Hello Everyone,
Wow, did we have another great annual convention! Our staff & volunteers put on an awesome event. There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into it being a success. Pretty work team!! We started the week with a room filling crowd for our Florida Cattlemen Leadership
Academy (FCLA) graduation and YCC alumni reception. Class X (10) graduated 11 outstanding individuals. I’m excited to see where they plug in and engage, as they become more involved in our association. We had over 1800 total registrants and close to 1100 attendees at our Wednesday and Thursday night programs. There were many FCA members honored with awards. This year there were 6 Honorary Director awards,1 Cowman award, and others honored for everything from environmental stewardship to membership recruitment. Our trade show was sold out
to the tune of 167 booths and was a packed house each day. The silent auction (fundraiser for the Florida Cattlemens Foundation) and PAC bull sale (fundraiser for Florida COW PAC and NCBA PAC) were also very successful. We were able to get the Association’s business conducted as well. We had a great turnout for the Opening General Session and the Board of Directors meeting. It sure was good to see so many interested and involved. Overall, a great time was had by all!! I was so impressed with the number of outstanding young people that I had the pleasure to interact with at the convention. JFCA members, Sweetheart contestants, and the beef ambassadors all showed up and showed out! While I’m sad to see Stephanie Conrad step down
as a long time JFCA leader, the impact you have made over the last decade is tremendous, thank you. I’m really looking forward to spending time on the trail and working with my neighbor from the west, Manatee County’s own Shaylynn Davis as she fulfills her duties as FCA Sweetheart.
Moving along let’s talk about membership. In 2019 we had a much-needed dues increase, the first one in almost 20 years, and a pandemic in 2020. Our membership numbers took a big hit and overall numbers are still down. I would like to encourage and challenge everyone to beat the bushes and get our membership back to where it is supposed to be, and hopefully even higher. We, as members, need to make sure we educate everyone on the benefits of being a member. The more of us there are, the stronger our association is. Let’s put our work boots on, and get our membership numbers back on track!
In closing, I congratulate and thank Immediate Past President, Pat Durden, for an outstanding year. It has been very cool to have a front-row seat to watch your passion, commitment, love, dedication, and enthusiasm for our association and our industry. It has been a privilege and honor to work closely with you. Thank you again for your leadership, until next month.
Sincerely Honored,
Dale Carlton