Iowa Cattlemen elect leaders, set policy

OTTUMWA — A cattle farmer from southwest Iowa is the new president of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA).

Ross Havens, Wiota, moved to the position during the ICA Annual Convention in Ottumwa held during the last weekend in February.

“One of the goals of my presidency is to work hard to have programs that involve young people; get them active in our association,” said Havens. He noted that the ICA board has experienced members serving, but “to build our leadership (for the ICA) we need to promote the youth within.”

Havens said “Iowa has the best opportunity of any state to grow back the cattle business. We have ethanol production here and a growing number of 2nd to 3rd generation cow-calf families that are coming back to grow their businesses.”

In 2010, Havens was elected as President-Elect, and he moved into the position of President following the term completion of Kent Pruismann, Rock Valley. Pruismann had served two one-year terms as ICA President.

Ed Greiman, Garner, was elected as President-Elect by the ICA Executive Board. Greiman had served as Northwest Regional Vice President since 2009.

The board has appointed Allan Johnson, Northwood, to fill Greiman’s spot as a regional vice president. The ICA Board also elected Mike Sexton, Rockwell City, as Associate Vice President. Sexton works for Twin Lakes Environmental Services, LLC.

Other members of the seven-member ICA Executive Board are: Larry Johnson, Maquoketa; Richard Cochran, Ladora, and Scott Hansen, Adel.

At the ICA business meeting, members adopted and modified several policies.

The Business Issues committee modified its farm policy regarding the Conservation Reserve Program.

The members adopted a policy that would allow managed grazing on CRP land in an effort to provide more grazing options to cow-calf producers. The ICA is working with several conservation groups to support such policy in the 2012 Farm Bill.

The Cattle Production committee fine-tuned its policy on national cattle identification, instructing ICA to work in partnership with other stakeholders to meet the mandates handed down by USDA.

Although no funding was provided for this mandate, ICA members see it as a vital process to ensure that Iowa producers stay competitive world wide as more and more countries put national traceability systems in to place.

ICA members also adopted a new strategic plan and mission. ICA’s mission is “Grow Iowa’s beef business through advocacy, leadership and education.”

The goals of the strategic priorities include:

— Be the definitive voice of the Iowa beef industry;

— Influence the outcome of government actions to the most positive outcome for cattle producers;

— Strengthen the leadership capacity of ICA members with a special emphasis on developing young leaders;

— Develop tools and training for county affiliates to effectively implement local activities;

— Assure association governance is representative of members while maintaining effective and efficient operations.

The ICA held its annual convention in Ottumwa to support the Cornbelf Cow-Calf Conference (CCCC) in recognition of the CCCC 40th anniversary. Over 700 people attended the events, and the trade show included nearly 115 vendors.