Presidents
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Hello all,
The fall show season is in full swing and our two closest shows are now over. We attended both the NCHCA West Salem show and the Husker show in York, NE and as usual had an enjoyable time at both. I would like to thank all the people who invested their time and energy to make those shows happen. From my standpoint everything seemed to go smoothly, again thank you to all involved.
I have several things I would like to mention regarding the upcoming meeting next February. We have several positions, which will need filling, and I would like to encourage people to step up to the plate. This is the year we will need to elect a new vice president as my term is ending and Dave Bergin will be taking over as president. Pat Zea has expressed a desire to retire as secretary so we will need someone from Minnesota to take over that position. There are, I believe, two openings on the NCHCA board and the NCHCA regional representative on the AHCA board. One of the actions taken this year was to have NCHCA join the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association as an associate group. We did this primarily for the liability insurance considerations but a by product is it gives NCHCA a seat on the WCA board, so we need someone willing to attend those meetings. The meetings usually take place in the Madison area. It is my understanding that the editor of this publication would appreciate a break so that would be available also. I realize that it isn’t always easy to get yourself to volunteer for something but the positions need to be filled and we need to get new people involved.
There will be an official notice in the Hoofbeat prior to the February meeting but there is a need to amend our bylaws to comply with the AHCA bylaws establishing a three-year term for the regional director. It was discussed last meeting and action will need to be taken in the upcoming meeting
I have probably forgotten something but this should be enough to chew on for a while. Please consider helping out by running for or filling one of our many available positions.
Roger Weideman |
Mower County Fair
submitted by Jamie Schulz
We just spent the last week at the Mower County fair, as I am sure many of you have spent time at your local fairs this summer. It was, of course, hot and humid but the three Highlands we took did well and it helped them get used to people and commotion-the Highland shows this fall should be a breeze after this!
We set up our display like we normally do for the shows and it seems we had a small crowd gathered there more often than not. We had quite a few of the other cattle exhibitors in the barn comment on the attention we got-“No one stops to look at our cows like that!” Even the staunchest breeders, who would only look at us out the corner of their eye at the beginning of the week, were asking a few questions by the end of the week. Most of our time was spent on education, although there were a number of people that asked about how to find animals for sale or where they could purchase beef to eat. We had some copies of the membership list there just for that and told people to start there, and email us if they had questions or wanted further assistance. Mark’s brainstorm for the fair was to have bright yellow stickers printed up that said, “I saw the Scottish Highlands”. By the 2nd day we had people coming to the barn to see what a Scottish Highland was. The stickers cost $90 for 1,000 stickers; I would say that was a pretty good investment for the publicity we got. We went through about 700 of those stickers in 5 days, just handing them out to the kids.
We also walked our “ox in training”, Patriot, in the parade with his bell collar and his headdress on (he still needs to grow quite a bit for that to fit like it should!). We had people coming out of food stands to take photos of him-he was quite the crowd pleaser. We weren’t allowed to stop and had to follow a route along the midway to get back to the barn. He is no longer bothered by the Kamikaze, the Zipper, or the loud ride that whips people backwards! We had people follow us to tell us that their great-grandfather had walked a team of Oxen across WI, others wanting to know the breed, others wanting to know where to see more. It was good PR and great practice for Patriot.
He is just the cutest little guy so he was a great ambassador for the breed.
We just wanted to let people know what kinds of things we tried and how they worked. I think if you have your animals there and are available to answer questions, it is some of the best breed promotion you can do. It also helps to have small kids lying with the calves or out washing them – which we had. People were very concerned about the horns, but when they saw how the kids could handle the smaller ones I think it showed just how calm the breed can be. Especially poor little Patriot who had the little girls in the barn flocking to him to style his forelock. The perfect breed promotion.
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NOTES FROM THE SECRETARY
October 2009
submitted by Pat Zea
As far as I know, there were no Highlands at the Minnesota State Fair this year. They were scheduled to be there the 2nd 4 days, but the cattle had to come from farms that had had an entire herd TB tested and declared to be TB free. Hopefully, we can find some farms that can be tested and then Highlands will be able to be at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010.
Larry and I attended two local Highland shows in the last couple of weeks: he announced and I clerked. Both were excellent shows. In the NCHCA Show, congratulations to the following:
Grand Champion Heifer:
Summit Ranch’s Thorbardin’s Unity
Reserve Grand Champion Heifer:
GH Ms. Inquisitive (Husker Show Cattle)
Grand Champion Cow/Calf:
Cobblestone’s U Rock Mirabelle
with Cobblestone Marilee
Reserve Grand Champion Cow/Calf:
Corcoran Creek’s Yarnelle Farms Sydney
with CC Aussie
Grand Champion Bull:
Almosta Farm’s Skye High Koal
Reserve Grand Champion Bull:
Ryan Weideman’s Schon Boden’s Tyson
In the Dr. David Demuth Memorial Cornhusker State Highland Classic, congratulations go to the following:
Grand Champion Heifer:
HSC Scarlet (Husker Show Cattle)
Reserve Grand Champion Heifer:
GH Ms. Inquisitive (Husker Show Cattle)
Grand Champion Cow/Calf:
Cobblestone’s U Rock Mirabelle
with Cobblestone Marilee
Reserve Grand Champion Cow/Calf:
Rocking T’s Silva’s Pebbles
with Rocking T Willow
Grand Champion Bull:
Rocking T’s RTH Van Norman
Reserve Grand Champion Bull:
Almosta Farm’s Skye High Koal
There were six farms from NCHCA attending this show: Almosta Farm (Steve & Sue Dyke); Cobblestone Farm (Heather Nelson, Mgr.); Flatland Farm (Mark & Jamie Schulz); Gray Owl Farms (Don & Sandy Vaughn); Sandhill Pines (Jon & Jennifer Sawle; and Schon Boden Farms (Roger and Cindy Weideman). Eddie Mackay (Dundonald Farm) even traveled from Three Rivers Michigan to be at this show.
Have a good fall and winter.
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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.
SWAP:
My 16 month old cow for your young highlander cow—she is a daughter of “Hamish of Dalriada”
320-245-2723
FOR SALE:
Reg. Highland heifer calves. Weaned Sept. 14th. Calves sired by We Tired Acres Joc and Ledyards Talisker. Bred Cows due spring 2010 and one open yearling heifer. 262-594-2542 or email: tamarlinnorth@aol.com
NCHCA ANNUAL MEETING
submitted by Cindy Sassen
The annual meeting will be held February 13th and February 14th, 2010 at the Country Inn in Woodbury. This is the same place as last year. The room rate will be the same as last year, $69.00 plus tax. Reservations need to be placed by January 10, 2010. The hotel number is 651-739-7300. More details about the meeting will be in the next Hoofbeat.
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. For website changes contact Chris Bergin at 218.330.9658 or info@roundrockfarm.com
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ATTENTION JUNIORS
submitted by Heather Nelson
Hey Juniors!
The NCHCA Show was a great time. If you weren’t able to make the show, we had a lot of activities that we did aside from the actual show. An obstacle course with cattle, a lasso challenge that was really entertaining as well as one of the coolest things to participate in was the adult showmanship that all the Juniors judged. We had a great turn out for adult participants. The kids that judged also gave their comments over the microphone, which was really interesting to listen to. It was proof that kids definitely pay a lot more attention than adults think!
Coming up in the near future is the National Western Stock Show. There will be activities for Juniors to do aside from the show ring. The Juniors will also be auctioning off a charcoal drawing that Jake Larson (a former Junior) drew. It is a very nice piece, so watch for flyers on it in the near future.
The NCHCA will also be having the annual meeting in February, so all Juniors that can attend should. We will be deciding on our summer activities and will also be discussing the Convention in Michigan that will also be having Junior activities.
With all the up and coming activities don’t forget to work on the Junior Challenge that is coming due in December.
It’s snowing in Wisconsin today, winter is here. Be good and hope to see you at one of the up and coming meeting places!
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