2023 Region IV Meeting & WIRED Event

Ddee Haynes, OK | Region IV Director

On May 5th & 6th, 2023, the Oklahoma CattleWomen hosted the Region IV Meeting on Friday followed by a WIRED event on Saturday The Region IV meeting was held in the famous Oklahoma City Stockyards, Oklahoma City, OK

The morning consisted of an ANCW overview by Ruth Coffey, ANCW President elect, followed by State Presidents reports Reports were given by; Betty Garner, Arkansas, Cheyenne Sparks, Oklahoma, and Linda Thorman, who filled in for President Casey Matzke, Texas. Casey was unable to attend due to a family emergency.

Reports from region representatives of the Budget, Membership, Public Relations and Ways and Means Committee chairs were then heard. Following the reports, elections for upcoming open committee chairs was held. Pam Boothe (TX) was elected to the membership committee, Meg Stangl (OK) was elected to the budget committee, and Cheyenne Sparks (OK) was elected as the Region IV director. Ddee Haynes, current region IV director announced her decision to step down at the end of the year leaving one year of her two-year term open. Upon Sparks election, Ruth Coffey approved that Cheyenne would serve out the remaining year of 2024 from Hayne’s two-year term and then began her two-year term in 2025-2026. Cody Lewis, CKP Insurance, a region meeting sponsor, gave a presentation over their pasture rangeland forage program Followed by Greg Griffeth with Stockman-Oklahoma Livestock Marketing, who gave a short presentation discussing current issues with the cattle markets and the industry as a whole Stockman was the sponsor of the River Cruise, Region IV evening entertainment

During lunch, Heather Buckmaster, Oklahoma Beef Council, gave an update on what is happening with the beef checkoff and some of the new marketing campaigns in the works Following lunch, CattleWomen enjoyed a tour of the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Shorty’s Caboy Hattery, and Boxcar Wood The day ended with a River Cruise

Saturday morning CattleWomen hit the road early to make the short trip to Mustang, OK, home of the Payne Ranch and Growing Paynes for the WIRED event After being welcomed to the ranch by owner, Kelli Payne, the CattleWomen started what would be a full day of learning through hands-on experience

First up was P&K Equipment, one of the largest John Deere dealers in several states. P&K talked about tractor safety and had two tractors, (a large one and small one) on site for members to drive. Up next, was Moly Manufacturing, Lorraine, KS. Owner, Jon Mollhagen along with sales representative Gene Dubas, demonstrated their hydraulic cattle chutes and working facilities. The demo demonstrated just how easy and safe it is to work cattle using only one or two people with their equipment.

Next up was Merck Animal Health and Allflex Livestock Intelligence. Merck representatives Jennie Hodgen and Hope Hancock, assisted by Jill Ginn, WIRED Co-Chair, offered three breakout hands-on training sessions Participants discussed DNA sampling, vaccinations, and implants

Multimin USA representative, Ddee Haynes gave a short presentation on using injectable trace minerals for immunity and reproduction While enjoying wonderful lunch, provided by Payne Ranch, KC Shepherd, Director of Farm and Ranch Programming, gave a fun and interactive workshop on media training and how to deal with different personalities Prior to the training, the group took a short quiz giving each individual their own personality profile It was amazing how accurate the results were!

Following lunch, Dr Rosslyn Biggs, Beef Cattle Extension Specialist, discussed animal disease and traceability using tags and record keeping. Dr. Biggs is a second-generation Veterinarian, following in the footsteps of her mother.

The group was then split into two breakout sessions. The first session was Backyard Butchery, a mobile processing unit. Owner and Entrepreneur, Tiffany Baxter, discussed how she will come to your ranch to process any animal that cannot be taken to a processing plant due to injury, lack of transportation and for animals that are unsafe for handling.

The second breakout session featured Rita Payne, owner of Growing Paynes. Rita grows vegetables and strawberries for consumers who enjoy coming out and picking what they want, all