Toso takes on the balance of serving as CCA's 50th President by CCA Communications Director Katie Roberti Just days after being installed as the 50th president of the California Cattlemen’s Association, Anthony (Tony) Toso said something that wouldn’t have made much sense before the infamous year of 2020. “I’ll be CCA’s first virtual president,” Toso joked. A statement that’s improbable as social gatherings are likely to resume within his term, but one that’s not far from unbelievable after a year in which not a single CCA-hosted event was able to take place in-person and CCA leadership was only able to attend a few local association meetings before the onset of the pandemic in the United States. In November 2018, when Toso became CCA’s first vice president, there was no way of knowing what he and immediate past president Mark Lacey would face over the next two years. It’s unlikely they predicted virtual meetings, facemasks, extremely volatile cattle markets, toilet paper shortages, plexiglass and the worst year of wildfires in California’s history would all be trending during the last year of their 2019-2020 terms—yet, they all were. The year 2020 brought its lists of challenges for farmers and ranchers, and with it came no shortage of work and challenging situations for Lacey’s term as president and Toso’s tenure as first vice president. “Having worked directly with Mark Lacey, I can tell you I personally am grateful for the efforts he put into his leadership term,” Toso said. “He was constantly reading up,
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investigating and thinking through policy issues, and not only did I enjoy working through some of those issues with him, but I was really inspired by his work ethic, thought process and commitment to do right by our membership. Those efforts I will use as motivation to push myself harder.” Fitting with 2020 being a year of twists and turns, the week Toso was installed as CCA president wasn’t a breeze of emotions either. In addition to being installed as president, Toso’s week consisted of honoring his father with a memorial service, giving permission for his youngest daughter to be married, shipping three loads of cattle, hosting a fall branding (where his daughter got engaged) and providing an update on the CCA Fire Subcommittee at the Association’s first-ever virtual convention, all amid a global pandemic. The week’s magnitude demonstrates that balance is an act Toso has practiced long before serving with CCA. Toso says this ability was instilled by his father, Gilbert Toso. Balance is something Toso has had to have from the start of his love for agriculture. Back in the hills of Mariposa County, behind the small, historic gold rush town of Hornitos and off a dirt road stretching for miles, Cotton Creek Ranch is located. Toso has been running cattle, raising a family and managing ranch life on this land for 30 years.