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More pictures available by following this link: go TSCRA Members Continue to Persevere By JON MEANS, TSCRA President It's been three months since we gathered for our annual convention in Corpus Christi. At that time we were beginning to see the repercussions of high prices for fuel, feed, fertilizer and food. These issues present serious challenges for our industry and all signs point to their continuation and escalation. Just this week, I sent some open heifers to the feedlot — $5 a mile trucking and the cost of gain is estimated to be a $1.13 a pound, plus or minus. Seven dollars or more per bushel of corn is problematic. The necessity of cutting costs tempts some producers to drop memberships in organizations such as ours. But TSCRA's services have never been more important to our members and our industry. We are providing timely information to help us through these bumpy times. The networking opportunities that accompany these meetings are of great value to us. Finding out what fellow producers are thinking and doing are some of the best tools we have as members. So I say again, there is no better time to be a member of TSCRA. The organization continues to be strong in its membership and finances. Nine membership gatherings were held this spring, resulting in 143 new members and 74 student members. Ten gatherings are scheduled with more in the planning stages for the rest of the year. The Association Promotion Committee and the Regional Association Promotion (RAP) team leaders deserve our thanks for their continued hard work and success. Again, I would like to note this committee created a membership marketing plan and has set an aggressive goal to reach 15,700 members during 2008. This is an increase of five percent over 2007's membership level. We are well on our way to achieving this goal. I ask all of you to help us in this endeavor. As of April 30, TSCRA had continued to operate with revenue exceeding expenses. The 2008 budget projected a small loss for the four-month period ending April 30. So far, net income is ahead of budget. We do realize that there will be significant pressures on TSCRA's budget for the remainder of this year. One key area will be the high cost of fuel. Speaking of fuel, I am happy to report that we signed an oil and gas lease on our headquarters property. In response to one fellow Texan's advertisement, we are "behind the Barnett Shale." Cattle marketed through auctions are down four percent compared to the same period
last year. We anticipated lower auction numbers in the budget and are actually up six percent in collections of market inspection fees. This could change, however, depending on weather conditions and markets. The staff executive management team and the officers will monitor the budget closely. Special rangers increase investigations, recoveries You will recall that during 2007 our special rangers recovered more than $3 million in livestock and property. Since the first of the year, TSCRA special rangers have recovered more than $858,000 in stolen livestock and ranch-related property — an increase of about $100,000 compared to the same period last year. Besides theft of livestock and property, we now have a surge in fuel theft. It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the death of Eddie Foreman, our special ranger from Region 15. Many of you enjoyed Eddie's tall tales. He served our organization well for almost 30 years. He will be missed. Thanks to all of you who participated in the fundraising Jack Russell terrier races at this summer's meeting. We raised $2,325, which will be sent to Eddie's family to help with his final expenses. Tommy Johnson, former special ranger, continues to make a slow improvement after his horse accident last fall. Tommy welcomes calls and company. Please continue to remember him in your thoughts and prayers. We have hired two new special rangers — Marvin Wills and Sonny Sewald — to fill the positions in Regions 15 and 27, respectively. Both men are respected and qualified retired game wardens from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. They are both familiar with their new districts. Your officer team attended the special rangers' annual meeting June 4 and 5 in Fort Worth. Besides the business, we enjoyed a great steak dinner at Bonds Ranch. Thank you again, Jo, Pete and Missy Bonds.
Business news and historical events TSCRA's Insurance Services is proud to report their member clients have reached the 2,600 mark. We are seeing more members taking advantage of the insurance products tailored to TSCRA members. It was a red-letter day for Dave Scott, Eldon White and me to participate in the formal ceremony re-opening the Mexican border to breeding-age cattle on May 21 in Laredo. Thirty-four head of cows, calves, bulls and heifers actually crossed into Mexico that day. TSCRA worked closely with Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples to facilitate the re-opening and helped coordinate the media event in Laredo. Our organization hosted a lunch for participants from both sides of the border. Commissioner Staples deserves our sincere thanks for his courage and leadership in resolving this trade issue. I read an article in an El Paso paper that stated Mexican ranchers in northern Mexico need as many as 5,000 bulls for their cow herds. This is a significant business opportunity for many of our members. This is a win-win situation for all parties on both sides of the border. We are proud of TSCRA's participation, which was instrumental in making this happen. On the legislative front, TSCRA has been active on many issues of concern. Each is important and many have been addressed in committee meetings. I will list a few: • We supported Gov. Perry's request to reduce the Renewable Fuels Standard by 50 percent -because of the dramatic impact high corn prices are having on the cattle industry. • We participated in the Texas Department of Agriculture's Sunset Review hearing. TSCRA member Bill White testified regarding the prescribed burning board. • TSCRA Labor Committee Chair Bennie Bock testified before the House Land and Resource Management Committee on eminent domain and condemnation. • TSCRA Director Arthur Uhl presented testimony before the House Energy Resources Committee on the issues of surface damages and what to do about equipment abandoned by oil and gas companies. • Your officers met with Railroad commissioners on the oil and gas abandonment issue. • A TSCRA delegation of about 21 traveled to Washington D.C. in April to lobby Congress as part of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's (NCBA) legislative work on the Farm Bill and other issues. • We provided comments to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on water quality and use issues. • TSCRA was pleased with the Supreme Court ruling on the Guitar case, which concerned water rights in the Dell City area. Our organization provided amicus briefs to the court. Several of our members were involved in this case and many more are affected by it. • We continue to monitor animal health issues, including trichomoniasis and fever ticks. Of course, monitoring wind, water and transportation issues will remain on the top of our list. In early June, Eldon White and Dave Scott were in the Governor's press room when his plans for the corridor of Hwy. 69 were announced. The plans are consistent with the policy we supported of using existing roadways. In fact, Dave reported that the Governor's press release nearly quoted our policy statement. We are pleased by this development. We continue to meet with legislators and their staff to address ongoing issues of importance. Our Austin office is now complete with furniture. If you have occasion to be in Austin, contact Jason Skaggs, TSCRA's executive director of government affairs, in advance to stop by and see our new office on Congress Avenue. He may put you to work! An area we continue to target is the growth and effectiveness of our Political Action Committee (PAC). We continue to offer educational programs for our members. We are active with the Texas Beef Council and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in holding Beef Quality Assurance programs. We have five sessions planned for 2008. I am excited to announce that we are launching a new series of educational workshops designed specifically for young cattle raisers, aged 19 to 39. This new program is called the TSCRA Young Leadership Series. The first program was in July in Austin. It focused on government affairs and media training. Please encourage young cattlemen and women you know to take advantage of this opportunity. The Cattleman magazine continues to inform members and subscribers with a total circulation of more than 18,000. The TSCRA e-News Update reaches more than 7,000 members daily. If you are not receiving it, that means TSCRA does not have your e-mail address. Please be sure to provide your e-mail address to the association so you can take advantage of this timely information. An evaluation of the TSCRA web site is underway with changes projected to occur in the coming months. Finishing 2008 The rest of 2008 will no doubt be challenging for the cattle industry. Higher costs for all inputs will force us to tighten our budgets. Continued close-out losses at the feedlot will put pressure on our feeder cattle. Aggressive challenges from animal activists and misinformed members of Congress will cost our industry real dollars. Foreign trade opportunities continue to be unresolved. The national political climate is uncertain while the fall elections approach. Who knows what the attitude toward agriculture will be at the White House or in the new Congress? As I said earlier, members will be tempted to let their membership lapse to cuts costs. We are taking steps to ensure that a membership in TSCRA continues to have value. We're communicating more effectively what TSCRA is doing and how we're fighting for cattle raisers. We are planning meetings with timely agendas and opportunities for networking with fellow cattle producers. Sometimes, the most important thing we can do is get ideas from other members who face the same issues and challenges. We're focusing several magazine articles on how to cope with high input costs. We're participating in 12 beef industry town hall meetings with Texas Cattle Feeders Association and the Texas Beef Council. We're planning more membership gatherings and local neighborhood meetings where we can talk about the important issues facing cattle people. These are times when supporting TSCRA becomes vitally important. Our voice must be heard in Austin and Washington D.C. Our message about our stewardship of land and livestock must be communicated and defended in the media. I have traveled from El Paso to Tyler and from Laredo to Altus, Okla. since we met in Corpus Christi in March. I continue to be awed by the spirit and determination of our members. Our industry has faced challenges in the past and we have persevered. I have no doubt we will do the same this time. I extend a special thank you to my fellow officers Dave Scott and Joe Parker Jr. for their support and help in everything we do. It would be impossible to do my job without the counsel and commitment of these two fine men. Thank you, Dave and Joe, most of all for your friendship. To all of you, I thank you for the privilege of serving as your president. Join us for the fall meeting Sept. 21 to 23 at Tyler. Members and non-members are welcome to register for the event. Registration will allow you to attend the committee meetings and the board of directors meeting. You will be a part of the policy-making process of TSCRA, and will hear opinion leaders and experts discuss a variety of topics. The speakers are still being selected for the fall committee meetings, but it is
certain TSCRA leaders will use this meeting to prepare for the opening of the 2009 session of the Texas Legislature. Resolutions Trichomoniasis (AH-34) WHEREAS, evidence indicates that Trichomoniasis, a venereal disease of cattle resulting in infertility, abortions, delayed calving, and/or reduced calf crops has an increasing prevalence in the cattle herds of Texas; and WHEREAS, Trichomoniasis is a disease that requires prevention rather than cure; and WHEREAS, there is no effective treatment of infected bulls, thus leaving slaughter of such bulls as the only prudent option; and WHEREAS, this disease has the potential of causing significant economic stress from calving production losses as well as the possible loss of valuable genetic base of our seedstock producers; and WHEREAS, other states have implemented regulations in an effort to control Trichomoniasis within their states and to prevent the reintroduction of the disease through their borders; and WHEREAS, Texas has no such regulations, although there is an increasing prevalence of this disease in Texas; and WHEREAS, the fact that Texas has no such regulations may, in itself, be a factor in the an increasing prevalence of the disease; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association strongly urges Texas Animal Health Commission to assess the threat for introduction of Trichomoniasis-infected cattle into Texas from other states, assess the Trichomoniasis situation in Texas cattle herds and, with the cooperation of the cattle industry, adopt appropriate regulatory measures if warranted. 06/17/08 Lost Pines Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (AP-4) WHEREAS, since animal agriculture is producing billions of dollars in the economy of the State of Texas; and WHEREAS, a critical shortage of large animal veterinarians in rural Texas has developed; and WHEREAS, large animal veterinarians are critical to maintaining animal health and allowing free access to intra- and interstate trade; and WHEREAS, Texas A&M University was developed as a land grant college to support agriculture; and WHEREAS, Texas A&M University is recruiting a new dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Executive Committee of the board of directors of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association requests the president, chancellor, and board of regents of Texas A&M University recruit a production agriculture veterinarian to be the new dean of the of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. 06/17/08 Lost Pines Prescribed Burning (NR-35) WHEREAS, prescribed burning is a recognized practice for rangeland management; and WHEREAS, there is a need to clarify the procedures by which owners and lessees may conduct planned burns when State and other official burn bans have been designated; and WHEREAS, the Prescribed Burning Board (PBB) is a stand-alone board under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Agriculture and made up of volunteer members that have valuable knowledge and expertise; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association supports keeping the PBB a stand-alone board to avoid adding another layer of bureaucracy and delaying timely decision-making for prescribed burning; and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that ranchers continue to have the right to conduct burns on their own property, while assuming all liability; and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that ranchers retain the right to hire a certified prescribed burn manager in order to burn and transfer liability; and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that ranchers, under a county burn ban, 1.) be allowed to burn on their own property with the permission of local government, or 2.) be allowed to burn on their own property after becoming a certified prescribed burn manager, subject to lesser, non-commercial insurance requirements; and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association supports education and training of ranchers to prepare for safe prescribed burning; and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the law concerning prescribed burning in the State be clarified for county and State officials; and THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a unified effort with other interested parties be made to continue to support and preserve prescribed burning. 03/17/08 CorpusChristi, amended 06/17/08 Lost Pines
"TSCRA Members Continue to Perservere" is from the August 2008 issue of The Cattleman magazine.
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