home → articles → Columnists | Email to a Friend

President’s Address

published: July 9th 2010
by: Rosalee Coleman
source: ICA Of Texas

We had a great convention in College Station. One of the best things about having our meeting there is the excellent spea-kers we are able to engage. We were lucky enough to fit into Commissioner of Agricul-ture Todd Staples’ schedule, and he spoke to our family night group on Wednesday. Thursday was full of informative speakers. A real highlight was Coach Gene Stallings, who spoke for about an hour about his life as a coach, a rancher, and a father to a late son who had Down syndrome. Coach Stallings has a real presence in a room, and I can see why he was such a successful coach. His message is to never quit, and just keeps getting better and better. We can all relate to that, and hopefully, we can live it, too.
    The trade show was exceptional, and we all spent a lot of time there. Our meals were served at one end of the room where the trade show was located, so it was very convenient to browse through the exhibits.
    On Friday we convened our general meeting and annual ICA House of Delegates meeting. We re-elected our present slate of officers for another year, and also our Executive Committee members at large. Nominations to the board of directors for 2010-2011 are James Alford, Verlin Callahan, Tommy Guerra, Brian Malaer, Charles Reneau, and Lynn Tate. We added Harold Clubb and Billy Bob Low to our directors emeritus list. Bill and I made our “State of the Union” speeches, and we adjourned another successful convention about 3:30 p.m.
    I am hearing that with the economy suffering, cattle and equipment thefts are increasing. We all need to keep a close watch on things, and keep gates, tool boxes and saddle-sheds locked. If you are the victim of a theft, report it immediately to your local sheriff, who will probably refer you to a Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) special ranger. There seems to be an urban legend that you must be a member of TSCRA to request help, but this is not true. These rangers are managed by TSCRA, but a portion of their salaries is paid by the $0.60 per head deducted from your check when you sell cattle at the auction barn. The rangers are commissioned peace officers by the State of Texas and are to help any and all producers who have been victims of crime.
    A letter dated January 24, 2006 from Mr. Larry Gray, director of Law Enforcement/Livestock Identification for TSCRA, states, ‘Our policy is to investigate all cattle theft cases, regardless of whether the cattle owner is a TSCRA member. If you have heard differently, please let us know who, when and where so that we can make sure it does not happen again.’ I don’t think this policy has changed, so if you hear differently, please let him know.
    Border security is still on everyone’s mind, and nothing much is being done by the federal government. The 1,200 National Guard troops sent to the border are unarmed and act as advisors only. We need three times that many troops ready to defend our borders. Now, the federal government has announ-ced that it will sue Arizona over its new law SB 1070, effective July 29, targeting illegal immigration. I am sure this is just a delay tactic to keep Arizona from putting the law in use, and now we will have to wait until it reaches the Supreme Court for action. They say everything happens for a reason, but it is hard to see reason in this. Maybe in time it will all work out.
    More good news on the diet front: last month, I mentioned that Self Magazine had published an article stating that dieters lost more weight when they included beef in their meals. Now similar information was included in the Healthy Eating Section of the June All You magazine. All You says to “Fight fat with protein,” and lists tuna, beef and turkey as healthy choices. To quote them, they wrote ‘a 2009 study found that people on a reduced-calorie, high-protein diet lost 22 percent more fat than those on a reduced-calorie, high-carbohydrate plan.’ We’ve always known that beef was good for us, but for awhile it seemed that beef-bashing was fashionable. It is good to see beef being promoted again! Until next time, Rosalee