MIDYEAR on the
CENTRAL COAST by CCA Associate Director of Communications Maureen LaGrande Over 100 California cattlemen and cattlewomen made their way to the Central Coast’s town of Paso Robles, June 21-22 for the CCA and CCW 2023 Midyear Meeting at the Paso Robles Inn. Over the two-day meeting, updates, presentations and catching up with one another took place. Bright and early Wednesday morning smiles and greetings were shared amongst members as they arrived in the lobby to check in. Attendees spent their morning in board meetings and workshops leading up to a spread of Mexican food for lunch. Rolling into the afternoon attendees received updates from the California Beef Council’s Manager of Producer Education & Engagement Makenzie Neves, California Cattle Council board member Dave Daley, Oroville, and CCA’s Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur. Wilbur shared an overview of the priority legislation CCA is working on for members and where bills currently stood in the legislative process. To conclude the updates, CCA Fire Subcommittee Chair Anthony Stornetta, Atascadero, spoke on the subcommittee’s current efforts. Stornetta specifically highlighted the progress of livestock pass permits throughout the state and the state’s Burn Boss Program. The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Assistant Branch Chief for the Animal Health Branch, Andrea Mikolon, DVM, MPVM, Ph.D. was also one of the afternoon’s speakers. Mikolon provided an update on traceability and cases of vesicular stomatitis virus in California. Zach McFarlane of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo closed out the day of presentations sharing research on bull selection and management in preparation for breeding season, tying into all the upcoming
40 California Cattleman August 2023
summer and fall bull sales in California. As the day’s meetings wrapped up, members loaded into shuttles headed for the CCA President’s Reception honoring San Luis Obispo County’s, Steve Arnold, Santa Margarita. This year’s president’s reception on Wednesday night sponsored by San Luis Obispo County Cattlemen and CattleWomen, gave guests the chance to see an exhibit featuring over 250 years of ranching history in San Luis Obispo County at the Paso Robles Pioneer Museum. Guests sipped on cocktails, wine and beer and snacked on appetizers served by the founding ladies of San Luis Obispo County Young Cattlewomen members, while browsing exhibits of different forms—from barbed wire to and array of branding irons—collected over the years. The idea to host the president’s reception at the museum came to light at the San Luis Obispo Cattlemen’s spring meeting. Kathy Loftus, Paso Robles, was visiting with Sheila Bowen, Glennville, and Jill Heely, Paso Robles, sharing how she wished that more people could experience the history of ranching exhibit at the museum. With conversation among others and CCA’s Director of Finance and Events Lisa Brendlen, Bowen and Heely both approached Loftus saying that it could happen. After two months of thoughtful planning, the set up at the museum was executed early Wednesday morning, with Loftus’s direction. Loftus sits on the board of directors for the museum and worked hard finding the funding for the ranching history exhibit. When she visited the museum and peeked into the blacksmiths exhibit, she saw the brands that Chuck Pritchard’s family, Paso Robles, had donated to the museum in 1982. Knowing their history, Loftus approached the board and asked about