Cattle Raisers name new Special Ranger for Oklahoma
FORT WORTH, Texas, June 5, 2007—Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association has named John Cummings Special Ranger for District 4. Cummings will be based in Rogers County, Okla.
Cummings holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice management and ethics and a master’s degree in management.
For 23 years, Cummings served as assistant chief of police for the Claremore (Okla.) Police Department. After retiring from the force, he worked as the director of the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum.
He is a lifetime member of the Association of Oklahoma Narcotic Enforcers, served as president of the organization from 1998-2000 and was named officer of the year in 1989. Rogers County Law Enforcement also named him officer of the year in 1990.
Cummings and his wife, Candy, have four children and two grandchildren and operate a small cow-calf operation in Claremore. Cummings says he always dreamed of being a TSCRA Special Ranger after retirement and looks forward to combining two of his passions: the cattle business and law enforcement.
TSCRA's 28 Special Rangers are commissioned by the Texas Department of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and assist in recovering stolen livestock and equipment and apprehending the thieves. They also frequently provide educational programs on theft prevention and proper branding procedures.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 130-year-old trade organization whose 14,800 members manage approximately 3.7 million cattle on 96.5 million acres of range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma.
Ground Beef Recall Intiated for Texas
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. is voluntarily recalling retail packages of ground beef produced at its plant in Sherman, Texas, company officials reported June 8. A sample analyzed by the company was found to contain E. coli O157:H7.
To date, there have been no illnesses reported or associated with any packages of ground beef produced by the Sherman plant. However, the company is conducting the voluntary recall as a precautionary measure. This recall is not related to a recent ground beef recall initiated by a California based meat company.
The action involves 40,440 pounds of ground beef, which is sold in pre-packaged trays that are placed directly into the meat case by the retailer. Read more on the TCSRA Web site.
Drought Stricken Southeast Producers Need Your Help
The drought situation in many areas of the Southeast is currently classified in the D3 (Extreme) and D4 (Exceptional) categories (see http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html). This is having a devastating effect on livestock producers in these areas. States are seeing up to 300 percent more animals (as compared to last year) move through sales facilities throughout the Southeast.
This year's situation follows several years of cow culling because of historic drought conditions. While some media reports indicate the drought has eased, in fact it is still as damaging as ever in many areas. Producers increasingly are unable to feed their herds, and core herds with high-quality breeding stock are moving through auction markets. State cattlemen's associations in the Southeast indicate that within the past week, they've seen instances of entire herd liquidation increase. Read more on the TCSRA Web site.
Cattle Raisers urge Congress to keep fighting fever ticks
FORT WORTH, Texas, June 6, 2007—TSCRA members voiced their support for USDA's National Strategic Plan for the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program (CFTEP) at their 2007 summer meeting June 2 in Fredericksburg, TX.
Left uncontrolled, the ticks could spread tick fever throughout the nation's cow herd, resulting in losses of $1 billion a year to the beef industry and driving up the cost of beef for consumers. Read more on the TSCRA Web site.
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