Cattle Raisers elect new officers

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 27, 2007—New officers were elected March 26 during the closing session of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s 130th annual convention in Fort Worth.
       Jon Means of Van Horn, Texas, was elected president; G. Dave Scott, Richmond, Texas, first vice president; and Joe J. Parker Jr., Byers, Texas, second vice president and secretary.
       Longtime TSCRA director, Louis M. Pearce Jr. of Houston was elevated from honorary director to honorary vice president status. New honorary directors are C. H. “Terry” McCall of Comanche, Texas, and Scott Petty Jr. of San Antonio.
       New directors are John L. Cantrell of Cresson, Texas; Beth Knolle Naiser of Sandia, Texas; Charles R. “Butch” Robinson of Houston; Steve.Sikes of Fort Worth; Steve Swenson of Dallas; and Dennis W. Webb of Barnhart, Texas.
       Jon Means is a fourth-generation rancher who raises commercial Angus and Angus-cross cattle in the Davis Mountains area of West Texas, where his ancestors settled in 1884. He resides at the Moon Ranch in Jeff Davis County; is managing partner of Means Ranch Co. with operations in Culberson and Jeff Davis counties; and owner of the H-Y Ranch Co. in Grant Co., N.M. He is also a partner in Alamo Cattle Co.
       Means serves on the board of directors of the Fort Davis State Bank, National Finance Credit Corp. of Texas, the Texas Livestock Marketing Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He is a member of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and the Private Lands Advisory Board of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.
       He served for six years on the board of the Texas Beef Council and for 25 years on the board of directors of the Highpoint Soil and Water Conservation District.
       Dave Scott, operates G.D. Scott Cattle Co. and has partnerships in Fort Bend, Harris, Waller, Robertson and Cottle counties. He is also vice president of Port City Stockyards Co. at Sealy, Texas. In 1960 he became a partner with his father in Scott Livestock Commission Co. Established in 1931, it was the first commission company on the Port City Stockyards at Houston.
       Scott is a life member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and chaired its Range Bull and Heifer Committee for six years. He is also a life member of the Fort Bend County Fair Association and a member of Texas Cattle Feeders Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Brazoria County Cattlemen’s Association.
       New to the slate of officers is Joe Parker Jr., who is a partner in Parker Ranches Ltd. with his brother Jim. They are involved in ranching, wheat farming and operating a pecan orchard.
       Parker is also chairman of the board and president of the First National Bank of Byers; vice president and manager of Parker & Mayo Inc., an investment company; and partner and manager of Parker Minerals Ltd., an oil and gas investment company.
       He is a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a director of the North Texas Rehabilitation Center in Wichita Falls and a state director of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas.
       Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 130-year-old trade organization whose 14,500 members manage approximately 5.4 million cattle on 70.3 million acres of range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma. It was organized in 1877, primarily to fight cattle theft.
       TSCRA has gained worldwide respect through the vigilance of its “special rangers,” who became peace officers in 1893. TSCRA currently has 27 special rangers stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma who have in-depth knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as Special Rangers by the Texas Department of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
       In 2006, the association’s special rangers investigated 1,045 cases in Texas and Oklahoma, and recovered livestock and ranch property, which had a total market value of $4,878,722.39. The association also employs 72 market inspectors who identified 5,075,952 head of cattle sold through the 116 auction markets in Texas during 2006.
       The inspectors report their findings to the group’s Fort Worth headquarters, where the information is processed for computer retrieval. TSCRA distributes information on missing and stolen livestock to more than 700 law enforcement agencies nationwide.
       TSCRA is also recognized as a spokesman for the Texas cattle industry nationwide on legislation, animal care, regulatory matters and other things that might affect the best interests of cattle producers.

 TSCRA-10-2007