Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic?

The National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. (NCBA), headquartered in Denver but with a strong presence in Washington D.C. out of necessity, announced a staff reorganization last week, re-grouping association functions largely under existing staff.

Still the dominant beef industry organization, NCBA still lacks the grassroots touch with out-on-the-soil cattlemen. That's why much smaller renegade groups like R-CALF keep popping up and see some success on a regional basis. Even R-CALF's original founders split off to form a new group, which should be an opening for NCBA.

The major problem is NCBA's buttoned down, agribusiness oriented staff. They elect bonafide cattlemen to the elected positions but you rarely see one on the salaried staff. Cattlemen who call, e-mail or physically visit the office don't relate to the city atmosphere or the less than rural-oriented staff.

NCBA must be pretty sophisticated to lobby in Washington and function within the larger agricultural industry, which it is. But it still has to have that ranch flavor to keep the members happy. That's an art it has yeat to master.