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A32-lanc«ster Farming, Saturday, June 18, 1994
The Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s
Association annual membership
meeting was held April 9 at the
Farm Show Complex in conjunc
tion with the 1994 Beef Expo. A
directors’ meeting was also held.
At both meetings there were
important developments that will
allow the Pennsylvania Cattle
men’s Association to more adequ
ately serve the interests of all seg
ments of the beef cattle industry in
Pennsylvania and the Northeast.
In revision of the PCA bylaws,
out-of-state individuals and com
panies directly involved in beef
catde feeding, breeding or market
ing can be full active, voting
members. In the past several years
the number of out-of-state mem
bers has increased, but they were
not allowed full membership
rights. There was another very
important decision; the directors
voted to form councils, specifical
ly: purebred or seedstock; com
mercial cow-calf or stocker; cattle
feeding and finishing, and dairy
beef. This will allow more direct
input into PCA programs and poli
cies by individuals within each of
these different segments and PCA
will be even more responsive in
serving the needs of all of the
industry. Particular emphasis will
be placed on devising programs
that will directly benefit cattle
feeders in Pennsylvania and conti
guous states. The National Cattle
men’s Association, with which
PCA is affiliated, has for some
time been based on similar coun
cils. PCA has always had rep
resentation on each of the NCA
councils and other standing com
mittees. Through the development
of active councils at the state
level, Pennsylvania cattlemen
should have more direct input into
National policy and programs
through NCA.
Officers Elected: At the direc
tor’s meeting the following offic
ers were elected: President:
Robert K. Hay, Somerset County;
Vice-President: Larry Moore,
Huntingdon County; Treasurer:
Oliver Weiss, Allegheny County;
and Secretary: Lowell Wilson,
Centre County. Managing Secret
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®SOCIATIO
News
ary is Joan M. Potter, Port Matil
da. The directors extended their
appreciation to past-president Ray
A. Grimes, Adams County, for all
the contributions and excellent
leadership given to the Pennsylva
nia Cattlemen’s Association over
the past several years; but they
also reminded him that past presi
dents never retire—they just keep
on working.
Expo Summary: The fifth
annual Pennsylvania Beef Expo
has been through the first year at
the Farm Show Complex in Har
risburg. The educational program
was designed mostly for cattle
feeders, but contained information
of value to all persons interested in
beef production. About 140 peo
ple attended the Friday evening
annual Cattlemen’s award ban
quet, at which Jerry Palen, ranch
cartoonist and humorist, shared
with the group some of his real
life experiences on his Wyoming
ranch. Palen was at the Expo for
all three days drawing carica
tures of anyone stopping by to vis
it. These cartons can be kept as a
reminder of the “Good Life” and
high points of farm living. The
Adams County Beef Producers
Association donated the prime rib
for the banquet
The high point of the 1994
Expo was the excellence of the
junior activities over 200
juniors competed in one or more
of the three major events the
skill-a-thon, obstacle course, or
the junior heifer and steer shows.
The junior show, started three
years ago, has quickly become the
major junior agricultural event in
the northeast
The Cattlemen’s Association
and the Beef Expo committee, as
well as all of the involved affil
iated organizations, want to thank
each individual and company who
contributed either money or time
to making the 1994 Expo a sue-
ccis. The Pennsylvania Beef
Council, particularly, was helpful
in assisting with the sldll-a-thon,
which included meats identifica
tion, marketing and quality assur
ance events, and revealed some of
the long-range beef industry plan
ning committee results from a
comprehensive study that it is
leading.
Cattlemen’s Queen Selected:
Nichole Willwert, Red Lion, Pen
nsylvania, was selected as the
1994-95 Cattlemen’s Queen. She
received the crown at the Annual
Cattlemen's Award Banquet dur
ing the 1994 Expo. Nichole is pur
suing a degree in Animal Produc
tion in the Dairy and Animal Sci
ence Department at Penn State
and has been active in youth club
activities. Nichole (Nikki) will be
available for industry and beef
promotional activities throughout
the year. Arrangements can be
made for her assistance at events
by calling Sue Clair, Chairman of
the Queen Committee at
814/238-1233 or fax:
814/238-1238.
Awards for 1994: The Industry
Service Award for 1994 presented
at the Annual Cattlemen’s Ban
quet, was the Pennsylvania Beef
Council represented by Elrose
Click, Chairman, Dave Ivan,
Executive Director, and Tammy
Balthaser, Industry Relations. The,
Seedstock Producer award was
presented to Frank Darcey, Spring
Bottom Polled Herefords, Fair
field, PA.
More On NCA: Just a bit of
history on NCA, which is an out
growth of the American National
Cattlemen’s Association founded
in 1898. In 1977, ANCA was con
solidated with the National Lives
tock Feeder’s Association (found
ed in 1946). NCA has over 42,000
active, direct members, who rep
resent 230,000 cattlemen through
out the nation through 46 affil
iated state cattle organizations and
28 affiliated other organizations.
NCA has offices in both Denver,
Colorado, and Washington, DC.
Unification of National Indus
try Organizations: A lot of study
has gone into the feasibility of
unifying the four main national
beef organizations; National Cat
tlemen’s Association, Beef Indus
try Council, Meat Export Federa
tion and the National Beef Board,
into one organization. All four
organizations have approved the
concept and recognize the
increases in efficiency and effec
tiveness that could result from one
“lean” dedicated organization.
The Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s
Association in January also
approved the concept of the unifi
cation. The planning committee
for this unification has identified
several different reasons that the
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beef industry has not kept pace
with other industries and retained
a profitable share of the consum
er's food dollar. The bottom line
should also be an improvement of
predictable profits for each seg
ment of the beef industry. Most
importantly, the people having the
most input into the streamlining of
these four important organizations
are producers purebred and
commercial cow-calf producers,
cattle feeders and the marketing
segments.
Legislative Issues: There are
many pending federal legislative
initiatives use of pharmaceuti
cal products in animal production
dairy self-help programs
property rights food labeling
—foreign trade taxes credit
availability downer animals
estate taxes and many others
that affect our everyday life as cat
tlemen. PCA and NCA are dedi
cated to bringing about legislation
to allow the cattle industry to be
profitable and to grow and not
to be suffocated by legislative
efforts that do not really consider
either the beef industry or the
nation’s well-being. There is not
very much that any one person can
do, but when joined into an orga
nization like PCA and having
input through NCA it is possi
ble to bring about change.
Field Days Being Planned:
PCA will co-sponsor two field
days again this summer. One field
day is tentatively scheduled for
Saturday, July 9 at Laurel Valley
Simmentals, Ligonier, PA. It will
be co-sponsored by the West
moreland County Cattlemen’s
Association and the Pennsylvania
Simmental Association. Topics
will be short-duration grazing,
watering and fencing systems,
balanced selection programs and
quality assurance programs
emphasizing the commercial cow
calf producers and juniors. The
second field day wifi be in south
eastern Pennsylvania and' will
emphasize subjects important to
cattle feeders.
Rifkin Receives Top Honors:
The National Anxiety Center,
Maplewood, N.J., recently
awarded Jeremy Rifkin of the
Beyond Beef Coalition top honors
at the center's fourth annual
“Chicken Little Awards”. Rifkin,
the anti-beef activist, was recog
nized for “striving to create a
national and worldwide beef pho
bia” through unsubstantiated
claims.
The center also notes that cattle
production generates almost $250
billion in U.S. business activity
and is responsible for an estimated
3 billion jobs nationwide. Accord
ing to Alan Caruba, founder of the
center, the Chicken Little Awards
were developed in 1990 “to shine
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a lighten die endless, identical
ly .dubious, scare-mongering that
too frequently creates widespread
public anxiety, while diverting
attention from some genuinely
serious problems”.
Myth Busters hard at work:
Special myth buster programs,
sponsored by NCA and some state
beef councils have now trained
840 individuals in 29 states. These
are all volunteers who want to
become active in promoting the
beef industry. A myth busters
program was sponsored in Pen
nsylvania last fall cooperatively
by the Pennsylvania Catdemen’s
Association and the Pennsylvania
Beef Council. PCA and PBC may
sponsor another myth busters
program later this year please
contact either of the two organiza
tions if you are interested in
attending one of these very worth
while, industry-building sessions.
Agriculture Deemed Environ
mental Conscious: A recent
“Better Homes and Gardens”
survey asked which groups were
responding better to environmen
tal concerns. The 10,000 readers’
surveys thought agriculture was
the most environmental conscious
followed by citizens, corpora
tions, business, and the govern
ment, which was listed as “far
behind”.
One environmental event held
recently was Earth Day. which is
designed to bring attention not
only to efforts to protect the envi
ronment, but some-of the activities
of society that harm the environ
ment. To help cattle producers
prepare for Earth Day, NCA dis
tributed packets to media and
thought leaders that show beef in
an environmentally friendly way,
and promote the idea that cattle
men are responsible stewards of
natural resources.
Injection-Site Blemishes
Increasing: After an excellent
record of decreasing the frequency
of injection site blemishes from
22.3 percent in 1990 to 9.8 percent
in March, 1993, blemishes are on
the increase. In July and Novem
ber, 1993 and March, 1994 infec
tion site blemishes increased from
10.9 to 13.9 to 15.4 percent,
respectively. These percentages
are based on top sirloin injection
site defects. Reducing the
injection-site defects is every
body’s responsibility. The prim
ary leader for the beef quality
assurance programs in Pennsylva
nia is the Pennsylvania Beef
Council. These activities are high
ly important for the continued
acceptance of beef by the
consumer.
Beef Still Dominates: A survey
of casual restaurants and dinner
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