OUTSTANDING COUNTY AWARD
Existing to grow youth and build a community By Hanna Fosbrink, Managing Editor “Part of our existence is simply for helping the youth,” said Fairfield County Cattlemen’s Association’s (FCCA) president, Ray Breagel. He couldn’t talk enough about how almost every event or activity they are apart of is for growing the next generation. The other part of their existence, it seems, is for the community. From scholarships to county-wide competitions, the association works together to keep existing programs flourishing all while thinking about the future. During their county fair, you can find the group in their concession trailer serving and promoting beef to fairgoers. All revenue from that week of hard work is directly allocated to their youth scholarship fund. Their scholarship program is something the group is particularly proud of as they have awarded over $30,000 in scholarships over the past 22 years. One of their recipients, Desiree Logsdon, even went on to become the National Shorthorn Queen. Aside from monetary support for the youth, FCCA helps to organize
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and sponsor their county’s pee wee showmanship class at their fair to encourage youth to get involved in the industry at a young age. This class sees around 20-30 participants each year and growing. For 25 plus years, the group has hosted the county fair’s Rate of Gain and Carcass Contest and supports the youth at their Junior Fair Livestock Auction. Among the Fairfield County community, FCCA is known for their beef education and promotion programs such as hosting activities with the Lancaster High School Culinary Arts program. Their most popular event with the community, however, would be their annual Chili Cook off. “A lot of the people that have won it and participated in it weren’t even producers,” said Renae Logsdon, FCCA board director and president elect. Logsdon goes on to talk about how fun it is for FCCA to watch the community rally together for friendly competition and to share their love of beef chili recipes.
This beef promotion event is an example of part of the group’s mission to increase demand for beef and beef products. The other part of that mission is to promote the economic, political and social needs of the county’s cattle producers. But with all their programs and events, FCCA is always looking to go above and beyond that mission. In fact, that is why they were chosen as the recipients of the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association’s (OCA) 2021 Outstanding County Award. “The Fairfield County Cattlemen’s Association has been a great partner to OCA over the years,” said OCA president, Aaron Arnett. “Although the Outstanding County Award is fairly new within our association, we are proud to have FCCA set such an exemplary role for our other county associations.” While this group of cattlemen and women are busy caring for cattle and raising their own families, they are still taking time to make their existence unforgettable by growing the next generation and bringing a love of beef to their community.
