CCA Fall Tour from Modoc to Imperial counties

Following a year off due to unrivaled circumstances, members of the California Feeder Council and Arizona Cattle Feeders Association were more than happy to resume their annual tradition of meeting face-toface to renew relationships and discuss the important matters of their businesses in hopes of bettering the cattle feeding climate as a whole.

In a time when public perception of cattle production is more important than ever, political arena is bringing about new and ongoing regulatory challenges for cattle feeders and the year-to-year concerns like drought and commodity prices are top of mind for ranchers and cattle feeders, meetings like this are more crucial than ever.

Through meetings like the Cattle Feeders Meeting not only to feedlot owners, managers and employees get educated on potential issues on the horizon for their way of life, but the meeting also provides ample opportunity for men and women to put their heads together and share insite about how operations in different areas have worked to find solutions to the problems that plague them in addition to discussing the positive experiences they have had in educating consumers and the public as a whole.

Thank you to all the speakers and sponsor who helped my this year’s event possible! Here are some of the scenes that could be found at this year’s event in Coronado earlier in the summer.

Don Close, Rabobank Finance

NCBA’s Colin Woodall

Hannah Thompson-Weeman Animal Ag Alliance CattleFax’s Duane Lenz Oklahoma State’s Darrell Peel, Ph.D.,

Sara Place, Ph.D., Elanco Ermias Kebreab, Ph.D., UC Davis

Cattle Council’s Dave Daley Brad Johnson, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

Feeder Meeting sessions were completely full as feeders packed the room to hear from speakers. An expert beef on dairy panel moderated by Jesse Larios.

CALIFORNIANS HONORED IN NASHVILLE FOR DEDICATION TO RANCHING INDUSTRY, RAISING BEEF AND EDUCATING NEXT GENERATION

This issue is peppered with outstanding achievements by Californians who were honored in Nashville, Tenn. during the Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show. This page highlights three additional award winners we want to pay tribute to.

The 2021 American National CattleWomen’s (ANCW) Outstanding CattleWomen of the Year was awarded to Melanie Fowle Nelson, Etna. While Nelson was unable to attend the ANCW events this year in Nashville she was presented the award at an event following the Convention. Through this award “ANCW recognizes a cattlewoman who has excelled in beef promotion, education and leadership. The Outstanding CattleWoman of the Year Award is given to one cattlewoman each year who has excelled at continued beef promotion on the local, state and national level, while contributing dedication, commitment and leadership support to ANCW. Congratulations, Melanie!

Members of CCA and California CattleWomen, Inc. (CCW), also tip their hats to Debbie Torres, Fallbook, who was awarded the ANCW Outstanding Educator of the Year Award at the ANCW meetings in Nashville. This award “recognizes a cattlewoman who has used her time, talents and resources to educate others about the beef industry and agriculture at local, state and/or national venues.”

Torres has headed up CCW’s Ag in the Classroom efforts for many years and has helped expose thousands of California students to the wide world of ranching. She is very deserving of this distinct honor. Congratulations, Debbie!

Another award that California’s cattlemen can take great pride in was handed out at the prestigious Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame Banquet and Awards Dinner held on Monday, August 9. That banquet kicked off the week of events in Nashville.

From California, Jaspar Martinez of Harris Feeding Company, Coalinga, was awarded the Arturo Armendariz Distinguished Service Award. The Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame created this award “to recognize feedyard employees who go above and beyond the call of duty to help improve the cattle-feeding industry and the beef we provide to American families. Arturo Armendariz, the Distinguished Service Award namesake, was a long-time, devoted employee of Poky Feeders.” Having dedicated 48 years to working at Harris Feeding Company, Gaspar was selected as the 2021 recipient of this award. Congratulations, Jaspar and thank you for your dedication to this way of life!

CCA is very proud of the great representation our state had at this unconventional Cattle Industry Convention, which is typically held in the winter but was rescheduled for this summer due to the pandemic.

The California delegation at the Cattle Industry Convention typically makes a strong showing across the variety of award categories and this year is certainly no exception.

The 2022 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show will be held in Houston, Texas Feb. 1-3, 2022. To learn more about the event, visit www.beefusa. org.

The 2021 ANCW Outstanding CattleWomen of the Year was awarded to Melanie Fowle Nelson.

Debbie Torres, was awarded the ANCW Outstanding Educator of the Year Award at the ANCW meetings in Nashville.