Dave Maples: Thoughts from Dave

Dave Maples Executive Vice President

KCA had a really nice 50th anniversary convention. There was good attendance, very good speakers and many old stories told. It is really nice to see and catch up, even if for a short time period with old friends. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but I was, because I talked to people from California to New York who attended the convention and trade show. Kentucky is a state that people in the beef industry look to. The caliber of the speakers was top notch this year. I was looking at some news clippings of the first Kentucky Beef Cattle Association meeting 50 years ago and the topic of producer education was front and center.

The KCA Convention is more than education it is a time to recognize and honor those that have made a contribution to the organization or the beef industry. The Hall of Fame video presentations has really become a popular event. Those videos are a family keepsake for the families that are recognized. Besides the KCA annual House of Delegates meeting where the KCA officers and board members are elected, there are several other important meetings that take place during the convention. The Kentucky Livestock Marketing Association has held their annual meeting at this time for many years. It is always good to get to see all the Livestock Market owners and managers together at one time. This group represents the movement of a bunch of cattle. I don’t know how many a bunch is but it is a big number. I am proud of the job that that our auction markets and order buyers do. This year we had the largest group of junior cattlemen to attend the convention. Again, I don’t know what they did. All I know is the couple of parents that I talked to over the following weekend and their comment was, “that their kids had a ball and they were tired when they got in the car to go home”. On Wednesday afternoon before everything got going, we had the Kentucky Cattlemen Foundation meeting and the KCA Executive Committee meeting. This was the first time that we have had a joint meeting. The Foundation did their business meeting then joined the Executive committee where the Foundation's attorney, Bobby Foree, reviewed the proposed contract with the University of Kentucky for 15 acres of land on the C. Oran Little Research Farm in Versailles, Kentucky. The Committee discussed this same subject at last years meeting as well. I can tell you there were many questions and lots of discussion but at the end of the day with two different votes, each group voted unanimously. There were 25 people in the room representing many different facets of Kentucky Agriculture. Being an election year, during the Friday afternoon session there was a Commissioner of Agriculture forum. This year we had three candidates participate. Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Richard Health (R); Garrard County farmer, Johnathan Shell (R); and Larue County native Sierra Enlow (D). Mikael Malone (D) is a fourth candidate in the running and is from Clark County. The Commissioner of Agriculture job has always been very important but with recent changes it is more important than ever. The tobacco dollars that we have been blessed to have in Kentucky are now overseen by the Department of Agriculture. The Committee that oversees the CAIP funds and the state-wide dollars, as well as the Ag finance division of the office are all now under the guidance of the Commissioner of Agriculture. The Commissioner also is responsible for submitting over half of the names to the State Fair Board. The people that make up these boards are very important and who the Commissioner of Agriculture will be is important. We are lucky to have very capable candidates running for the position this year. It takes a big commitment to run for a state wide office and it cost a lot of money. If you feel passionate about Kentucky Agriculture and the Department, get involved, pick a candidate and go to work for your candidate. If you can, help them with funding but most important go to the polls and vote.

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