the National On From American-International Junior Charolais Association Secretary Chelsea Woodcock
I
may not have descended from generations of cattle ranchers, but you could say I was born into the cattle world. I attended my first cattle show at San Francisco’s Cow Palace when I was only four days old, where my parents were exhibiting 15 head of Charolais. As I grew up, my parents wanted to ensure that raising cattle was something I was committed to, before I could have a heifer to show and raise. We had two Charolais cows at the time – “Lucky” and “Quaky.” I raised two market steers before my first heifer “Havannah” was born. The day “Havannah” was born was one of the most exciting days in my life. It was with her that I used to learn how to fit, clip and improve my showmanship skills. For the next two years, I took “Havannah” all across California to different jackpots, my county fairs and state fair. Today, my family runs a small herd of Charolais breeding cattle near Clovis which we drag to shows around the state and around the country. Along the way, my brother John and sister Josie began to show too. We all became heavily involved in the AmericanInternational Junior Charolais Association (AIJCA) and have now attended nine Charolais Junior National Shows. I consider myself lucky and grateful that each summer my parents load up the trailer with cattle to travel halfway across the country for a week at Charolais Jr. Nationals. In 2009, I was elected to serve as the Area 2 representative to the AIJCA Board of Directors. This position gave me many responsibilities that included communicating with the juniors in the western part of the United States, attending board meetings twice a year,
Stage
promoting our breed and helping run the Charolais Jr. Nationals. I am now serving my second year as Secretary. I have had the opportunity to attend and help run the National Charolais show at several stock shows including the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colo.; Fort Worth Stock Show in Fort Worth, Texas; and American Royal in Kansas City, Mo., as well as attend Youth Beef Industry Congress (YBIC) during the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in 2012. At YBIC, I met the leaders of the other breed associations, participated in leadership building activities and listened to guest speakers about being activists for agriculture. The message I took away from all my experiences was to get up and share my story. Last year, I was selected to represent the Charolais breed’s young members and attend a genomics conference in Nebraska. In attendance with around a dozen other college level students, we toured GeneSeek and the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center Neb. During our trip, we sat in on the yearly meetings with the ranchers invested in the research of the Weight Traits Project. It was an eye-opening experience to see the research invested in the future of the beef industry. When I started college in 2010, the first organization I joined was the Young Cattlemen’s Association at California State University, Fresno. This was one of the best decisions I have made because it not only introduced me to new people, who I now call friends, but also to people in the industry. I have enjoyed serving at barbecues and talking to ranchers and their families. Every year our group tries to take an end-of-theyear trip. Last year we stayed local but had the opportunity to tour different sectors in the agriculture industry. I will be graduating from Fresno State this December and plan on applying to veterinary school to study to be a large animal veterinarian. Parts of my future may be unclear but one thing I am certain of – there will be cattle in it.
Chelsea Woodcock, pictured at left with brother John Woodcock while showing at the 2013 American-International Junior Charolais Association Junior National Show and Leadership Conference in Texarkana, Ark., is a born-and-raised Californian who has served on the AIJCA Board since 2009. She is currently the secretary of both AIJCA and the Fresno State YCA.
24 California Cattleman April 2014