Agricultural organizations have served the industry for nearly 150 years. As the industry faces new challenges in a changing society and more global marketplace, there are greater demands on these grassroots organizations and the volunteer leaders that serve them. This research is an analysis of participation and volunteer leadership in organizations that specifically serve the interests of the beef industry.

Sixteen interviews were conducted with cattle producers across the country who had various levels of participation and leadership experience in beef industry organizations and represented a cross-section of the beef cattle industry by segment and region. A focus group was conducted with volunteer leaders that work to meet the producer education needs of the industry. A leadership questionnaire was administered to a subset of young producers that are members of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Through this mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative study, themes emerged relating to participation and leadership in beef industry organizations, including membership and leadership recruitment, organizational involvement, organizational leadership, Young Cattlemen’s Conference, humility, volunteerism, costs and benefits of leadership, and leadership development. The questionnaire included a leadership needs assessment for NCBA members.

Asking people was the prevalent way to get others to join, participate and lead in industry organizations. Volunteerism was deemed significant by interviewees because it does make a difference and help guide the organization. Volunteer leaders want to know that their work is meaningful and that they make a difference. Within leadership development, there is a need for training, an industry mentoring program and to address the reality of the challenges leaders face.

The biggest costs of volunteer leadership are the time commitments, particularly time away from family, and financial costs to attend conventions and meetings. The top benefit was improving the industry, and producers served because they wanted to give something back to the industry and make it better for future generations.

Recommendations include more emphasis on asking people to join, participate and lead; expansion of more leadership development opportunities for producer members; and the need for organizations to address the costs of leadership, particularly time commitments. Leadership development programs should be targeted to meet the leadership education needs of producer members and an emphasis should be placed on recruiting and retaining young people to work in agriculture and serve in industry organizations.