Clean Water ReeKs like Dirty Land Grab

 Received an update today from Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers regarding Federal Government's grab for land (aka Control & Power) disguised under the umbrella of water.  I've included an excerpt below. I had the pleasure of meeting her in almost two years ago during the D.C. leg of my NCBA Young Cattlemen's Conference. Continue to be impressed by the presence she has made in D.C & the work she has done for our state & nation. Those of you in the 5th Congressional District of WA best hold tight to this great asset!

"...last week the EPA issued a "guidance document" which would allow the Agency to regulate small navigable bodies of water. I am strongly opposed to the EPA's decision because it will substantially infringe on property rights, resulting in confusion, permitting delays, and added costs to farmers and small business owners in Eastern Washington.
The EPA's "guidance document" is not only the wrong policy, it's also the wrong process. By issuing "guidance" before conducting any rulemaking, the EPA is violating the principles of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA sets the standards for the activities and rulemaking of all federal regulatory agencies, and is designed to ensure those agencies use open, uniform, and fair procedures.
A few weeks ago, I signed onto a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson opposing the Agency's consideration of this "guidance document." To read that letter, click here.
In light of the EPA's announcement, Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH), Chairman of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, said he will hold hearings on the "EPA's practice of circumventing the regulatory process." I will keep you posted on those hearings and all other developments. No matter what, I am committed to fighting against the EPA's job-crushing policies.
Thank you for your interest in this issue. As always, feel free to contact me about property rights or any other issue you care about.
Warm regards,

Cathy

P.S. - For daily updates, subscribe to my Facebook and Twitter news feeds.

 (Photo Credit: AmericanTradition.org )

RFD TV Cattlemen to Cattlemen: PNW Young Cattlemen's Conference

We are so LuCKy to have a 5 minute feature appear on this week's RFD TV Cattlemen to Cattlemen show!! Thanks C2C for such an amazing segment on our tour and on our PNW Cattle Industry! :)

Yesterday was a busy day for me. In addition to my actual "day" job I fit in a meeting in the morning at Senator Cathy McMorris Rodger's Spokane District Office. I met her Agriculture and Natural Resource Director, Mike Poulson. I had never spoken with Mike before and it was nice to sit down and chat about issues from healthcare & immigration reform to environmental policy and our state's constant agricultural legal woes! Mike is from Connell, WA and works for Cathy from our own state rather than residing in WA DC. That is such a blessing for our farmers and ranchers to have someone situated here locally giving our state Senator updates on the issues he is seeing firsthand. I left armed with some great ideas for getting more young people involved in the WCA and in agriculture issues in general.

When I was finally out of the office for the day and on my drive to Selah, I fit in a phone interview with AgInfoNet radio. I had been contacted earlier in the week by David Sparks who covers the program for them in Southern Idaho. After reading the great article on the YCC, WCA, and YWCA in the Capital Press, he was interested in bottling some of this enthusiasm and excitement for his Idaho listeners. My schedule had been so crazy this week that the time that seemed to work the best was 8PM last night while I was cruising along I-90...(oh hands-free of course right? wink wink!) David was a pleasure to speak with and is so supportive of everything the WCA and myself are trying to do in involving younger people and really taking action to save our industry! He said he would do whatever he could to help and it was great talking with someone who was also positive and excited about agriculture!

Everyone at my company this week has been abuzz over the Capital Press Article! The article was more than I could have it imagined it to be and is helping us do what I had hoped. It is not about me or anything I really even did on the YCC-its about creating a feeling of hope and enthusiasm in people, whether they are involved directly in the cattle industry or not! You are your own best or worst enemy and I hope that people can find hope in something out there in life. There is prosperity and life all around us if we choose to see it. You can listen to the news 24/7 and allow fear and worry get you down or listen to that doomsday/world-ending person next to you and allow their despair shred your sail.....OR you can choose to listen to those people that are willing to work through adversity and rough patches, knowing that a hillclimb is ALWAYS followed by an easy care-free descent!

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Political Careers

I'd say we have a future as lawmakers, wouldn't you? :) This picture is from our YCC trip, during our congressional visits, as seen here with Doc Hastings! Wouldn't the world make a lot of sense if we had a bunch of rational hard working ranchers creating our laws, deciding our taxes and budgets? Whew.............. :)

So my last post was a bit heated and off the cuff, whew guess I can get fired up sometimes! :) On the bright side, at least you know where you stand with me and I won't be wishy-washy on an issue right?? :):)

“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing”

This was forwarded onto me this morning as the quote of the day. How about we just make it the quote of 2009? Today was an intense day to an end of an intense couple of weeks regarding cattle, agriculture, and environmental issues. Between Obama's health-care plan flowchart, the lawsuit against the WA DOE regarding stockwater, HSUS & ALL they entail, and the parents from my hometown of Selah, WA suing JBS Swift-I'm exhausted. I have had enough call-to-actions, letters to write to papers & lawmakers, and blog comments that I would be RICH if I could just get paid to do that all day! :) So the question is: to give up now because the end is near or stand and fight? Hmmm.... STAND & FIGHT of COURSE! :):) Any of you who know me, know I would say that. Remember, I should have gone to law school to make good use of my Negotiating skills (also known to some as arguing skills)!

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel to all of this? Maybe I should just sell my land, sell my cows, give up my water rights while I still have a chance? Maybe you should-but if you have any gumption and will in your bones you won't let a few wackos decide your life for you. There is some hope in all of this, you just have to be willing to put in some blood, sweat, and tears, along with some typing, talking, and reading!

People are fighting FOR US everyday and when you find examples of that-thank them. I found letters to the editors today on the Yakima Herald Republic that were fighting for us ranchers and providing a positive image and truthful knowledge to the public. There are people out there who are "telling our agriculture story" and have been for years without going on a YCC, or taking the Masters of Beef Advocacy course. Heck-these people invented ideas such as those! All each one of us has to do is just start being heard. Take some initiative and write some letters, educate some people about science based facts-instead of letting them be educated by the media, government, and other radicals! And remember, find those people who are doing actions all across the country in little ways to fight for your way of life and THANK THEM! :)

Just some more fun pictures from the YCC!!!

YCC Sponsors Thank You

Special Thanks for sponsoring Jenna on the 2009 NCBA Young Cattlemen’s Conference:

Benton County Cattlemen’s Association
Teddy
Dick and Paula
John and Fran
Grant County Cattlemen’s Association
Northwest Farm Credit Services
Lyle & Louise
WCA Allied Industries
Washington CattleWomen’s Association

This amazing opportunity could not have possible without your generous financial contributions, support, and encouragement.

Jenna

Thursday June 11, 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

On our first day of road travel on the trip we departed Denver after 2.5 days of classroom days. We headed towards Ulysses, Kansas but we stopped for dinner at the Smith Ranch in Sharon Springs, KS. After getting done with our trip, I still feel It was probably the warmest welcome and most relaxed environment we encountered. The high school cheerleaders were recruited to help serve our ice cream and most of the girls were just entering high school this upcoming year. We ended up passing a hat for them and raised over $1,000 dollars for them within about 20 minutes. Our group alone raised over $700 of that. They did a few cheers for us, although they had only practiced together for a week. It was a pretty awesome moment that $1,000 was raised for these kids that we didn't know in a very SMALL town, and we only passed through for a few hours! None of us will ever forget that nor will we forget that evening! The NCBA new CEO, Forrest Roberts also attempted the zipline in the backyard. He made it successfully across the pond and raised $1,000 for the NCBA Political Action Committee in doing so. It was an evening filled with great food, great new friends, and more importantly great generosity! Our night in Kansas will continue to touch me and remind me of the good people and generous spirits that continue to represent the cattle industry no matter where you are!

Monday June 8, 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

Please review the newly posted pictures. On this trip I visited Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Illinois, and Washington DC. I had never been to any of those states except for Colorado. I saw a lot of great country, learned that just because a place like Virginia is greener than any land I’ve seen it doesn’t mean it makes the best cattle country. I learned that in no way do the folks in Washington DC know the meaning of customer service or being friendly. However, the folks in Kansas will take you in and treat you like a member of their family, so much so that it will bring tears to your eyes. The one thing I learned the most though was walking around late at night through Washington DC in silence. Man, woman, or child would be hard pressed not to see the WWII memorial, or at the Vietnam Wall which is littered with letters and pictures from family and children and see what matters in this world. This country has been fought and died for thousands and thousands of lives over. Those men buried in Arlington Cemetery or the lives lost at the Battle of Bull Run, will we allow what they did for us to be tossed to the wayside? It is up to us to preserve what so many have fought for. Would you have what it takes to line up face to face on a hill in Virginia and fight for your way of life? The day is approaching us once again, will we have the strength and courage that those before us did?

Sunday June 7, 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

I made it back to Pacific Time Zone hardly any worse for the wear late Friday evening. After a full day of flying from Washington DC with three flight changes I was greeted at the lovely Spokane airport by a dear friend with a sign reading, "Welcome Home Jenna I BEEF!" Now that is a good friend for sure! After getting a crash course in airports, big cities, charter planes, charter buses, and LOTS of miles in the sky I have an even deeper appreciation for small, quiet airports! You just can't beat 'em. I moseyed on into work yesterday for a few hours and am headed back in there today. Not only do I hate being behind, but anyone who works with other people will understand how much easier it is to get work done when you are the only one there!

Well, I won't sugarcoat it for any of you. My morning Friday was one of the most somber, tough days I've had. I knew it would feel like such a lonely day knowing that I would no longer have 54 people around me, a sea of cowboy hats, laughter, booming voices, and enough jokes and sarcasm to even get Hilary Clinton to crack a smile. I awoke Friday Morning to an empty hotel room. My roommate for the DC leg of the trip had been Nevada Cattlemen's Assoc. Executive Director Meghan Brown. We had a great time staying together-although we really only saw each other for a few minutes each morning. We had different roommates in each state we stayed in, and I enjoyed each one of my roommates thoroughly. My first roommate was Amanda Dyer from Texas. She and I hit it off great and I have high hopes we will remain friends for years to come. We are trying to plan trips to get me down to Texas to her parent's beautiful ranch in West Texas and she wants to see the Northwest and we'll get some mountains in her eyeline! She is a commodities broker in Fort Worth for Producer's Trading Company. She also worked in New York City for 2 years as a stockbroker so she is glad to be back in Texas. If anyone is looking for a commodities trader I would highly recommend giving this gal a call. She is as sweet as the come and sharp as a tack-just drop me an email or phonecall if you are interested in contacting her!

My roommate in Chicago was Sabrina White of the Ponoholo Ranch in Hawaii. She and I had some mutual friends and acquaintances going into this trip and we built a good story to take home with us. June 1, 2009 saw us arriving in Chicago way behind schedule after our charter plane company reported us having a security breech and someone bypassing security so we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours as they hand searched every piece of our luggage! Apparently someone on our trip had their name pop-up on a "list" so we had three police cars waiting for us in the GRAND airport of Garden Springs, KS and about 5 cars with police waiting for us at our gate when we arrived in Sioux City, Iowa! So with that chaos behind us we all enjoyed a great family style dinner at a restaurant in Chicago hosted by the NCBA with drinks and local cuisine of Steak Philly's and Chicago hot-dogs! We all loved our meal and it was one of the most relaxing, fun meals we had as a group. It felt like sitting down with old friends! After enjoying drinks at the John Hancock tower in a reserved room on the 96th floor, we hit a local bar Shenanigan's! We lit the place up with dancing, the manager let us control the music all night and the place was lively the entire evening. Getting back to our room in the wee hours of the morning Sabrina and I discovered we had no hot water and NO water pressure. Considering we danced all night AND toured Tyson Fresh Meats Packing Plant AND their tannery facilities, and had to be at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange at 8AM sharp the next morning-A shower was a must! So at 3AM we repacked all our bags and trucked it around the hotel to a new room. Ahhhh....life on the road, never a dull moment! :)


More to come on Rod and my DC visits!

Jenna :)

Friday June 5th 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all are having a great start to the summer so far! I am just sending you a quick email to send you to the Washington Cattlemen's Association webpage http://www.washingtoncattlemen.org/www.washingtoncattlemen.orgI am leaving Washington DC today after being on the NCBA Young Cattlemen's Conference for the last 10 days. I have been posting a blog on the trip as much as I had time to do. I would encourage ALL of you to keep this trip in the back of your mind over the next couple years. We've posted information on the Conference in addition to my blog. It has been a 10 day comprehensive tour of the United States Beef Industry starting in Denver and going through Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Chicago, and Washington DC. I met with the USDA in a private 3+ hour briefing yesterday and with Representatives from Canada, Ireland, and Mexico at the Canadian Embassy.

Thanks Jenna!

Thursday June 4, 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

NCBA chief lobbyist, Collin took us on a walking tour of all the monuments the first night we got to DC. None of us were expecting to get to see any sights so we were so incredibly grateful for the opportunity. Collin is a big history buff and the information we received could not be recreated! It was a 3 mile walking tour unless you chose the endurance tour with an extra mile or two to see the FDR monument, Korean war exhibit and Jefferson monument. I chose the entire tour because you never know when you will get to a place again! The Jefferson monument was my favorite right up there with the Vietnam wall which was incredibly emotional! The new WWII Memorial is absolutely amazing and is a must see! Go at night like we did and you will be hard pressed not to be even more reflective and passionate about how many people have heart and courage in this world and how we need to fight for that freedom they once did for us!

Jenna

Thursday June 4, 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

Our entire group looks like we've been drug behind a semi today! How does anyone sit through 3.5 hrs briefings its tough! Anytime someone nods off, has a head-bob, or falls asleep on the trip they have to pay $5 to the PAC so today when we get on the bus we are all going to automatically give our funds to our funds keeper!:)

Oh Whitestone Farm in Virginia hired an AWESOME band for us. They are "the" elite Angus breeder with a beautiful place with more green pasture than I've ever seen before! Wonderful inviting people who made us feel like family! All 54 people didn't get back till 1am last night but of course I'm a firm believer of taking every opportunity on this trip so I went out for some further socialization after that!

Meeting with the Canadian Embassy around noon

Tuesday June 2, 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

Tuesday June 2nd

Just leaving Chicago as I type this. Our charter plane is about to take off to head to Washington DC. We only spent last night and part of today in Chicago but rest assured we made the most of our 18 hour stay!! The Ncba had an awesome dinner for us with good local Chicago food and drinks afterwards on the 96th floor of the John Hancock center. It was downtown Chicago with the most amazing views of the city. Of course our group just can't get enough of each other so we did some more socializing and dancing at shenanigans.

We hit Chicago Mercantile Exchange this morning. A gal on the trip is from Fort Worth and a commodities broker so she had arranged to get to go down on the trading floor while we all looked on from the observation deck! It was a highlight for her of course as was the visit for all of us. After CME we toured Bruss's, a steak cutting business. I saw some local WA BEEF in there that was cut and boxed ready for food service and restaurant use!

We just landed, said goodbye to the charter plane staff that has flown us the last couple days since we left Kansas. I definitely do not think they have ever had a group like us before!:). Oh and we are currently stuck on our bus on the tarmac because Obama and Air Force One are a little ways down! And my last comment is there is only about 2 degrees of separation on this trip instead of three! Another connection I learned of today is a guy from CT has a wife who works with my brother! Its pretty exciting when you come together with people from across the whole country for this one experience and you've never met before and you discover all these connections! We are off to the NCBA office here in DC for a reception with John Deere folks and we get a walking tour of the monuments.

Jenna :)

View of Chicago from the John Hancock Tower!

Friday May 29, 2009-Young Cattlemen's Conference

Friday May 29, 2009

Yesterday was the first official day of the Young Cattlemen's Conference. Our day was filled with great speakers and a good start to getting to know one another!
This YCC is a year of many firsts in its 30 year history: - largest class with 54 doing the whole trip - the most women they've ever taken (14) :) which I'm excited to take part in that number -the most NCBA staff to ever attend including the new NCBA president Forrest Roberts is attending the entire trip with us! There are also two of the lobbyists and Dr. Parker all from DC along for the ride!

WSU has a strong representation of COUGS on the trip with Rod, myself, and Ian Murdock from the Oregon cattlemen's. Sabrina White of the Ponoholo Ranch in Hawaii is also on this trip. We have a couple of mutual friends and I was familiar with her ranch through experience with the Hawaii Co-op. We discovered we have both worked at the same guest ranch in Montana. In addition to those connections Dave Felumle from Ohio us friends with Jay Penick, my CEO at NW Farm Credit. I'm on my best behavior after learning that!:) Needless to say no matter how many miles or oceans separate us in this industry you will probably end up knowing someone or share a mutual friend wherever you go!

I have learned so much I am bursting to share it with everyone! A quick take home message for today is please show your support of the NCBA and their Political Action Committee. We are working hard to fight Humane Society of the United States who is doing everything in their power to shut down all animal agriculture in the United States. This group is not supporting local humane societies they are using funds to lobby and pass legislation to try and shut us down. The NCBA PAC is working hard to fight them but we need to support them financially to go up against HSUS hundreds of millions of dollars.

We are having a PAC auction the last night of our trip on a riverboat on the Potomac river! I would welcome any financial support so I can bid and support the PAC
Jenna :)

May 27th, 2009-Day 1 NCBA Young Cattlemen's Conference

Hi Guys!
I've 0fficially arrived in Mountain Time, making it safe and sound to Denver and even managed to find my way through that crazy airport. The NCBA doesn't leave anything to guess and set us up with a ride to the hotel, just the start of everything they have covered on this trip. If I ever get to go on a personal vacation I think I'll just have them be my travel agent! As you may discover through my updates I am definitely NOT what you would call a world traveler, so this trip will be quite a shock to my system.

I was lucky to have two fellow Young Cattlemen Conference (YCC) attendees on my shuttle. Mary Ellen from Georgia and Branden from South Carolina. With their great southern drawls chattin me up, we were to the hotel in no-time and I made my first two friends. Mary Ellen is actually an Animal Science Professor at a small college in southern Georgia. She happens to be the Student Cattlemen's Association Advisor which comes in very handy for me with my new Student Group venture here in Washington. Mary Ellen and I enjoyed dinner together and I got some great ideas from her and the state of Georgia!

Rod Wesselman is also on this trip as the representative for the American Angus Association. He showed up later this evening and I was certainly glad to see someone I knew. I am so thankful that two of us from Washington are going on this trip together. It's always a great thing to see a familiar face and more importantly I am hoping we can create a strong presence nationally for our state.

This trip is filled with people from across the entire United States all with different backgrounds and experiences. I am trying not to let any intimidation by the highly accomplished folk I'm surrounded by get the best of me and soak in as much information and learning opportunities from everyone here.

THANK YOU to everyone who has made this trip and experience possible. I am greatly thankful. If anyone has anything they would like me to do while on this trip or issues to discuss please feel free to let me know and send me a quick email. I will post each day as I can and hope to have some pictures to share as well!

Jenna :)