Executive Compensation at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA)

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) (6) – a “business organization” – whose purpose is to increase demand and profits for cattle and beef producers. To do this, members (many of whom are cattle head owners) are charged based on the number of heads of cattle, starting at $150 to over $2,000 annually (although each cattle owning member has only 1 vote no matter how many head of cattle he/she owns).  In addition, the NCBA also has non-voting members who pay $50-$200 annually to belong to the association.

In 2016 (the most recent IRS Form 990 is 2015 for the year ending September 30, 2016), the NCBA reported $62 million in revenue of which just under $6 million came from membership dues. Nearly $35 million came from the Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) (made up of 10 producers of the NCBA and 10 producers elected by the Federation of State Beef Councils (FSBC) – a group made up of 44 Qualified State Beef Councils  (QSBC) that collect $1 a head for “beef check off”).

According to the Beef Act, the BPOC has to contract with national, non-profit, industry-governed organizations to enhance beef demand nationwide. Confused?  Most people would be. It appears that cattle owners belonging to a QSBC pay $1 per head to belong to their QSBC with the 44 QSBC’s comprising the FSBC which is a division of the NCBA. Could they make their organizational structure any more confusing?

To restate, nearly $6 million of revenue came from membership dues. Nearly $35 million came from the BPOC. The remaining revenue came from three sources:  $10 million came from the “State Beef Council,” nearly $8 million from meetings and sponsorships, and $3 million from advertising, investments, and other sources.

Expenses in 2016 totaled $60 million, classified as follows:

• $25 million (42% of revenue):  Advertising and Promotion
• $15 million (25% of revenue):  Compensation
• $10 million (17% of revenue):  Primarily “Program Execution Professional Fees” (no other detail provided)
• $ 7 million (12% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences
• $ 3 million (3% of revenue):  Office-Related and Miscellaneous Expenses

In essence, $42 out of every $100 in revenue collected was spent on advertising and promotion, which appears to be low given that the purpose of the NCBA is to promote beef.  The second largest expenditure was on staff – $15 million was spent on compensation for 158 staff, which equates to an average compensation of about $97,000.  32 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 10 most highly compensated individuals listed below:

• $712,199:  Forest L Roberts, Former CEO Term 7/31/2105
• $363,356:  Kendal S Frazier, CEO
• $362,342:  Doug Evans, CFO
• $271,684:  Michael Miller, SVP, Global Marketing Term 6/1/16
• $249,759:  Marvin L Kokes, SVP, Association Marketing
• $249,429:  Colin Woodall, SVP, Government Affairs
• $229,479:  Todd Johnson, SVP, Federation Services
• $226,626:  Richard Husted, VP, Strategic Planning
• $204,057:  Michael Peterson, Controller
• $186,497:  Mandy Carr, Senior ED, Science and Prod Solutions

As illustrated above, 9 out of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male while 1 is a female, who is at the bottom of the list.  The IRS 990 states the compensation listed above comes from the 2015 W-2’s.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2015) or the year ending September 30, 2016, click here.