By Jacob Lane
Index Editor
Over 325 head gathered Saturday, Jan. 27, for the Muscatine County Cattlemen’s Association 10th Annual Banquet in the Activity Center of the Muscatine County Fairgrounds.
“It’s more of a fundraiser, we give a lot of donations to the fair and to the kids,” said Muscatine County Cattlemen’s President Ron Cox, who’s been around since the beginning.
“We’re serving around 300 prime rib meals, it’s been a good turn out from our county, Cedar County, Scott County, and Johnson County,” he added. “A lot of support.”
The Muscatine County Cattlemen’s Association is a group of volunteers who raise cattle and promote the beef industry, under the larger umbrella of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA).
The event on Saturday was a celebration of the beef industry, during which members were given awards, scholarships, door prizes and a hot meal while participating in live and silent auctions.
For starters, Jeff Chown was inducted into the Cattleman’s Hall of Fame for Muscatine County, something long due to the local cattle legend.
He was instrumental in reorganizing the Muscatine County Cattlemen’s Association a decade ago, providing insight and guidance during the transition.
“Thank you, I appreciate it,” said Chown. “It’s been quite a few years, we’ve seen a lot of changes, a lot of them really good. I think the folks that are running it now are doing a really good job.”
The Beef Backer Award was given to Donovan Yoder and Eastern Iowa Auctioneers. “Whenever you need an auctioneer, he’ll get it done,” said President Cox.
Finally, two $1,000 scholarships were given to Grady Claussen and Addyson Lehman. Claussen will be attending Muscatine Community College while Lehman will be attending Kansas State University.
It’s been a lean year for cattle production in the State of Iowa, but despite the weather the state’s farmers have pulled through.
All cattle and calves in Iowa, as of Jan. 1, 2022, totaled 3.85 million head, according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service - Cattle report.
This was up 150,000 head from Jan. 1, 2021. Beef cows, at 925,000 head, were up 65,000 head from last year.
As for 2023: “The market has been fairly good, but we also struggled with the drought last year. When you get less rain it takes its toll on the cattle,” said President Cox.
In 2021 it was dry, then in 2022 that dry deficit carried over into another dry year, followed by yet another dry year in 2023, putting Iowa three years behind on rain.
However, Muscatine County’s Cattlemen, and women, have persevered.
Attendees of the banquet heard from ICA Member Services Coordinator of Southeast Iowa Madyson Thill, as well as University of Iowa graduate turned national comedian Scott Long.
“If you watched Governor Kim Reynolds the other night one of the first things she brought up as a priority for this year was addressing foreign ownership of Ag land,” said Thill.
Indeed, the Iowan governor wants to build on Iowa’s laws by enhancing registration and reporting requirements, enhancing enforcement action and increasing penalties.
“Allowing foreign adversaries to undermine the agricultural dominance of our farmers only makes America weaker. American farmland should remain in American hands,” stated Gov. Reynolds.
“That came directly from the ICA, it came directly from our grass root producers,” Thill told the attendees on Saturday. “You said we need to be paying attention to this and get ahead of it.”
She noted that last year the ICA hired a new CEO, Bryan Whaley, who has already been on the ground meeting with producers and provided leadership to move the organization forward.
She talked about the ICA’s efforts to keep the government out of raising cattle, stating that cattlemen know how to take care of their own cattle.
Thill then touched on self-cultured meat, a process by which meat is produced by culturing animal cells in vitro, thus bypassing raising cattle for meat.
The United States Department of Agriculture is currently funding research and development into the field.
“We’re going to make sure that no Iowa tax dollars are being used for this,” said Thill of the ICA. “If fake meat is approved, we want to keep it out of supplemental food programs such as food stamps and especially out of schools.”
In the last three weeks the ICA has supported two bills at the state capital, one reducing tax exemption on forest tree reserves and another discouraging the purchase of land by the Department of Natural Resources.
After Thill, comedian Scott Long took the stage. He spent a majority of the time walking through the crowd, making hilarious observations.
“It is true, I’ve actually performed on various TV shows, the Bob and Tom Show, in 46 states and five countries,” he said. “But let’s be truthful, I’ve reached my pinnacle, I’m now at the Muscatine County Fairgrounds.”
For that he was met with a wave of applause from the audience before digging into his set. Afterwards a final live auction was held and the silent auction was closed.
Overall, it’s been another successful year for the Muscatine County Cattlemen’s Association. The 10th Annual Banquet may have been its most successful yet.