THE HIGHLAND HOOFBEAT NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH CENTRAL HIGHLAND CATTLE ASSOCIATION   July 2009…VOLUME 22, NUMBER 2
Presidents Page: Hello everybody, summer is finally here calving should be mostly over (we have a few stragglers) and haying in full swing.  If you have been getting enough or even too much rain please send it here as we are in extreme drought and could use a bunch. The Scottish Games in Farmington went off well.  It was a bit cold that day, but attendance was good and as usual there was considerable interest in our Highlands.  Wisconsin Farm Technology is due to start July 21st and runs for three days.  We will be in the beef tent and hopefully will not get rained out this year.  If past years are any indication we should get a lot of quality inquiries to add to our numbers in both memberships and sales.  It is a very interesting event and I would recommend it to anyone involved in agriculture. Our family recently returned from Bozeman, MT the sight of this years AHCA National Convention.  The NCHCA was well represented and I believe everyone who attended would tell you it was a worthwhile event.  Besides for the usual receptions and farm tours, which are always fun, we had some interesting and knowledgeable speakers that spoke on issues of herd health.  Dr. Jim Welch, a fellow Highland breeder from Vermont, spoke about the importance of having good handling system for both your safety and the cow’s.  Dr. Bill Clymer spoke about parasite control in and on cattle.  The main thing I retained from his talk is that according to his data the pour on that is the most effective and longest lasting is Cydectin from Fort Dodge Animal Health.   Dr. Marc Mattix spoke about animal disease and how they may relate to our herds. I hope everyone has a healthy, productive and enjoyable summer and I look forward to seeing everyone at the show in September. Roger Weideman
20th ANNUAL RANCH EXPO BASSET, NEBRASKA submitted by Sue Dyke On June 9th, I loaded up 2 heifers, a crossbred steer and headed for the sandhill town of Basset, NE (population 900), to attend the 20th Annual Ranch Expo.  This is a two-day event for the ranchers and others to see what’s the latest in everything ranching and anything else that you can think of.  For me personally, I was thrilled to be there because I have traveled by the fairgrounds for many years when I drove truck and never had the time to stop.  So I was not only going to check it out, but also participating!  This is also the first year that Highlands had been there. When I arrived, they had so much rain that the sand was even saturated, so it was interesting getting to the tent.  I unloaded and set up the display, with the officials making me feel very welcome.  They asked: what took so long for this breed to participate?  On the 10th, the gates opened with over 400 exhibits and a concert on Wednesday night.  The other breeds in the tent also made me feel very welcome and weren’t bashful asking questions.  They were especially interested in the cross bred steer.  I was surprised how many people either had relatives that had Highlands, had some themselves or thinking about getting into them.  I talked to one rancher that was operating a 9,000-acre ranch that his great grandfather had bought, and had recently bought 200 head of registered Highlands and also has a herd of buffalo.  There was a constant flow of people going through the tent from all over the state for the two days.  I was so glad I had a friend there to help me talk to people. By late Thursday afternoon, the sun had finally come out and 10,000 people had come through the gates; it was time to pack up.  It was well worth the wait to attend this event but to be able to participate with the Highlands; it doesn’t get any better than that.   MINNESOTA SCOTTISH HIGHLAND GAMES AND FAIR submitted by Mary Larson This year once again a group from the North Central Highland Cattle Association put on a display and  brought some animals to the Minnesota Scottish Highland Games and Fair held on May 9th in Farmington, MN.  It was a rather cold day, but it didn’t keep the crowd size down at all.  There was a lot of interest in the animals once again, with all kinds of questions asked and answered.  We had several animals there from the size of the bull to the 7-day old calf.  Visitors were just amazed at our beast.  People just loved to pet the little one and were in “awe” over the larger ones.  It was a great way to promote the breed and make contact with future meat buyers in the area.  There was some beef for sale there and most of it was sold that day. Thank you to Tom Stodola, Larry and Cindy Sasson, Mary and Ed Larson and Billy Johnston for bringing their cattle and another thank you to Roger and Cindy Weideman for setting up the display and helping out for the day. 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: Powderhorn Chute.  Very Good Condition.  $1100.00  262-594-2542	NOTES FROM THE SECRETARY July 2009 submitted by Pat Zea Reminder:  2009 dues are now due: $30.00 If your name is circled in red, you have not paid your dues for this year, and this will be the last Hoofbeat you will receive.  Make the check out to NCHCA, and send it to me: Pat Zea, 6850 Pimushe Trail NE, Blackduck, MN  56630.  We now have a total of 100 members!!  That is awesome!  Let’s keep up the good work of getting new members. Have a good summer. Welcome these new members:   Pat & Dianne Horlamus E4150 Tuckertown Road Loganville, WI  53943  Royce & Lynn Curtis TIS  Highlands N315 German Coulee Road Westby, WI  54667 608-452-3809  Sylvia Burgos Toftness 832 138th Street Amery, WI  54001 651-238-8525 David and Phyllis Eckwright Phrogg’s Ridge 7843 County Hwy. K Chippewa Falls, WI  54729 715-723-8180 LaVerne & Shirley Johnson Johnson Family Farm 6380 E. Highway 30 Blooming Praire, MN  55917 507-583-2078 Steven Palosaari Snowland Livestock 41482 Pike River Road Chassell, MI  49916 906-523-4210 Robert & Tracy Madvig Snow Creek Acres N7438 E. Snow Creek Road Black River Falls, WI  54615 715-284-5860 Ronnie & Brian Gillaspie Breezy View Farm 29173 Windy Ridge Lane Boscobel, WI  53805 608-485-0824 Charles Tremblay Sweet Acres Farm P.O. Box 228 Hayward, WI  54843 715-634-1533 Tony & Laura Delva 51500 147th Avenue Pine Island, MN  55963 507-356-4241 Steve Mason 17809 Icarus Road Sparta, WI  54656 608-633-0500 Scott Connor Connor Charolais 51802 Game Avenue Rush City, MN  55069 612-250-2237
NCHCA SHOW submitted by Ken & Joan Rose North Central Highland Cattle Association Regional Show will be held this year on September 26, 2009 at LaCrosse Interstate Fairgrounds in West Salem, WI.  The show venue will offer space for vendors and non- show exhibitors by making room for all Highland cattle breeders and enthusiasts to come and promote their wares in the spacious 100 x 200 foot cattle barn.  Exhibitors can show cattle, sell their meat, crafty items or what ever they would like, to promote their farm and their merchandise.  The fun starts off Friday night with a free roasted chicken, salads and dessert meal for all.  Hopefully this lets the people come, get set up and not have to worry about eating and still have a chance to socialize with the other Highland enthusiasts. Saturday Morning starts with the Juniors.  The Juniors may show any heifer and they do not need to have the animal in their name for this NCHCA show.  The showmanship classes follow the heifers and Juniors are permitted to show any animal in this class including bulls under 1 year of age, steers and of course heifers.  There will be 4 age divisions in showmanship starting with tiny tot 7 & under.  Junior fun time will follow the open show and all ages are welcome. The open show follows the Junior Show with all divisions plus added steer classes for Highlands and crossbreds.  After the conclusion of the show and the junior games the banquet will be catered on the grounds allowing exhibitors a chance to relax and enjoy the company of other Highland breeders.  The live and silent auction held at the banquet is always highly competitive, entertaining and fun.  Last year the Juniors made over $1000 and the NCHCA made over $1000 also.  A BIG THANK YOU to all who made such a successful auction, by donating or bidding on the items.  Again all are welcome! Last year the show committee had a place on the entry form where the exhibitor could check if they would contribute $10 towards Highland hamburger to be donated to the West Salem Community Care & Share pantry.  This was such a huge success that we will do that again this year.  We donated 150# of Highland hamburger to the pantry and there was a nice write up along with a picture of us donating 2 big boxes of meat in the West Salem paper.  Good advertising for our association and breed.  There will also be Highland burgers for sale the day of the show so spectators may taste our fine beef.  We hope to have someone their selling meat the day of the show.  There were a lot of requests last year as to where people could purchase this meat. Please come and join us on September 25th and 26th for our Highland events. HIGHLAND CALENDAR OF EVENTS IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2009 July 21st-23rd: Wisconsin Farm Technology Days,Dodge County, Waterloo, Wisconsin     August 27th-September 7th: Minnesota State Fair,St. Paul, Minnesota     September 26th: NCHCA Highland Show,West Salem Fairgrounds, LaCrosse, Wisconsin For further details view the pdf     October 3rd: Husker Highland Show, York, Nebraska	ATTENTION JUNIORS submitted by Heather Nelson Hi Everyone!  Hope you are enjoying your summer vacation.  I had the opportunity to see a few of our juniors at the Convention in Montana.  It is the first year that they had activities just for juniors.  The kids that were there can tell you how much fun they had.  Members from our region were Ryan Weideman and Calley Nelson.  There were 8 other kids there from across the Nation.  Next year the Convention is in Michigan, so hopefully we will be able to have several more of you attend since it will be so close. There are some great things that are happening with the Juniors on a National level.  One new program that will begin at the start of 2010 is the Travelling Female Program.  This invites you writing an essay to compete for the ownership rights to a bred heifer/cow for one year.  You will get to keep that female’s calf when she has it and then it is your responsibility to rebreed her and she will continue on to the winner of the next essay.  It is a great program and should prove to be very rewarding.  There will be an up and coming record keeping program, a nationwide Jr. Challenge, more activities at the National Show, and Regional Shows and a Junior Allegiance Award that will be awarded yearly at the Convention.  Keep your eye on the Bagpipe for more information as well as the Hoofbeat. It is very important to me that you are all involved at a Regional level as well as a National Level.  If there are any ideas that you have or your parents have for the Junior Program, please let me know.  I am here to help you voice your thoughts and even any concerns, so do not hesitate to email or call me.  My email is tamarlinnorth@aol.com and you may call me at 262-594-2542. The next Hoofbeat you receive will have the report from our Junior Camp.  I hope I will see a lot of you and for those of our Juniors that aren’t quite old enough, please attend our show in September and we will have activities for you there too!  Remember you don’t have to have an animal, we will be doing things without animals and if you want to show and won’t have a calf, let me know and we can make sure you have one to show. Have a great Summer and I hope to see you soon! IN MEMORY OF PAT THE HIGHLAND OX submitted by Larry Zea Tomorrow one of my best friends, Pat my highland ox, must be put down.  My yoke of oxen Pat and Mike participated in 50-60 parades a year for 10 years.  They were in the Minnesota State Fair parade for 8 years all 12 days.  They went to the following states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri; and the highlight of their career was the parade at the AHCA convention in Estes Park, Colorado, along with many bagpipe bands from around the world.  Pat was the nigh ox of the yoke.  He was saddle broke and hundreds of people sat on him to get their picture taken.  His tricks included bowing to the crowds.  Mike, the off ox, developed arthritis, and had to be put down at the age of 11.  Pat is now 18, the last time he was weighed he went 2,250 lbs., but this winter he started losing weight, and is having a difficult time walking, so the time has come to say goodbye to a true bovine friend.

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 REMINDER THE NEXT HOOFBEAT INFORMATION IS NEEDED BY September 25 2009

Report AHCA 58th Annual National Convention, Bozeman, MT June 18-20, 2009 Board Meetings Prior to the general membership arriving the AHCA Board committees each met for several hours on Wednesday, June 17th, followed by an all day full board meeting on Thursday, June 18th.  The meeting agenda included all of the standing committee reports: Governance, Finance, Breed Protection and Promotion, and Shows. Governance Much time was spent discussing the long range planning process and the implementation schedule for each of the major initiatives (a copy of the long range plan will be included in the fall Bagpipe).  Ted Hall gave a presentation titled “Leading for the Future”, which included a review of long-term goals, key challenges, assessment of progress, and a comprehensive review of board duties.  The presentation provided much food for thought. There were no significant ethics issues to discuss.  There was a short briefing on changes to the election/nomination procedures. Finance Our balance sheets were reviewed and the change to program-based reporting was explained. The 2009-2010 budget was approved. A review of our insurance coverage followed the financial report. Breed Protection and Promotion Sub-committees were the order of the day, and issues discussed were as follows. QHB: A committee will be established and called ‘The Highland Beef Marketing Association’.  The purpose of the committee will be to explore the goals and objectives established in the strategic plan.  A committee chair will convene a meeting of interested beef producers to move this program forward.  Meanwhile, Wally Congdon has volunteered to oversee the Quality Highland Beef Program and to monitor membership and compliance. Advertising: Cheryl Kammerzell will chair an advertising committee with an initial $5000 budget.  They will develop a long-term advertising plan.  Bagpipe: Billy Johnston will develop a committee to enhance membership advertising and initiate new advertising by companies with products useful to highland breeders. Website: Fred White will head a committee to look at the current website with a goal of redesign to make it more appealing to potential highland breeders and more useful for members. National Sale: Skip Hougland proposed ideas to increase the number of buyers at the sale.  These included live video streaming/online auction to compliment the live auction.  Only cattle, semen and embryos will be at the live auction.  All other items will be auctioned at the Saturday evening banquet.  Ten bulls will be auctioned interspersed during the sale. Advertising will be in national publications and flyers posted at Denver will be of better quality. Junior Program: Heather Nelson presented three items, and the board approved all. These were: Junior budget, an Allegiance award for Junior Effort and Involvement, and a traveling heifer program. I believe Heather will have more on this in a separate Hoofbeat article.  Pedigree Committee: Larry Zea sent a report to the board with no pedigree issues at present. New Business: Discussion from the floor  - concern about protection of the genetic pool Shows Emily Hougland reported on rule #10 - fitting. The final section of this ruling concerning “Findings and Sanctions” was introduced and explained to the board. There was unanimous consensus. Other Reports at the Board meeting were: 2010 Convention Eddie McKay reported that the planning process was moving along for the 2010 convention centered in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Further information on this will be featured in the Bagpipe. Highland Cattle Foundation Ted Hall reported on fundraising, junior scholarships, and research proposals. These details will also appear in the Bagpipe. Regional Reports Each regional director reported to the board on activities within their region over the past year.   *****   By Thursday evening, most convention attendees had arrived and Dr. Jim Welsh gave a presentation to the membership on Getting Ready for a Good Herd Health Program.  Afterwards, we all headed out to the Gallatin Country Fairgrounds for a night of food fellowship, and fun.  The 11th Annual Roll of Excellence awards were presented. Results will appear in the upcoming Bagpipe. The following day, Friday, June 19th, was spent at a series of lectures at Montana State University, except for the juniors, who had a fun filled day of trips to the Museum of the Rockies, Gallatin County Pioneer Museum, and swimming, with a break for lunch at the park. On Saturday morning, the kids had a halter-making workshop while our General Membership Meeting was being conducted. Notes from the meeting are as follows: Election of Officers and Directors:  Three new directors were elected by the membership to serve on the ACHA board. These were returning board member John Ligo from Pennsylvania, Ray Shatney from Vermont, and our very own NCHCA member Sue Dyke. Congratulations Sue!  The new Articles of Incorporation and By-laws were PASSED by the membership. Ted Hall presented an overview of AHCA’s newly adopted Long Ranch Plan (LRP).  The operations manager and the treasurer gave a report.  It may be of interest to know that we have approximately 1,400 AHCA members, including 140 lifetime members, and 200 junior members. During the year, we gained 106 new members, but unfortunately lost 220, for a net loss of 114 members. There then followed some international reports from Canada, Germany and Scotland.  It was announced that the long awaited International Gathering will take place in Scotland in 2010 from Sep. 29th through Oct. 11th.  Events will be centered around Glasgow, with opening night planned at Stirling Castle (of Braveheart, William Wallace fame!), and will conclude at the Oban show and sale. Then followed AHCA committee reports as already summarized above. The meeting concluded with regional reports.  Following the meeting, we all went to lunch at Bozeman Ponds Pavilion and then toured two ranches.  That evening we had our banquet at the KG Ranch where awards were announced.  The Highland Member of the Year is John McLaughlin from Michigan.  In very touching tributes two Hall of Fame inductees were announced, both posthumously.  They are Dr. David Demuth and Lee Wolfgang.  Eddie Mackay had us reminisce with anecdotes about Doc and told us of his unwavering commitment to the Highland breed, then Wally Congdon reminded us of how resolute Lee was in the often tedious task of amending our by-laws and of his often single handed breed promotion in Missouri.  Both inductees are sadly missed.  An auction followed to benefit the Highland Cattle Foundation. So concluded the 58th National convention.  On a personal note, I found it disappointing that only approximately 70 members from about 35 farms were present at the convention. However, I am pleased to report that the NCHCA was the best-represented region with (by my count) 23 members from 9 farms in attendance!   NCHCA farms represented were: Rollercoaster Farm, Darlington, WI; Almosta Farm, Magnet Nebraska; 4 T Acres, Burlington, WI; Dalriada Highland Farm, Inver Grove Heights, MN; Cobblestone Farm, East Troy, WI; Boulder Meadow Highlands, Little Falls, MN; Flatland Farm, Elkton, MN; Gray Owl Farm, Rush City, MN; and Schon Boden Farms, Osceola, WI.  I don’t think I’ve missed anyone. If anyone is looking for any more specific information please contact me at dalriada@comcast.net or 651-492-9128.

The Hoofbeat - January 2009
The Hoofbeat - April 2009