BUNKHOUSE NEW YEAR BRINGS RENEWED ENTHUSIASM by CCA Executive Vice President Billy Gatlin With the holidays behind us, many of us are anxious to close the book on 2013 and begin preparing and planning for 2014. That’s one of my favorite things about January: the new year always brings with it an extra sense of optimism. We are all eager to reflect on the year that has passed and excited for the fresh start the new year brings. It’s the time of year we all re-commit ourselves to making the year ahead of us better (and hopefully wetter) than the year behind us. I can tell you that no one is more excited for the new year than your CCA staff. We are dreaming big and have high expectations for 2014. Although 2013 was a great year for CCA, we believe 2014 is going to be even better and that CCA will continue to grow and become a stronger organization better positioned to serve and represent our members. One of the biggest changes that you may have already noticed is that our magazine has been redesigned to better serve our members and advertisers. Beginning with this January 2014 edition, the CCA magazine will be designed and edited in-house by CCA Communications Director Stevie Ipsen. While the California Cattleman magazine has always been a leader amongst industry publications, we believe this change provides an excellent opportunity to add a fresh new look to the magazine and add new columns and features that will enhance your experience with our magazine. In addition to the improved content of the magazine, members and advertisers will have a team of full-time staff behind the magazine who will be working to meet your needs and ensure that content is engaging, timely and useful. With Stevie taking on a larger role in the magazine, it has opened up an opportunity for CCA to add an excellent beef advocate to our communications team. Malorie Bankhead is a young and ambitious agriculture communications graduate from California Polytechnic State University with whom many of CCA’s members are already familiar. With Malorie on board, you are going to notice an increased presence in social media and a more proactive role in traditional media outlets to get information about our industry out to the general public. This will include working with media outlets to get increased coverage of the work we are doing in the State Legislature and in the U.S. Congress. The 2014 legislative and congressional sessions promise to be exciting with several critical issues being decided both statewide and nationally. With Congress’
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inaction on a Farm Bill in 2013, passing a Farm Bill early in 2014 is a top priority. We must also work with Congress to find a solution to mandatory Country of Origin Labeling regulations that threaten our trade status with the two largest importers of U.S. beef: Canada and Mexico. The Grey Wolf and its impact on the cattle industry will also be a major priority for CCA in 2014. Nationally, we will also be working to support the delisting of the wolf from the federal endangered species list. In California, we will be working to ensure that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife does not list the Grey Wolf on the California endangered species list. CCA will also be working on legislation to further deter cattle theft and reforming transportation regulations that restrict our ability to freely move cattle both in state and interstate. We will also be weeding through the over 2,000 pieces of legislation that will be introduced this year to identify bills that will have a negative impact on ranching in California and will work to defeat them. 2014 promises to be a very exciting and important year for California’s ranchers. I am proud and honored to be able to work for you and on your behalf. I speak for all of us in the CCA office when I say we have the greatest membership of any organization in California and we are all very grateful for the opportunity to serve you. If you ever need anything do not hesitate to contact any of us. If you call and I am not here, I am outside doing a rain dance, so leave a message and I’ll call you back when it starts to rain! I wish you a happy and prosperous 2014!