EAST PEORIA, Ill. — Drafting a beef-friendly 2012 farm bill, rescinding the estate tax, establishing a Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement (FTA), pushing back the proposed federal packer rule, environmental regulations, animal health and welfare and the worldwide decline in cattle production a few of the topics in a passionate, hour-long presentation by Forrest L. Roberts June 20.

Roberts, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. (NCBA), spoke during the Illinois Beef Assoc. (IBA) annual banquet and awards ceremony at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria.

“It’s (an obvious) thing to say, but our industry has been under fire. We have faced a tremendous amount of challenges in the past six months, starting with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in California,” said Roberts, who was part of the IBA’s annual Summer Conference and Industry Tours in the Peoria area from June 20-22.

“We’ve been facing these challenges head-on. We’ve tried to do everything we can, while learning from the wins and the losses. We’ve had some of both.”

Roberts focused on recent legislative “wins” gained by the cattle and beef industry before discussing at length the many challenges remaining. Pushing back legislation that would have eliminated the current beef checkoff system was a positive development, he said, as were the mothballing of the government’s proposed GIPSA (Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration) rules and the recent addition of Canada and Mexico to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA.

Of major concern to the industry is the more than four-year decline in cattle numbers, a trend that is just now beginning to reverse, according to Roberts, who runs a diversified livestock operation in Texas with his family. Mother Nature played a big role in the drop-off in numbers of domestic cattle, he said, citing last year’s record drought in major cattle-producing states such as Texas and Oklahoma as a major factor.

“A 50-year drought record was busted. We’re just now beginning to see some relief in some areas when we look at overall beef cow numbers, but the numbers are pretty straightforward, with levels as they were in 1950,” said Roberts, who employed slides to illustrate the downward trend in domestic cattle numbers over recent years.

“What does that mean to the consumer? They are paying more for beef today than ever before in history. They’re still coming back for more, albeit more cautiously.”

According to Roberts, Americans’ and others’ love for U.S. beef is rooted in one thing: Taste. With the global population expected to top nine billion by 2050, the pressure is on agriculture to produce enough crops, poultry and livestock to feed the world. With that challenge comes “the opportunity of a lifetime” for beef producers to enjoy high profits, he said.

“We will have to double food production by 2050, and the increase will not come in numbers, but through (advances) in technology,” Roberts predicted.

A major industry goal is to increase U.S. beef consumption from the current average of 57 pounds per capita to 65, a percentage not enjoyed since 2007.

“It would mean putting close to six million cows back in this country, and we’d never miss a beat. This will provide higher, very solid margins that will go into producers’ pockets. That is why I’m passionate that we are living in a time that I would suggest represents the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Roberts.

Refocusing on improving the beef industry’s image will be key to increasing consumption, the CEO continued. To that end, NCBA has assigned beef checkoff dollars to programs focusing on sustainability, as well as funding a study of the beef industry’s impact on the environment, the economy and society. The results will be published in the Cattlemen’s Stewardship Review before the close of 2012.

“This (type of study) has never been done in the beef industry,” Roberts explained. “We think this will put us absolutely in the driver’s seat in being able to define what beef sustainability is, and tell the story of beef protein through a foundation of solid science. The message is that beef is part of a heart-healthy diet.”

Radio, television, print and social media tools will be employed to bring beef’s new message to the public through programs such as the “Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet,” or BOLD, promotion that offers new information about how beef fits into a heart-healthy diet.

Relaxing of some new or potential U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations will also be essential to the recovery of the domestic beef industry, Roberts said.

“In three years the EPA issued almost 800 proposed rules. We’re talking about major rules that significantly impact each one of you in this room tonight,” he said. “We’re going to work our tails off (legislatively) to make sure you have the freedom to operate responsibly.”