I represented the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association at the festival.  We shared a booth with my good friends Bill Garrels, Tony Castellano and Mark Wentura.  It was the perfect package: a top cattlemen’s association teaming up with a must read magazine (American Cowboy Magazine), and newest and finest line of western jeans (Iron Horse Jeans)! 

During this event I also got a chance to meet a hero of mine and top western country music performer, Brenn Hill.  To my pleasant surprise and good fortune I spent a considerable amount of time with Brenn as we mapped out plans to create a linkage between his musical performances and the cattlemen’s outreach meetings that I am involved in.  More to come on this exciting endeavor. In the meantime-listen to his music and like me you’ll soon find out that good, country western music is alive in well with the songs Brenn produces!

Case in point, I am lucky enough to have my flight and hotel room paid for in Las Vegas, Nevada during the National Finals Rodeo.  I get to interact with great people and enjoy all the exciting action that Las Vegas has to offer; however, a recap of this day will probably discourage anyone from ever trading jobs with me.

I was up at the crack up dawn preparing for the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association’s annual meeting.  My first order of business was to get the latest scoop on the House passed H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Business Act, which passed the House by a vote of 224 – 199. According to a statement made by Representative Steve Rothman (D-NJ), “This legislation permanently extends the current exemption from the federal estate tax of $3.5 million per person as well as the maximum tax rate of 45 percent on estates.  Without the bill, the estate tax would be eliminated entirely in 2010, and in 2011, the exemption would drop down to $1 million per individual while the estate tax rate would increase to 55 percent (from 45 percent this year).”  This issue is of great importance to the membership of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association so I made some calls and finalized my talking points to ensure that I had the full scope of details.

Next up in my preparation involved finishing the project of uploading USCA’s policies into a power point presentation.  I looked at my watch and realized I better quickly wrap up my actual legislative update PowerPoint also. Plus the conclusion of my “laid back” Vegas day included a flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association annual convention. So quickly packing up my bags was the final stage of my morning preparation.

The morning business for the USCA meeting was enjoyable as it’s always great to see the pleasant faces of USCA supporters and friends.  This outfit has a top notch crew of the salt of the earth ranchers who feed the nation and world.  Each USCA committee chair provides specific updates on committee progress and tasks.  My position as Executive Vice President means that I provide assistance and service to each of these committees, so I was called upon several times to provide additional information and clarification.

USCA’s year in review has been filled with a mix of successful and motivational stories along with the valuable legislative and regulatory achievements. I enjoyed informing the membership about the success that this young association has achieved in a short period of time.

The afternoon session consisted of some excellent speakers including the Montana Department of Livestock’s Executive Director Christian Mackay, USDA RMA staff John Lockie and Tara Beley, and Tait Berlier with Silveus Insurance.  I caught parts of their speeches as I edited USCA’s draft Federal Register comments on the USDA’s plan to update Bovine Tuberculosis plans. I finalized and submitted the comments just in time to play a role in USCA’s policy-making session. My role during this session involved typing the suggested policies and amendments. As the session came to a close, I realized I had just enough time to bid folks adieu and race to catch my flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

When I arrived at the airport, I found out my flight was delayed. This turned out to be a good thing as there was yet one more round of Federal Register comments that still needed to be filed. Fortunately USCA Animal Health Committee Co-Chair Chuck Kiker had prepared an excellent draft set of comments on USDA’s proposed changes to its Bovine Brucellosis plan. I edited the comments and literally submitted the comments online 23 minutes before the deadline and 2 minutes before the doors of the plane were closed.

As I looked down over the lights of Las Vegas, I thought, “Yes this is a very exciting and action packed job.  It’s an honor and a privilege to work for America’s family farmers and ranchers…. but a laid day at the beach, it is not!”

So I had a layover in New York’s JFK airport. I saw what looked like a great burger place — “Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger” was the name. Of course I was interested, so I stopped in for a quick bite. Funny thing: when I was ordering, a pilot made the comment “boy they will cook that burger so much that you’ll end up with a hockey puck of a burger!” I was impressed by the computer screen ordering system that enabled me to put everything from Heinz 57 to banana peppers on my burger. There was not, however, a cooking level option. The burger came out looking great, but as I sat down and started chewing on the burger and thumbing through my new edition of American Cowboy magazine, I soon came to find out — the pilot was right — it was cooked much past a desirable taste! So if you are going through JFK airport and see the  “Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger,” joint be sure to tell them from the start that you want a burger cooked to perfection!

And since I am talking about burger joints, this past weekend my sis and I stopped in at the Five Guys burger joint in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. Now there is a burger joint! Five Guys has never let me down once. The best burger you can find… PERIOD. All this burger talk makes me want to go seek out a Five Guys in Syracuse!!