041212 Nebraska Beef Council Elects Four New Directors

Kearney, NB - The Nebraska Beef Council will have four new directors and one re- elected director as a result of a recent election of directors. They will all begin four-year terms on Jan. 1.

Ellsworth beef producer Charles Hamilton has been elected to represent District 1 as a member of the Nebraska Beef Councils nine-member Board of Directors. He is a cow/calf producer and operates a backgrounding and heifer development lot. He has two children; Jason is 23 and Jennifer is 22.

Hamilton has served 12 years on the County Extension Board, on which he served as chairman for four years, and served six years on the local school board. He is currently serving his second term on the local co-op board. He also belongs to NCBA, Nebraska Cattlemen, R-Calf and the Co-op Council.

Pilger beef producer J.D. Alexander has been elected to represent District 3. He is a partner of JDR Farms, a family cattle feeding and crops partnership, which involves Alexander, his wife, Deb, and his parents, Richard and Margarie Alexander. The couple have two children, Josh and Kesa.

Alexander has been very active in the beef industry, serving in many capacities with NCBA, Cattlemen's Beef Board and the Nebraska Cattlemen. He has served as president of the Stanton County Cattlemen, was elected in 1992 as a member of NCs Executive and Finance Committee, and was appointed to Cattlemen's Beef Board from 1992 to 1998, which included serving on the Executive Committee. He is also a past president of the Nebraska Cattlemen and is a Nebraska LEAD alumni.

Burwell beef producer Lin Jeffres has been re-elected, uncontested, for District 5. He is the president of Jeffres & Sons Inc., a cow/calf and backgrounding operation. They also raise corn, soybeans, grain sorghum, alfalfa and prairie hay. He and his wife, Nancy, have three children, Grant, 12, Blake, 10, and Shea, 6.

Jeffres is currently the chairman of the Nebraska Beef Council Board of Directors and also serves on NCBA's Issues Management Committee. He is a member of the NCBA and the Nebraska Cattlemen. He is also a youth baseball coach.

Arlington beef producer Bill Rhea Jr. ran uncontested for Nebraska Beef Council District 7. He is active in the family farm operation near Arlington, where they raise row crops of alfalfa, soybeans and corn, as well as a cattle feeding operation and Bell Creek Beef, a retail meat company. He and his wife, Lisa Ann, have two children, Will, 10, and Abigail, 8.

Rhea is a member of the Washington County Cattlemen, the Nebraska Cattlemen and NCBA. He is a LEAD alumni, a member of the Arlington Community Church and a university track official volunteer. Cozad beef producer Craig Uden was elected, uncontested, to represent District 9. He is an owner/manager of Darr Feedlot Inc of Cozad, a 30,000-head commercial feeding and 500-head cow/calf operation. He and his wife, Terri, have two children, Blair, 18, and Andrew, 15.

Uden is a past director with the Nebraska Cattlemen's Board of Directors, is a director for Nebraska Corn-Fed Beef and the Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation Board. He is also a Young Cattlemen's Leadership participant. He is a 4-H leader, a member and elder with Trinity Lutheran Church, a Dawson County Booster premium chairman, and a member of the Lexington and Cozad Chamber of Commerce. A Nebraska Beef Council Director represents beef producers on the state and national level for both domestic and international marketing ventures. The directors make investment decisions for beef checkoff dollars and determine which promotion programs are the most beneficial for the industry. This process is based on a detailed evaluation system and beef producer feedback.

The Nebraska Beef Council is a nonprofit organization served by a nine-member board of directors. These voluntary directors oversee Nebraska's beef checkoff and checkoff- funded programs. Programs for marketing and promotion of beef are funded by the $1 beef checkoff.

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