member,here's what we need, here's why

(01:00:13):
we need it, here's when we needit.
We passed it unanimously in oneyear.
To me, that's the mindset thathas, don't play games with guys,
talk straight with them, explainthe rationale.
They may not always agree withyou, and you may have a
different opinion than, than me.
But when you're raising yourkids, I've always believed, talk

(01:00:37):
straight.
Don't play games, talk straight.

Matt (01:00:42):
If we've learned nothing else from The Trump
administration.
The first one was a precursor.
This campaign and two weeks intoit has made it pretty evident.
I believe that Americans arecraving to the point leadership.
Agreed.
They're tired of the 30 second,well polished soundbite.

(01:01:04):
They want to hear what you thinkand why you think it.
And then they want to make thedecision and move on.
Good, bad, or indifferent.
Let's damn the torpedoes and,and go forth.
And I think that's somethingthat all of us can learn NCBA, a
lot of our leadershiporganizations.
And, and, in their defense,they've had to operate under

(01:01:25):
this politically correct natureof D.
C., especially if they have alobbying arm, for decades.
And they're even a little bitdeer in the headlights look
like, I can see that the rulesare changing, and It's going to
be hard to change with them, butI think that Americans are ready
for it.
We're, we want the facts.
Just the facts, ma'am.

(01:01:46):
Just the facts.
And

Don (01:01:46):
I can tell you, and maybe I'm wrong on this, and I, and I
could be, but I had theopportunity to testify on some
very contentious issues in D.
C.
Right.
Authentic matters most.
Not how you say it, not, not thepolitically smooth way you say
it.
If they believe you lived it,They trust you, and you're

(01:02:09):
authentic on what you're saying.
That's what carries the water.
And whenever you're testifying,and this is my advice to those,
don't worry about having yourslides perfect, and having the
words all spelled out the wayexactly this Be as authentic and
sincere when you testify.
People believe, and that's whatmatters.

Matt (01:02:30):
That authenticity, in my opinion, is what has allowed
your family to grow yourbusiness and to keep both the
family but also your customerbase going forward and growing.
That authenticity as you wereleading the American Angus
Association, NationalCattlemen's Beef Association, is
what gave members the confidenceto come to you with ideas and

(01:02:55):
know that their voice was goingto be heard.
Thank you for doing that.
Maybe they didn't like thedecision that you and the board
made, but they at least believedthat you did it in good faith.
And I think that's all we canask for, as members, as voters,
as customers, as partners,whatever the case may be.
We want to know that those whoare leading us are operating in
good faith, and they are doingwhat they think, as you said

(01:03:19):
earlier, is going to be the bestthing for all of us.
Um, even though it may be in theshort term a little bit hard for
us to stomach, Well Don, thishas been a great conversation.
As always, I always enjoy myopportunity.
But this one I finally got torecord and, and, uh, put out
there for a bunch of others tolisten to as well.
So thanks for joining me andbest of luck with the sale.
By the time this podcast comesout, it will already probably be

(01:03:42):
in the rearview mirror, but, uh,good luck from this point
forward,

Don (01:03:45):
Matt.
Thank you.
And you know, you've always beena dear friend of mine for years,
and I appreciate the opportunityto know you.
Thanks for all you do.

Matt (01:03:51):
You bet.
Thank you, Don.
Thanks for tuning in toPractically Ranching brought to
you by Dalebanks Angus.
If you liked this show, even ifyou didn't, share it with
someone you think would enjoyit, give us a five star review,
and comment so we can keepcranking the content out.
As we said at the start of theshow, we'll open our private
treaty bull offering at 8 a.

(01:04:12):
m.
on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025.
The bulls will be individuallypriced in this list, complete
with EPDs and pedigree info anddollar indexes, registration
numbers, all the informationyou'd need.
will be available by request theFriday prior.
We'll sell over 50 springyearling bulls that'll be freeze

(01:04:32):
branded, fertility tested, andready for turnout on a light
load of heifers or cows thisspring.
If you'd like to get the list orfind out more about this private
treaty offering, email me [e-mail] or
text 620-583-4305.
Send us your email address andwe'll get you the information as

(01:04:55):
soon as it's available.
God bless y'all.
I look forward to visiting againsoon.