The Power of Association…

Iam always surprised with the inspiration I get when the time to write this letter rolls around. This morning I received the news that one of my college friends has been named Executive Vice-President of the Nebraska Cattlemen Association.

I could tell you about what a great job she will do and the benefit she will have to the industry but that would take away from all the accomplishments of the many friends I had as a student at Texas Tech. The little College of Agriculture and in particular the Animal Science Department was a very close knit group of students.

We worked hard and we played hard but we always did it as a group. The success of many of my classmates within that circle of friends is really amazing. We have numerous individuals that went on to Medical careers, Veterinarians, Deans and Professors of Universities and true leaders within our own beef industry. Going to conventions or attending University functions in Lubbock always end up as mini reunions and the closeness of the circle picks right back up. I was fortunate to attend Texas Tech University at that particular time. The professors we had, the timely research and the drive within my classmates were something special. I am at the age now where we lose a member of that circle every so often but it is easy to remember their success and the motivation they brought to the group.

The reason I bring this topic up is not to relive old college days but to remind ourselves of the importance of association. Not only is the Freedom of Association protected in the Bill of Rights under the First Amendment, “Right of Assembly”, it is a great way to share ideas and push ourselves beyond our own comfort zone.

The leadership found within our very own New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association goes far beyond the names on the left side of this page. We have members volunteering their time and talents everyday with the goal of promoting our industry forward for the next generation. I challenge each member to donate your talent and time to the worthy mission of NMCGA. You might be amazed at the friends you make and the accomplishments that occur within the circle that surrounds you.

Vice President

Roy Farr SW

Datil

Joe Culbertson

Vice President at Large Amistad

Shacey

Sullivan

Secretary / Treasurer Peralta

Randell Major Immediate Past President Magadalena

Tom Sidwell Past President Quay

As I write, the legislative team under President-Elect Bronson Corn’s leadership is fighting the challenges being proposed in the Roundhouse. Please help by answering the Calls to Action that will be coming out. Keep your legislator’s phone number handy and be ready to donate your voice and testimony to protecting the next generation of Cattle Growers.

I would like to thank all the bill readers volunteering their time and those with expertise on topics volunteering their council. We are fortunate to have members and friends with a diverse background.

One of the biggest challenges we currently face is the newly designated endangered Lesser Prairie Chicken. Within that challenge is a very vague set of guidelines on critical habitat criteria from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

We will continue to try and give our members the latest information. We were fortunate to get a 60-day extension before implementation of the designation goes into effect. The impact of the Lesser Prairie Chicken designation could impair grazing on no less than a third of New Mexico pastures.

Pray your neighbor gets rain!

JUST THE FACTS ... & THEN SOME

by Caren Cowan, Publisher New Mexico Stockman

In the not too distant past, I wondered what my Grandmother would have thought of the world. This was a woman who traveled with her family from Kansas to Arizona in a wagon in the early 1900s.

She married a rancher she met while riding a pasture. For the first few years of their marriage they lived in cow camps where she was the cook and a cowboy. That’s where their first son came to be.

She went from that to spearheading a state and then national organization. She saw television become a household device and watched the first man land on the moon.

I never thought any of that would be topped in my life time. But watching what the government is doing to Americans today is nothing short of unbelievable.

Any day now we expect an announcement that the US Forest Service (USFS) and USDA APHIS Wildlife Services will be gunning down cattle with a sniper in a helicopter in