2008 Spring Meeting at Six Spokes Ranch at Hamilton TX April 5th – Mark your calendars!  We’ll have our Spring Meeting at Ronny & Sharla Wenzel’s.  The meeting will begin at 9am at Ronny’s Rollin Pin Bakery, 207 N Bell St., next to Wenzels Lone Star Meat Co.  We will elect officers and discuss plans for the Texas Bison Festival May 3rd & 4th, which will be held at LBJ State Park located on US 290 just east of Stonewall Texas between Johnson City & Fredericksburg.  Following the meeting we will go hang out at the Wenzel’s Six Spokes Ranch.  Hope to see you all there.  Best Western has a new motel 6 miles west of Hamilton on Hwy 36 with that should be open in early March -- phone no. is 254-386-3209.

  1st Annual Texas Bison Festival, May 3rd & 4th at LBJ State Park
Mark your calendars again.  The first annual Texas Bison Festival will be held Saturday & Sunday, May 3rd & 4th, during Texas Bison Week, May 3rd – 10th.  Debra Northrup has been working with the Governor’s Office to get the week of May 3-10 proclaimed Texas Bison Week, and has been the key player working with the Texas Bison Association, The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and  The Texas department of Agriculture “Go Texan” program, to present the 1st annual “Texas Bison Festival”  May 3&4 2008 at the LBJ State Park located on US 290 just east of Stonewall Texas between Johnson City & Fredericksburg. 

The Texas Bison Festival will celebrate The State of Texas proclaimed “Texas Bison Week” and will be held in conjunction with the park’s celebration of Lyndon B. Johnson’s 100th birthday.
       
And Now From Your President -   MOBEETIE….

Greetings,

Well, a second successful fall event at the Fort Worth Historic Stockyards has passed. After Friday’s meeting and reception, Saturday opened with a couple of great interactive seminars, helping to educate us on proper range management, crop variations, nutritional aspects, etc. I think we all gained from it.
The live cutting horse demonstration later that afternoon was enjoyable and very informative. It was amazing how many of us members really had no idea how our calves were actually used in these operations, as a training aid to competitive rodeo cutting horses. Several members commented that it appeared like the bison were having playtime, and we were all glad to see that proper use of bison calves as trainers was not cruel or stressful on the calves.
In this Sale event we opted for a private treaty sale vs. an auction, as we’ve been doing in previous years. Nearly every animal sold private treaty, and prices were overall considerably better than previous years (results on pg. 4),  Although this was our second year here, this was the first TBA Show and Sale at the Stockyards, and the species was well represented by numerous ranches. I believe we had a great response to the Show Awards, which were custom made Red Bluff belt buckles for this TBA event – awarded to Champions in numerous classes. Our plans are to create consistency in the time of year and place of the annual TBA Show and Sale, and believe the Stockyards offer the best venue that we’ve found, plus is a lot of fun. Although we are seeing a good turnout and participation, there are a good number of TBA members missing out on the knowledge sharing and festivities held here in November (not to mention a little competition for Champion Award buckles).
A special thanks to all of the Award buckle sponsors, volunteers, and supporters of this past event – with a special note of thanks to the folks at J-Rod who have supplied and set up the Pearson Bison facility for each of the last two years.
Our upcoming Spring event will center around the World Championship Bison Cook-off in May, which has been held right here in west central Texas for a few years now. I had the privilege of attending last year, and look forward to participating again this year. The TBA is evolving into a much more interactive and progressive association, with emphasis on growing the membership, education, and increasing the quality and value of our events – while helping to properly preserve this species of which we are stewards. We hope to see member participation continue to grow at these TBA events.

Joe

TBA IS HEADING BACK TO THE STOCKYARDS FOR 2008 !!!

                 *SEE YOU THIS FALL AT THE STOCKYARDS *
COMPETE FOR YOUR 2008 TBA CHAMPIONSHIP AWARD BUCKLE
   
 VENDORS SETTING UP OUTSIDE OF THE OLD SALE BARN - FT WORTH HISTORIC STOCKYARDS              

We have two entire parking lots available for cooking, tents, etc – Register early !

*FALL 2007 SHOW & SALE RESULTS and SPONSORS*

A N N O U N C E M E N T S

TBA member Michael Mithlo and Teri Anderson are hosting a bison auction in Perry Oklahoma. 
Michael sent this email about the sale: Greetings, Terry Leonard, myself, and a few others are planning to have a buffalo sale on April 14, 2007 at the Perry Livestock Auction Barn in Perry, OK. We are looking for buyers, consignors, and some vendors. Contact: Terry Leonard, 8900 Gunsmoke, Perry, OK. 73077 Home 580-336-4870 work 1-800-945-3795. Help pass the word, Thank you, Michael 

Central Market “Thrill of the Grill” Meat Demo - This is Central Market’s yearly promotion and TBA had participated last year. The promotion runs April 20-22 in Houston and April 27-29 everywhere else in Texas.  Central Market has asked for our participation again this year. Last year, we covered the Houston store, the Austin store and one Dallas store with TBA volunteers.  This year, we would like to cover every Central Market store in the state with a representative from the Texas Bison Association.  Bison Provision Company will be in each store in Texas during this promotion and welcomes the help at their stations.  Allyson, Debbie and Central market will work together on this effort.  For Thrill of the Grill, Eric Batchelder has volunteered to cover the Austin store, Melanie O’Neill will cover the Dallas Lover’s Lane store.

Tim Frazier – TBA Executive Vice President has submitted to the board that we form three new committees. 

2007 Show and Sale Committee – Chairman, Austin Mosely…..Development of our annual TBA event

Farm Gate Committee - Chairman, Mark Harris…..Address concerns of producers with smaller herds, which market their products directly to the retail consumer. Items to be addressed here include the logistics of marketing your products, Bison nutrition, etc.

Bison Festival Committee – Chairman, Debbie Northrup …..Has succeeded in her request that the Governor declare the last week in April (22-29)  Texas Bison Week.  He will sign a proclamation to that effect.  Debbie is planning a dinner in the Austin area during that week as well as a festival of some sort.  The dinner will include VIPs in the Austin community, as well as political VIPs. The dinner will tentatively be held Saturday, April 21st (6 to 10 pm) to kick off Texas Bison Week, in the Austin area and 200 invitations will be sold. Debbie is also looking for a good speaker to speak at the dinner. Tim Fraiser volunteered to call Dave Carter to ask for help from the NBA.  Eric volunteered to donate money toward the event.  The bison mascot will be available at the dinner and festival.  This year the TBA will do what we can do to support Debbie in her efforts, and next year, the TBA might have the opportunity to ‘own’ the event. Debbie also mentioned that Go Texan would like to get involved with TBA’s promotional efforts. Go Texan is involved in many state wide events, including Thrill of the Grill.

Political Action Committee - Chairman, Tim Frazier…..Items on his radar include: Canadian Border opening,  BelTex horse harvest, and Regional representation with the NBA. A summary of Tim’s ideas / concerns are provided below, provided by Tim. Many TBA members will strongly agree or disagree with some of these items listed below, and some may not really care one way or the other. Our hope is to at a minimum, make you aware of what is happening out there on the political front, and at best to get feedback from members reflecting their thoughts and ideas on these items of discussion (next 2 pages).

From Tim Frazier -

Dear Texas Bison Association Members;

POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

I would like to take the opportunity to discuss the importance of forming a PAC (Political Action Committee) within the Texas Bison Association. There are currently several political issues that, as a organization, we need to be willing to address as a cohesive unit. There is strength in numbers and as a group, we may be able to make a difference where one of us alone would fail. While we are a small organization in a huge state, the best way we can be heard is to stand together as a group. The Texas Bison Association must take advantage of every opportunity to be in front of our political representatives, not only as an organized group of bison producers, but also as red meat producers.

DROUGHT RELIEF

Drought relief is a classic example.  Having not been asked, we were not included in the funds allocated for assistance in feeding animals this year. Many Texas Buffalo will die as a result of this oversight. Many Texas Bison companies (including my own, and probably yours) are operating at a loss as a result.
Dave Carter (Executive Director, National Bison Association) recommended that all those affected should contact their senator, which the Texas Bison Association did as a group.  Because of the efforts of a few concerned individuals, Texas Bison producers are now on the radar of our state department of agriculture, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.  I was angry when I first learned that the Great State of Texas was actively discriminating against an important native species. I was chagrined to discover that even though the Great State of Texas makes Bison Producers play by ‘beef cattle rules’, Bison Producers are not eligible for the same emergency assistance as beef cattle producers.
The Texas Department of Agriculture assured me that bison producers were not “excluded” from the legislation.  Rather, Bison Producers were simply “not included”.  We have been assured by our State Representatives that this oversight will never happen again. Do you trust our State Representatives to go to bat for Texas Bison Producers???. I don’t.  For that reason, I think we need to make the most of our numbers and become a loud squeaky wheel every chance we get.

OTHER ISSUES

There are other issues that the Texas Bison Association needs to be vocal about that will directly affect Texas Bison Producers. Getting involved in these issues will create opportunities for the Texas Bison Association to become visible on a state level, a federal level, and to our national organization around issues that affect Texas Bison.  Issues include:

• Proposed rule change on Canadian imports

The proposed rule change would result in allowing animals born after March of 1999 to be imported into the United States. The beef industry is concerned that Canadian cattle will flood the US market and have a negative effect on live animal values. U.S. Bison producers should share those concerns.

• Horse Harvest halted in the state of Texas

Beltex Corporation was recently ordered to halt killing horses for human consumption as a result of a ruling made by three circuit court judges upholding a law written in 1949.  Whether you agree or disagree with the slaughter of horses for human consumption is irrelevant.  What should be understood is that the perceptions of lawmakers came into play on this issue. "The lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic icon. Not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse". 
My concern is that during hearings in the House, While Bison Producers can expect more domestic consumer support than those who eat horses, it is possible that lawmakers can offer up the bison as being an American Icon as well.
In the short term, Beltex is going to continue harvesting bison and will continue to offer a steady market for unwanted animals.   This foreign based company has been and will continue to be a positive factor in the Texas Bison Market.  However, Texas Bison Producers need to be on the lookout for signs that Bison Producers are being directly attacked.  Remember, the same group that lobbied for halting of horse slaughter is boasting of an effort to stop chicken slaughter next.  The prospect of making horse slaughter illegal in Texas had concerned the Texas Cattle Raisers Association enough that they became financially involved in behalf of the horse slaughter companies.  My opinion is that the Texas Bison Association needs to discuss how to prevent being vulnerable to this kind of attack.
  
The purpose of the Political Action Committee is:

To keep our Texas membership informed
To give formal TBA responses (when applicable)
To  establish a forum for discussion among members on issues that affect the preservation, production, and representation of bison and bison products in Texas by Texans.

I will chair this committee until someone steps forward for appointment. I think it is very important in these times to appear organized politically.  Your opinions and insight are welcome.  You are the embodiment of the Texas Bison Association, help me make our association work for you,
          

Tim Frasier
Vice President, Texas Bison Association
940-612-0192

From :Texas Bison Association
           7445 Falke Heinrich Road
           Schulenburg, Texas 78956

To :                  
                                  

*** Join Us At The Spring Meeting In Hamilton, TX April 5th ***

       AND THE 1st ANNUAL TEXAS BISON FESTIVAL