Barzona_Bulletin_Summer_2022

President’s Message

By Matthew Heinz, Golden Hz Farms, BBAA President

. W elcome to this edition of the Barzona Bulletin. The Bar zona Breeders Association of America (BBAA) Annual

grow. Now is the time to prove our adaptability, sustainability and profitability. Our cattle possess the traits that other associ ations and producers want. Let’s prove it! So, I’ll ask, Where do you want the association to be in 2027 and 2032? What kind of five-year goals would you like to see reached? One of the ways we have started moving forward is to come up with a brand. The BBAA brand fromhere on is “Adaptable Sustainable-Profitable.” During the BBAA Annual Meeting, the members present started a Feedlot Committee to work out all the logistics of the feedlot test. The committee members are Raymond Boy kin, Alabama; Alvin Havens, Iowa; Nash Stansfield, Arizona; and Charles Fitzgerald, Oklahoma. If you are interested in being on the committee as well, please contact the BBAA executive sec retary or myself. I am planning to have a meeting with this com mittee in the middle of September. We also had guest speaker John Ford attend the BBAA An nual Meeting. Over those two days, John guided members on where the association was compared to where we would like it to be. So, I’ll ask, Where do you want the association to be in 2027 and 2032? What kind of five-year goals would you like to see reached? One of the ways we have started moving forward is to come up with a brand. The BBAA brand from here on is “Adaptable-Sustainable-Profitable.” For this branding to work, we need to use it across the board as breeders and an associa tion to make it recognizable in the industry. Any advertisement, activity, publication etc., needs to carry this branding phrase. In closing, please remember this fall to look at your cattle and determine which ones can be included in the feedlot test. Also, please keep track of where your cattle are going so we can reach out to those buyers and help our association grow. Last, please use the BBAA “Adaptable-Sustainable-Profitable” brand in your private dealings so we can become universally known. BB

Meeting is over along with several county fairs, and two cut tings of hay are in the barn. In short order here in Iowa we will have state fair and start focusing on harvest. Each fall, we bring in our cattle and take our first look at what will be kept as seedstock and what will go into the feedlot. How does your individual programmake those same determinations? Is it based on genetic merit, pedigree, eye appeal or disposition? Whatever way you decide which cattle “make the grade,” one thing must be consistent – having high-quality Barzona cattle for the consumer. As producers and an association, we must put our mon ey where our mouth is, and take steps to collect the data that proves what we already know. The association has taken a pri mary step by deciding to do a breed-wide GrowSafe feedlot test. (Calling all cattlemen!) For this test to be successful in proving feed efficiency, above-average grading and adaptability, we need Barzona cattle that originate from coast to coast. We would like cattle to be provided from every producer, current member of the association or not. If you have cattle available for the feedlot test, we would like up to eight of them. Let us get the data we need to help our association and producers

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