Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with American National CattleWomen President-Elect, Ruth Coffey about her time with ANCW and sharing the beef industry’s story.
“I actually started as a young person going to Oklahoma CattleWomen meetings with my mother, and I got to know a lot of the ladies there, and just noticed the friendship, the comradeship, the abilities of the ladies to just come together when called to get out and get the beef story or beef message to consumers or whoever that they were targeting,” Coffey said. “That was where I actually started, and later I went to a national beef cookoff in Washington, D.C., and there it was just ANCW members. I didn’t know a single person, but through spending a week with those ladies, I decided to pursue further into ANCW.”
ANCW strives to work with all of the agricultural organizations and associations, Coffey said, and help members to be versatile as they serve the industry. An important duty of CattleWomen, Coffey said, is sharing the beef industry’s story with consumers.
“We have a safe product as we utilize what we have learned from these science-based organizations,” Coffey said.
Many issues being faced by ranchers in Oklahoma, Coffey said, are the same issues those cattle producers are facing throughout the U.S.
“We are all concerned for the same issues that are happening in our legislation and also just environmentally,” Coffey said. “We all want to learn from each other how we can protect what we have.”
Coffey also talked about the fire ecology program that is utilized on her and her husband’s property.
“If you see some smoke, it could be from us,” Coffey said. “We utilize the fire management, and also the water distribution and management program where we try to utilize the grass, not only for our livestock but also for wildlife and trying to preserve the land for the next generations.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
