by Rex Wilson
New Mexico Cattle Grower’s Association President’s Message
Dear Fellow Members,
At the risk of sounding like a broken record or maybe a scratched CD — I don’t know if iPods stick — but be that as it may, I have one more “all hands on deck” call to ensure that our families turn out the vote for the upcoming general election.
In the past, Election Day was a family event where everyone went to town as a family, often spending the day in town visiting other families and friends on the same mission. It was almost a holiday, but our parents and grandparents instilled in us that it is not only a right to vote, but a responsibility.
Today’s ease of voting early and absentee — plus the hectic lives the electronic age has created — makes those family election days truly a thing of the past. And today that responsibility has never been heavier.
The choices to be made on the ballot from local elections all the way to the presidency have never been more important and may never be again in our lifetimes. Your efforts to vote paid off in the primary in many races and we must carry that success forward. Whether it was a fair project or high school sports, it was ingrained in us to win. On my Carrizozo football team, anything short of a State Championship was not an option. We expected to win, we were expected to win and we did.
We must apply that same mind set and determination to this election. There are races at every level that we simply cannot afford to lose.
The way to ensure a win is to make sure that everyone who can vote does vote. Two of my boys will have to make trips home to vote. Early voting makes that not too difficult. Early voting also allows for the fact that weather (we can always hope) might prevent you getting to the polls on Election Day. I almost missed casting a vote for myself when running for County Commissioner due to an ice storm.
The old adage is vote early and vote often. I won’t encourage you to break the law, but I am encouraging you to take the time to contact all of your family and friends, even people you do business with, to make sure they exercise their responsibility and right to vote and vote early. For old times’ sake I will sit down with my mother and study the ballot together in detail before we go to the polls. It is our tradition. Then she will do the same with Stirling Spencer. If Stirling and I don’t agree, she will go with his advice.
Meanwhile back at the office, the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association (NMCGA) continues to work on your behalf on the wide variety of issues that affect you and your family. We worked with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture in bringing together more than 60 people from a wide variety of state and federal agencies, including two cabinet secretaries, to develop a plan to eliminate the growing feral hog/wild pig population our state is facing.
Our membership is growing so keep up your recruitment efforts and NMCGA will continue work hard to be worthy of your membership.
September 26 will be another big day for the Association. Not only will we be holding our Fall Board meeting at the Marriott Pyramid North in the morning, but NMDA will be hosting a National Environmental Policy Act/Cooperative Agency training aimed at governmental entities including county commissioners, sheriffs and attorneys as well as soil conservation districts and others that afternoon. The day will wrap up with a Candidates’ Roundup Reception. We already have almost 20 candidates confirmed to attend.
Remember that all NMCGA Board meetings are open to the general membership. If you would like to attend any or all of these events, please RSVP to the office at 505/247-0584 or via email to nmcga@nmagriculture.org .
Looking forward to seeing you there!