At the 2023 Oklahoma WIRED event hosted at the Payne Ranch and Growing Paynes in Mustang, Oklahoma, Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with Oklahoma CattleWomen president, Cheyenne Sparks and talked about the Region IV ANCW (American National CattleWomwn, Inc.) meeting and Saturday’s WIRED festivities.
“Oklahoma was excited to host the Region IV meeting for 2023,” Sparks said. “In our region, that is Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, so we had women from all three of those states join us.”
The Region IV meeting was held at the Cattlemen’s Special Event Center in the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Sparks said, and featured a group of dynamic speakers.
“I am beyond honored and excited to announce that I will be the 2024 Region IV director coming in at our annual convention in January at Orlando, Florida,” Sparks said.
Sparks said the entire event would not have been possible without the help from the Payne family.
“We are just ecstatic to have them be a part of the CattleWomen and be supportive of us every step of the way,” Sparks said.
On Saturday, Sparks said the women who attended the event had the chance to operate different machinery provided by sponsors and learn and practice a variety of different skills that are valuable on a farm or ranch.
“We went right along into more hands-on with Merck and Allflex,” Sparks said. “They brought real cattle ears, and these women got to implant, they got to do ear tagging, they got to learn how to do vaccinations right there in real-time.”
Afternoon activities included sessions featuring KC Sheperd talking about media training, OSU’s Dr. Rosslyn Biggs on disease traceability, and more.
Coming up, Sparks said the Oklahoma CattleWomen will have a spring board of directors meeting in Chickasha, Oklahoma, held in conjunction with the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association meeting. Beef Day at the Capitol, she added, will be held on May 16.
“We are focusing on that beef and focusing on what we truly love,” Sparks said. “Making sure legislators know that we are here and what we need. In July, coming up on the 21 and 22, we have got the Oklahoma Cattle Convention in Norman, Oklahoma, at the embassy suites. Registration is open on the OCA’s website.”
To see info and register for the 71st Annual OCA Convention and Trade Show, click here.
