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Newsletter Dear Members, Many of you are or have been lambing and calving, and are into the busy part of the year. Much has happened and is happening with ICOW. We are growing and have about 150 members at this time. Keeping up with the state lawmaking and the national bills has kept us busy, and we see it is past time to get a newsletter out to you. We have e-mail addresses for most of you and have kept you up with member alerts and notices. We were not able to hardcopy material in a timely manner, and are currently trying to remedy this matter with someone to do a monthly newsletter in hardcopy, and getting the website to work for us. You can go into the website and get information, and more is being added to it at www.independentcattlemenofwyoming.com. We hope to get better at this communication thing. If you have e-mail, please send your address to jmccullough@collinscom.net and you will receive timely alerts better than snail mail can do for you. 2008 Legislative Report The 2008 legislature was a budget session, which meant that any bills required a two thirds majority to be introduced. Rep..Sue Wallis of Campbell county introduced a bill to take Wyoming out of the National Animal ID System. The bill received almost half “yes”’ votes, but failed to get the two thirds “yes” votes. We want to thank the many ICOW members who responded to our alerts and called their representatives. Your calls make a difference! NAIS and the Wyoming Livestock Board ICOW brought out a copy of the agreement that the Wyoming Livestock Board had signed with APHIS USDA for a cooperative agreement to enter Wyoming into NAIS with Premises registration in January of 2007. Wyoming agreed to pay $200,700 in this agreement and the money had to go for Premises registration. The USDA was to match this money, but we were unable to find out if they did and how much they paid to Wyoming. The WLB members were unaware of this agreement—it had been signed by staff. With the pressure from ICOW members, WLB now has a motion that the WLB staff cannot sign agreements and contracts that obligate the Wyoming taxpayers without board approval. The board listened to the ICOW members in attendance at the presentation of Dr. Van Wie in Cheyenne, and is now planning meetings around the state to design a state health program using the successful brand and bangs tags. All ICOW members are urged to attend these meeting to give input in what you want. The first meeting is scheduled for May 14, 2008, in Riverton, and the second is scheduled for August 13, during State Fair in Douglas. Wyoming did not sign up with the USDA for this coming year after the cooperative agreement expired. Eric Barlow, an ICOW director and a WLB member would like to see a contact list to notify producers if there is disease outbreak, and he would like to see a state health program that will have firewalls between the Wyoming program database and the NAIS program that some Wyoming producers may want to have. R-CALF Convention ICOW Directors, Eric Barlow, Judy McCullough, and Charlie Stevenson attended the R-CALF convention in Omaha, NE. February 20-23. ICOW members Skip and Vanna Waters, Membership Chair for ICOW, John Francis, Marketing Committee Co-Chair for ICOW, Randy Stevenson, Director of R-CALF, Donley Darnell and Terry and Margaret Stevenson were also in attendance. ICOW had a booth at the trade show, where we sold caps and gave out ICOW buttons and cell phone holders. Oakley Stevenson manned the booth like a pro. Those speaking on Property Rights included, G.B. Oliver, Paragon Foundation Executive Vice President, Dan Martinez, Paragon Foundation Director, Eric Barlow, Landowners of Wyoming Vice President, Tanya Storer and Sherry Vinton, Private Property Rights Advocate. Joel Gill was the Convention Chair, which he accomplished with flair and tact to keep us on time. We heard from Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF and Dr. Max Thornsberry, President before the reports of the committees. Much was learned about the BSE litigation, Animal Health, Animal ID, (where the Australian John Carter filled us in on the failure of the NAIS in Australia), trade, checkoff, marketing and competition, COOL, and Market Outlook by Charlie McVean. Luncheon speakers Derry Brownfield, Common Sense Chronicles, and G.B. Oliver were entertaining as well as informative. All needed to hear Derry’s story about the Mule. The banquet featured awards, live auction, scholarships, a tribute to Joel Franz, who passed away in October and live dance music by 32 Below. A business meeting and closing remarks by Dr. Thornsberry concluded the conference. ICOW Marketing Committee ICOW directors, Russell Bell, and LJ Turner pulled together a meeting in Wright in February to discuss the start up of a marketing committee. From that meeting, Frank Eathrone and John Francis were appointed as co-chairs of the new Marketing Committee. They met March 25 in Douglas to make plans for the new committee and to plan state fair details. This committee is open to any ICOW members who wish to help and be involved in marketing. This committee is just getting started so now is the time for input from ICOW members. New ICOW Directors District 3 now has a director, Wayne Jensen, Boulder, appointed by the Board of Directors for a three year term. We welcome Wayne, and invite any of the members in District 3 (Teton, Sublette, Lincoln, and Unita counties) to apply for the one year term that is unfilled at this time. We also invite members from District 5 (Park, Big Horn, Washakie, and Hot Springs) to apply for one, two year term and one, one year term. The districts are the same that is used for the board of agriculture, and WLB. As members you are represented by two directors from your district, so call them to keep them up to speed on what you expect. Fund Raisers and Membership Drives January 26, 2008, Neil and Amanda Sorenson of Spotted Horse, WY owners of Powder River Angus offered ICOW a chance to use their Annual Bull Sale to have a fund raiser and membership drive. Judy McCullough, President and Vanna Waters, Membership Chair attended, where chances on a half a beef, donated by Double S Feeders owned by the Stevenson family of Wheatland, was sold. Doug Greenough of Gillette won the beef. Judy was given the mike to talk about ICOW and what this new organization was hoping to accomplish. There was lots of interest—many people are still learning about this new organization. March 8, 2008, the Jim Jensen family, owners of Lucky 7 Angus, Riverton, WY held a fundraiser and membership drive for ICOW. They donated the average of their bull sale price to ICOW and offered each buyer an opportunity to a membership in ICOW at their cost. Twenty-five members signed up for ICOW. We welcome them to be a part of this organization, and hope they will help make this the greatest grassroots membership driven organization in the state of Wyoming. April 12, 2008, Gray’ Angus Ranch is planning to host ICOW at their bull sale in Harrison, NE. There will be a lunch at Noon, and the sale of bulls will start at 1:00 P.M. We will be doing a membership drive. Ed Perry is a neighbor of Gray’s and he can give directions to the Gray Ranch or call Gray’s at 308 668 2520, home or 308 668 2525, sale barn. We hope to have members and directors at this sale so plan to come. These seedstock producers understand what I COW can do for the producers of Wyoming, and their work and generosity is greatly appreciated. Tell them thanks when you see them. Press Releases and Letters to the Editor Many press releases have gone out detailing the activities of ICOW in the last two months. We hope you have been seeing them in the papers. Letters to the editors have been sent by members of ICOW in an effort to get the word out to the public about NAIS, and other issues of importance to Wyoming Livestock Producers. For more information on current issues such as the USDA wanting to open trade with regions in Foot and Mouth plagued Argentina, Trade deficit, U.S. economy woes, Farm Bill, or the huge cattle packer, feeder merger by JBS S.A., go to the ICOW website at www.independentcattlemenofwyoming.com the Stevenson Report at www.thestevensonreport.com and the R-CALF website at www.r-calfusa.com. Wyoming Congressional Delegates The Wyoming Congressional delegates have been bucking the system with great courage. House member Barbara Cubin, of Wyoming, with Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of SD have sent a letter to President Bush, and House Ag committee Chair Colin Peterson, and Ranking member Bob Goodlatte, blasting the misinformation put forth by the enemies of prohibiting packer ownership of cattle which is proposed in the Farm Bill. NCBA fired 4 lobbyists for the misinformation being touted. The letter clarifies what the Title X, (which includes prohibition on packers’ owning, feeding and controlling livestock), will do and who it protects. Meanwhile Senator Enzi and Senator Barrasso have written a letter to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey urging the Justice Department to look at the serious consequences of further consolidating the feeder and packers with the proposed merger of JBS S.A., National Beef, Smithfield Beef Group, and Five Rivers Cattle Feeding. ICOW appreciates that the Wyoming Delegates understand the positions of the Wyoming cattle producers and are willing to work for the issues that affect Wyoming producers. We, as members of ICOW, can make personal calls to their Wyoming or D.C. offices, and send e-mails to thank them. They like to hear from Wyoming people. The Wyoming Beef Council has a position open that needs to be filled. It would be great if an ICOW member would be able to get on board with the Beef Council. We encourage ICOW members to apply for the position at www.wybeef.com or call 307 777 7396 for an application. Applications are due by April 30, 2008. Wyoming State Fair Plans are underway for ICOW to have a tent at the state fair with speakers, much like last year. You will want to attend and are needed to help man the tent and give the speakers a larger audience. We were the best vendor on the Midway last year, and we can do better this year. The Marketing Committee is hoping to sponsor a beef and lamb promotion with a hamburger-lambburger stand this year. They are going to need membership support for this huge project to benefit Wyoming producers. We hope to promote memberships and speakers that educate the people on the issues we face on private property, fair marketing, national issues like mergers, and trade agreements, and keeping Wyoming producers economically viable. Hopefully, we can hear from political candidates and get them on board with our needs in agriculture, or find out what they are promising! The tentative schedule is:
ICOW Annual Meeting Make plans now to attend the 2nd Annual ICOW Membership meeting in Casper, November 1st, 2008. Eric Barlow, Annual meeting chair has reserved the Extension Cooperative Educational Building, next to the Central States Fair Grounds, and has the lunch caterer arranged. G.B. Oliver is a confirmed speaker on private property rights. Members will want to help determine policy at the business meeting, and enjoy the silent auction and banquet later. Other Coming Events of Interest to ICOW Members Tuesday, April 8, 2008, at 9:00 A.M., Frank Eathorne, Co-Chair of the ICOW Marketing Committee is hosting a Gerald Fry classroom on linear measuring/mineral supplements/selecting grass finishing cattle at his UDiamond Ranch north of Douglas. The classroom is $100 for the day. There will be two more days at $100 per day where Gerald Fry will teach sorting cattle at three different ranches in Converse county. Please RSVP at udiamondranch@hughes.net or 307 358 8439. He needs to know as soon as possible if you are planning to attend this event, which is of great interest to members wanting to sell grass fed beef on a niche market. Friday, April 25, 2008, at 1:00 P.M., the Grass Fed Marketing Association is having a meeting in the Casper Agriculture Extension Building by the Central States Fair Grounds. This meeting will be of interest to those wanting to market their own beef in a niche market. Everyone is invited. Member Suggestions The Board of Directors of ICOW would like members to send us their suggestions and ideas that they feel we should be doing or correcting. This is the space for you to fill out and send to us, either as e-mail reply or by mail. The e-mail address is jmccullough@collinscom.net and the address is 116 D Road, Moorcroft, WY 82721. Your Contact Information If you are getting a snail mail copy of this, it means we do not have an e-mail address for you. We are also missing phone numbers for those who signed up at the Lucky 7 Bull Sale. Send in this form if you want us to have the information to reach you with timely alerts and information. If you don’t have e-mail, we can call you on the alerts. Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming |
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