Why the Legislature Matters to You

By Jordan Harrison, Georgia Junior Cattlemen's Association Convention & Summer Conference coordinator

I’m sure you're all too familiar with organizations such People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society of the United States. The goal of these organizations is to establish rights for all animals. The only thing that PETA and HSUS have is influence. They can’t legally stop you from raising cattle or caring for other livestock.

However, they do tend to influence those who can. These groups attempt to influence lawmakers and members of Congress through hired lobbyists. The overall goal of a lobbyist is to convince a person in a position of political importance to make a law or bill to adopt the viewpoints of the organization they are lobbying for. For example, a lobbyist for PETA may try to convince a congressman to introduce a bill limiting the amount of cattle per acre on commercial farms.

As a current and future stakeholder in the beef industry, Georgia Junior Cattlemen's Association members should keep an eye out for legislation such as this. These laws and bills being pushed on congressmen by animal rights activist groups will come to affect us individually in one way or another. More directly some groups have even tried to introduce legislation that would make it illegal for kids to work on their family farms. If laws such as these were to pass, how would we carry out the activities to support our cattle operations? These laws would also make many FFA and 4-H activities illegal to participate in. Luckily this bill was not passed, allowing us to carry on our traditions.

As teens and kids we can’t always rely on others to prevent things like this from happening. Even non-age specific laws that limit and hinder agriculture unnecessarily should be watched with close attention. Even if they don’t affect us now, they will in years to come. As junior members we have to take an interest in legislation to make sure that we have the chance to build our own cattle operations one day. We shouldn’t let Congress and lawmakers decide what should happen on our farms without our input.

It’s my future, it’s your future, it’s our future -- shouldn’t we have a say?

 

For more information about legislation affecting the beef cattle industry, visit the National Cattlemen's Beef Association site and look under the Issues and Political Action tabs.. To contact your state and national Congressmen and women, visit the GCA legislature contacts page.

Got Food? Thank a Farmer: By Callie Akins, GJCA Chairwoman

Most people do not know where their food comes from. In fact, farming may be the hardest, most under-appreciated job there is. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "Farming looks mighty easy, when your plow is a pencil and you are a thousand miles from a corn field." 

Farming is not easy. Living on a farm and in a farming community, I see farmers working from daylight to dusk and still struggling to make ends meet. However, I would I not trade life on a farm for anything. Yes, the hours are long and the work is hard, but when fall comes around it is always worth it.

Personally, fall is my favorite time of year. Not only because of watching college football on Saturdays, but because it is harvest time. Time to reap what we have sown all year long. Time to find a new little miracle in the pasture every morning and to see trailers leaving the grain fields every afternoon.

Many consumers look at the prices of groceries and think the farmer must be getting rich. President John F. Kennedy said, "The farmer is the only man in the economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale and pays the freight both ways." 

Farmers are not getting rich, but most farmers are not in it for the money. They farm because they love it. I know this is true for me at least. Farming is not only a career, it is a way of life. Early mornings checking cows and late nights picking corn are things you come to love. 

So, next time you go to the grocery store and see the prices rising, remember the farmers' prices are rising, too. "Got food? Thank a farmer." That food did not just magically grow and make it on to your plate. Somewhere, someone put their blood, sweat and tears into that crop. 

Callie Akins is a senior homeschool student from Nashville, Ga. She is a past Georgia Junior Cattlemen's Association Convention coordinator and serves now as the GJCA Chairwoman.

Juniors Kick Off 2012 - 2013 Year

This week kicks off another exciting year for Georgia Junior Cattlemen's Association. The association achieved many goals during 2011 to 2012, including that of reaching 500 members, a feat everyone is very proud of!

GJCA ended the 2011 to 2012 year with its annual Field Day on July 12 -- PERRY 2012 Cattlemen's Olympics -- which was a wonderfully successful event! Dozens of junior members, friends and volunteers came to Perry to enjoy a day of agriculture-themed games: Corn hole, full-noodle jousting, hula hoop contest, an AG-ility course, stockman's quiz and more. At each station, participants received a stamp on their passport. Prizes were given out for winning certain stations as well as for completing the "Meat Up" ice breaker sheet!

There were also little bits of education mingled in as well. Ronnie Silcox of the University of Georgia did an animal handling demonstration with some help from "cow" Katherine Throne, demonstrating cattle senses, point of balance and movement to the crowd.

Tim Marshall of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Brice Nelson of UGA hosted a seminar on collegiate experiences in agriculture, talking about majors, classes, social opportunities and Greek life. The third seminar was taught by Rebekah Bowen, a graduate of ABAC, UGA and University of Tennessee. She shared ways students (and parents!) can get involved in social media AG-vocacy.

GJCA would like to thank all of its sponsors, volunteers, guest speakers and participants for helping to make Field Day 2012 such a successful event. We hope everyone wears their Field Day shirts, designed by Merritt Daniels, proudly!

Field Day culminated with revealing the 2012 to 2013 GJCA officer team. Congratulations to Callie Akins, chairwoman; Merritt Daniels, field day coordinator; Jordan Harrison, Convention/Summer Conference coordinator; Gibson Priest, chapter relations officer; Walt Lipham, chapter relations officer; and Ben Hicks, chapter relations officer. We look forward to working with you this coming year!

From left: Akins, Daniels, Dallas Duncan (GJCA advisor), Priest, Lipham and Harrison.