THE HIGHLAND HOOFBEAT NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH CENTRAL HIGHLAND CATTLE ASSOCIATION   APRIL 2009…VOLUME 22, NUMBER 1
Presidents Page: Spring, the season of mud, has finally arrived.  I look forward to getting out in the fields for spring work but waiting for the mud to subside can be trying.  Spring is also calving season for most folks and I wish everyone good fortune in that endeavor for it can also be trying at times. The 2009 annual meeting is now history and from my standpoint I think it was a success.  All of our usual activities are scheduled to take place again this year starting with the Scottish Festival in early May.  I would like to encourage everyone to take part in as many activities as they can; participation is what makes an association successful.  A subject I mentioned at the annual meeting and would like to hit on again in this newsletter is supporting other organizations that promote cattle other than just NCHCA.  A week before our NCHCA meeting Cindy and I had the opportunity to attend the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association meeting in Tomah, Wisconsin.  The initial reason was to attend the committee meeting planning the WCA Beef Tent at the Wisconsin Farm Technology event, but I was to learn much more.  The convention was a two-day meeting with numerous informative seminars both days.  During the main business meeting we had reports from the legislative lobbying groups for both the Wisconsin legislature and via the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association the national legislature in Washington.    If you want to prevent the Senators and Representatives (made up of mostly city slickers) from passing laws harmful to agriculture it is important to support these broader based groups.  For this reason and others I would like to encourage everyone to join both your state cattlemen’s group and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, our unobstructed future may depend on it. Roger Weideman
NOTES FROM THE SECRETARY April 2009 submitted by Pat Zea If you did not attend our annual meeting, you missed a very informative and interesting Saturday afternoon and a delicious meal and enjoyable time that evening.  Notes of the Sunday meeting are elsewhere in the Hoofbeat.  Reminder: 2009 dues are now due.  Make check out to NCHCA and send it to me: Pat Zea, 6850 Pimushe Trail NE, Blackduck, MN  56630.  We now have a total of 88 members!   Welcome these new members:   Mark & Jennifer Jensen Sutton Ridge Farm 1500 W. 200th Street Jordon, MN  55352 952-431-7691 John & Anne Proctor Windemere Farm 3960 County Road HO Junction City, WI  54443 751-457-6748 Bob & Deb Ferguson Shadow Valley Ranch S11299 Paulus Road Spring Green, WI  53588 608-588-2148 Verdel & Carla Johnson Butterfly Acres 56648 830½ Road Stanton, NE  68779 402-439-2985 Daniel & Mary Webster Lynx River 21904 County Hwy. Z Cornell, WI  54732 715-239-6665 HIGHLAND CALENDAR OF EVENTS IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2009 May 9th: Minnesota Scottish Fair & Highland Games,                Farmington, Minnesota June 18th –20th: AHCA National Convention,                Bozeman, Montana July 21st-23rd: Wisconsin Farm Technology Days,                Dodge County, Waterloo, Wisconsin August 27th-September 7th: Minnesota State Fair,                St. Paul, Minnesota September 12th: Husker Highland Show,                 York, Nebraska September 26th: NCHCA Highland Show,              West Salem Fairgrounds, LaCrosse, Wisconsin	MINNESOTA SCOTTISH FAIR & HIGHLAND GAMES The Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games are being held once again this year at the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington, MN (4008 220th Street W.) on Saturday May 9th 2009.  Gates open at 8:00 AM-closing at 5:30 PM.  For the last several years we have been displaying our cattle there to show people what a classy animal our Highlands are.  There is a ton of interest in the animals and it is a great way to promote the breed.  It has been found out too, that our animals are insured under the Scottish Fair coverage. If you are interested in joining in on the fun for the day, with or without animals, please call Billy Johnston at 651-492-9128 or Mary Larson at 763-498-7265 and they will get free tickets lined up for you.  If you don’t call them and show up, general admission is $15 for an adult, so be sure to call one of them.  Even if you don’t bring an animal, you can give those that do a break during the day and watch their beast’s while the others check out the fair. This is only open for Minnesota animals.  Due to the TB watch in Minnesota, Billy has checked with the State of MN Animal Health and checked the rulings for displaying animals.  As long as only Minnesota animals are there and only ones from the MAA (Modified Accredited Advanced) Zone-no TB tests are required for this event.  No animals from the MA (Modified Accredited) Zone will be allowed to come.  If you are unsure of what your zone is, call Billy Johnston and he can help answer that.  The majority of our Minnesota members are in the MAA Zone. A great web site to check out on the fair is:  www.mnscottishfair.org So call Billy or Mary if you want to join in by April 20th, and they will get the tickets sent out to you before the show.
WANTED: Your best or most favorite recipes for a fundraising cookbook for the NCHCA Juniors!  PLEASE send all recipes to Heather Nelson at tamarlinnorth@aol.com Your support with this project is our future! THANK YOU!!	Junior Fundraiser Order seeds through Botanical Interest and support the NCHCA Juniors.  They have a wide selection of organic and heirloom seeds.  You will think of the Juniors every time you watch your seeds grow and the growth that you allow the Juniors in purchasing through Botanical Interest. To order seeds go to: www.botanicalinterests.com/nonprofits.php you will be taken to a page where you can choose the organization (NCHCA) to have your orders credited to.   This is an all year fundraiser.  Spring!  Fall!  Christmas for gifts!  All customers receive regular gardening newsletters and all follow up sales are credited to the NCHCA also. Tell all of your family and friends that might have an interest in seeds for their garden. Their product is unique.  The packets aren’t just paper envelopes with seeds in them; they have HUGE amounts of information, enough to make even the novice or beginning gardener successful.  The seed quality is surpassed by none and is unconditionally guaranteed. Help support the NCHCA Juniors!!!!

18th Annual Nebraska Cattleman’s Classic submitted by Sue Dyke On February 19th, I loaded my black bull and headed for Kearney, NE to attend the 18th Annual Nebraska Cattleman’s Classic. It’s a weeklong event that includes working ranch horse, working ranch dog and commercial cattle shows in the Midwest. After each show the competitors are sold in a sale, with buyers from Texas, Missouri, and surrounding areas. They also have a large trade show that draws everything that is needed to run a farm. At this venue they have a live cattle display, and that’s where Koal and I come in. It was the first year that the Highlands have been there and they made us feel very welcome. I also had a place to set up a display with brochures, business cards and a TV with a tape about the Highlands. The first day that I was there, I saw mixed reactions but as the days went by, the same people started to stop and want to know more about the breed. On Friday night, an association sponsored a free meal for the pen of 5 sale and it was right by Koal’s pen. They fed 300 people in 30 minutes and they hung out by him. I also found out that Koal liked potato chips (the guys were sharing with him). The most exciting thing about this is that there are ranchers out there that I visited with that said that the Highlands are on the edge of something huge, as far as crossbreeding. They said this breed has so much to offer. By Saturday evening as I was packing up, I have to say that I was on Cloud 9, I was asked if we would come back and I said “you bet”. My next stop is the 20th Annual Nebraska Ranch Expo in Basset, NE on June 10th-11th, 2009. This is a huge trade show where 13,000-15,000 ranchers come and shop for their needs and find out what’s new. This is out in the middle of the sand hills of Nebraska, where the ranches make their living with large cow/calf operations. This is also the first time that the Highlands have attended. This should also be exciting!	Classified/Want Ads Ads from members may be submitted for a dime a word or $5.00 for a business card per issue.  Remember it does not have to be just cattle.  It can be head gates, corral panels or any other equipment you wish to sell or purchase.
	For Sale by Marsh Creek Highlands:.  Marsh Creek Beauty Born April 2, 2008 Reg. No. 47,107 A truly beautiful red heifer Two handsome future herd sires: Marsh Creek Majestic Born May 5, 2008 Reg. No. 47,343 Color: Red Marsh Creek Ferdinand Born April 12, 2008 Reg. No. 47,342 Color: Brindle One Steer ready to finish Born Spring 2007 Donna@marshcreekhighlands.com 651-483-1741
	For Sale By Schon Boden Farms: 3 Breeding age Highland bulls, red, dun and black and 12 yearling heifers. 715-294-2249 rweidema@centurytel.net
	For Sale By Cobblestone Farm: Cobblestone Farm has 3 heifers left out of the 2008 calf crop. Halter broke, recent shots and worming. We also have semen for sale. Good selection of bulls. Shipping available. Please call or email for pedigrees and pictures. tamarlinnorth@aol.com or 262-594-2542
	REMINDER THE NEXT HOOFBEAT INFORMATION IS NEEDED BY June 22 2009
Attention Juniors submitted by Heather Nelson It sure is nice to have some warm weather again! The snow was fun, but it is great to be warm. The meeting was a good time in Hudson in February. We visited the UW-Minnesota Beef department and toured the butcher shop. It was really interesting to see how the school tests the college students on the carcasses, and we learned some pretty cool stuff about hanging carcasses also. We then went to the barns and checked out the live animals and then headed back to the hotel to the pool and pizza. During the banquet all the Juniors that attended the meeting did a raffle and also helped with the White Elephant auction. This raised a lot of money for the Juniors. We are really lucky to have such a supportive group of adults!! Check out all the extra information listed on this page. I will be mailing out the get-together information soon. Dates are listed on this page. Also there will be activities for Juniors in Montana this year at the Convention. If your family is planning on going we will see you there. It sounds like a good time. Keep working on those Challenge projects! We had a good turn out last year, and keep after it. I am still looking for more recipes for the cookbook. Send them my way if you get more. Enjoy the warm weather and keep counting down those days till school’s out! Junior Get Together: July 23-26 information will be mailed to all Juniors in the near future. Graduating Seniors: In a couple weeks you should receive a scholarship informative letter and application from the Highland Foundation. If you don’t receive this and are interested in applying for the scholarship be sure to contact AHCA and they will get one to you. Good Luck! Application for North Central Highland Junior Association                      Membership Name:  ______________________________________________________                    Address:   _______________________________________________________________                    Date of Birth:  ____________________________________________________________                    Home Number:   __________________________________________________________                    E-mail Address:  __________________________________________________________                    Parent’s Name:  ___________________________________________________________                    Junior memberships are for persons under 21 years of age.  Membership expires when you                    turn 21 years old.  Please take the time to list all the cattle that you own personally along                    with the registration numbers below or on a separate piece of paper.  It is perfectly fine if                    you do not have cattle in your name, you are still 100% eligible to be a NCHCA Junior                    Member.                                 Mail application to:  Heather Nelson, N9281 Nature Road, East Troy, WI  53120
Low Stress Cattle Handling submitted by Heather Nelson Not understanding how cattle perceive their world can make for a really long day for you and your cattle. Getting cattle to do what you want takes knowledge of cattle behavior. A good facility and proper handling techniques all add up to good cow sense. Cattle have a panoramic view in excess of 300 degrees and their only blind spot is directly behind them, however they have poor depth perception nearly limited vertical vision. Thus the reason that a shadow on the ground looks likes a mile deep crevasse! Cattle also hear both lower volume and higher frequency better than people. The downfall for cattle is that they can only pinpoint the source of a sound to about 30 degrees where people can within 5 degrees of the source. Figuring out your animal’s flight (or comfort) zone will help you move cattle more efficiently. All animals have a different degree of a comfort zone. Invading that comfort zone can end up causing that animal to panic and positioning too far outside that comfort zone will bring her to a halt and all progress too. The point of balance is typically at the shoulder of the animal. To get the animal to progress forward stand behind the shoulder, but remember her blind spot. To move the animal backward stand in front of the point of balance. Same theory will stand true if you walk directly towards her shoulder she should turn away from your approach. The days of yelling, whistling and slapping are long gone. Quiet handling of cattle helps improve carcass quality and overall stress. The role of the sound stockman is to create movement in cattle and then use position to control and manage that movement to the desired result. Here are a few more pointers to help improve your efficiency in working cattle: Cattle want to see you. Don’t make them turn to see you move from side to side and stay out of that blind spot. Cattle want to go around you- position yourself so when they go around you they think it was their idea to head directly to that gate. Cattle want to be with and will go with other cattle. Work more than one at a time for faster results, they are herd animals. Cattle can only think of one thing at a time- don’t let them think of anything other than what you are asking and don’t play predator. “The only way to work cattle quickly is slowly.” Being a sound stockman will not only make moving cattle easier and efficient, but will make it enjoyable rather than painful.
NCHCA OFFICERS Roger Weideman—President (715) 294-2249 Dave Bergin—Vice-President (218) 330-1531 Pat Zea—Secretary (218) 835-6426 Cindy Weideman—Treasurer (715) 294-2249 Vicki Brittain—Hoofbeat Editor (218) 835-4376 Board of Directors Don Nelson—(608) 493-2656 Sue Dyke—(402) 586-2631 Mark Schulz—(507) 582-1073 NCHCA AHCA Board Member Billy Johnston—(651) 457-4449	NCHCA WEBSITE Check out NCHCA website at www.NCHCA.org.  Put this website on your favorites list and check it out frequently.  Frequent hits on the website moves NCHCA up on the search engines list so check it out often.  The NCHCA website is a great place to advertise your cattle for sale, in the classified section, or to describe your farm and operation in the Breeders page section or even to get your farm listed on the breeders map.  We have a new website host!  For website changes contact Chris Bergin at 218.330.9658 or info@roundrockfarm.com

The Hoofbeat - January 2009