Elida resident named Cattle Growers president

Pat Boone of Elida, who was recently elected president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, has been a member of the organization “for about 20 years, for most of those years just as an interested member.”

In his time in NMCGA, Boone has previously served on the executive committee, as southeast vice president on the executive board and as president elect. His term as president of NMCGA begins this year and will last through 2017.

Boone

What are your plans for the organization in your term as president?

I guess if I had a goal or had an aim, it would be to get more young people involved. I realize that that's really difficult for young people that are raising children and going to all their activities, to be involved in something, but to just be involved in any degree. I would like to see them belong to the organization and come when they can and contribute to us and work their way up through it. You go to a lot of our meetings and the percentage of gray beards is pretty high. There are some young people coming and contributing very heavily. That would be what I would push for.

What do you think is your most important duty as president?

I guess my most important duty as the president of cattle growers is just to keep the executive board informed, preside over the board meetings, attend meetings, work with our executive director and staff of Albuquerque to see that the projects that we're working on and the issues that we're dealing with get attended to. We have a great staff, we have a great executive director, and she's been there for about 20 years, and she really knows her stuff. Legislatively, we're a pretty big presence during the legislature in Santa Fe. I guess, just to keep the executive board cooking and going in the right direction.

What makes you excited about serving your term?

Just being able to help my neighbors. Me getting elected to this position is an honor, to be selected by my peers to be their leader. It's not about me; it's about the organization itself and the issues we face. It seems like agriculture has a big gun pointed at it from lots of different directions. Most of our issues trickle down from private property rights. Whether our ranchers and cattle growers are operating on state land or federal land or private land, with endangered species and with water issues. I would say those would be the big two. Hunting access issues have become a big thing.

Cattle growers is 102 years old, and there's been generations before us that have helped fight the battles against the things that have come against us. I'm just trying to do my part.

— Compiled by Staff Writer Eamon Scarbrough