Contact: Burt Rutherford                                                                                                 

             "Not only are the dollars we generate very significant in keeping our economy strong, but the many, many people who work with and for feedyards help make a strong contribution to keeping our communities strong."

            And that, said Scott Keeling of Hereford , chairman-elect of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA), is something worth celebrating. 

            TCFA recognized the community partnerships in Cattle Feeding Country during its 35^th Anniversary Convention, Oct. 19 in Amarillo , at a special lunch attended by area leaders from throughout the region.  The area leaders included mayors and city commissioners and alderman, and county judges and county commissioners from communities ranging Lubbock to Stratford . 

             Joining Keeling in recognizing the community and county leaders were Bob Josserand of Hereford and Les McNeill of Panhandle.  "They are both past presidents of TCFA, both mayors of their communities and both past leaders of the beef industry on a national level," Keeling said. 

            According to Josserand, the contribution of agriculture to the area economy is immense--$6.32 billion in economic activity and an estimated 46,875 jobs.  "This area is called Cattle Feeding Country for a very good reason," Josserand told the area leaders.  The TCFA area of Texas , Oklahoma and New Mexico produces 7.2 million fed cattle a year-30% of the nation's fed cattle production.

"Let's put that in perspective.  If you lined up those 7.2 million fed cattle, you would have a line of cattle 12,264 miles long.  That's the equivalent of driving from Amarillo to Houston about 20 times." 

            McNeill agreed that agriculture and livestock play a big role in the area's economy.  Taking data from the 1997 Census of Agriculture, McNeill looked at ag production statistics for the 23 counties represented by the area leaders in attendance.  "If you look at the total impact these counties have on the economy, the value of ag products totaled $4.4 billion.  Livestock totaled nearly $3.6 billion-80% of the total market value of agricultural production."

            But that's just part of the picture, he said.  "If you total the grain production from these counties, you have enough grain to fill more than 54,000 rail cars.  If you lined up all those cars, they would stretch from here to Houston .  "