NCBA President Tracy Brunner said the members of the search process took the sufficient time to identify the key figure able to serve as CEO. “Today we can say with confidence that Kendal Frazier is the right leader for the association,” Brunner said in a statement. “With many years of experience working for state and national beef organizations, he has helped to guide our industry through some of its greatest challenges.”
Frazier, who served as chief operating officer for NCBA, prior to assuming the interim CEO position, is a graduate of Kansas State University. Starting in farm broadcasting for WIBW radio and TV, he went to the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) as director of communications and was at KLA for eight years. He joined National Cattlemen’s Association in 1985 and filled several roles with the association.
“It has been my privilege to serve our industry,” said Frazier. “I have spent my career working with and for beef producers, so I am well versed in the many challenges and exciting opportunities that face our industry. I’m looking forward to working with NCBA’s leadership, membership, staff, state affiliates, state beef councils and other stakeholders.”
Frazier said he applied for the CEO position in September as NCBA began its nationwide search using the executive firm Kincannon & Reed to review candidates. Brunner said in February that the search had included over 100 initial candidates and was whittled down to less than a dozen.
In a follow-up interview to the announcement, Frazier said he anticipates more collaboration with state beef associations and cattle associations to guide the policies that lead NCBA membership.
“It’s an extremely important partnership for us to be successful. That partnership has to work, and it also benefits the state affiliates.
“It’s important in two ways. From a policy perspective in Washington D.C., the states basically are the boots on the ground for policy execution. All our policy comes through state policy associations. A member can bring a policy into committee, but most policy comes through state affiliates, so it’s an important partnership.
“The other side is the marketing of produce with state beef councils. A really important partnership there, because the state beef councils are a part of the federation of state beef councils, formed in 1963.
“There’s 40-some state beef councils at work, so we have a lot of people on staff doing marketing conjunction with the state participants.”
Asked what key initiatives he would primarily target as CEO, Frazier identified two.
“One is the protection of private property rights. That’s really important to our members; cattlemen control more land than any other industry, and there continues to be an assault on private property in this country, shown by the EPA and its laws regulating Waters of the United States.
“Another important component of what we’re going to do is to look at and work with this new millennial generation coming on. They have a lot more questions on how beef is produced. They have to trust how that beef is raised and produced, and at the same time, they have to understand the role of beef in the diet.”
Frazier said the work with government agencies and members of Congress requires the CEO to facilitate and partner “with our volunteer leaders, staff and our state organizations to implement the policy that is directed by our governing bodies, our committees and our board of directors.”
The NCBA, Frazier says, wants to meet expectations for effectiveness from its membership. “They choose to invest in the organization from a membership standpoint, and they want the organization to be effective in implementing the policy through our structure.
“We’re going to be very open to our membership; I’ve got an open-door policy that aims for knowledge-based decisions, solid business practices and operates in accordance with the cowboy philosophy of fairness and ethics.”
Frazier replaces Forrest Roberts, who resigned in June 2015 to pursue other interests in the industry. According to public tax filings in 2014, the CEO received total compensation of $548,993. The NCBA today has a membership total of approximately 28,000 members. 
