More than 6,000 individuals representing all facets of the cattle industry came together in San Antonio for the 2010 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show last week. The event is the largest of its kind in the cattle industry and includes the annual meetings of NCBA, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, American National CattleWomen, Cattle-Fax and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation.
The tradeshow consisted of 269 exhibit booths staffed by more than 1,500 exhibitors. Due to the passage of permanent livestock disaster legislation in the 2008 Farm Bill and the current economic climate, USDA’s Farm Service Agency booth was a hub of activity as producers quizzed Texas FSA employees about all aspects of the disaster assistance and farm lending programs as well as FSA’s advances in the use of Geographic Information Systems.
“In the past, livestock producers had to wait for Congress to pass ad hoc legislation before receiving 
assistance following a natural disaster and there were no guarantees funding would be available for these programs,” said Albert Aguilar, county executive director, Guadalupe County, Texas. “Although we hope producers never require disaster assistance, these new livestock programs are now available when needed most.”
Cattle industry representatives from nearly every state in the U.S. and several foreign countries visited FSA’s booth.
“Hopefully [FSA] reached some producers who would otherwise not have known about the programs we offer. It was interesting to get the perspective of producers from other states and producers from Brazil and Mexico," said Bryan Crook, GIS specialist with Texas FSA. “The most rewarding part was talking to enthusiastic young folks interested in farm credit so they could continue the family operation. If it turns out that we helped even one of them succeed in agriculture, then the entire trip was worth it.”
—by Brenda Carlson, SW Regional Public Affairs Specialist, USDA FSA
