Contact: Burt Rutherford                                                                                                 

             "A rapidly growing young giant."  That's how the emerging cattle feeding industry in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico was described during the 1960s as young entrepreneurs rolled up their sleeves and set about building an industry that has left an economic impression as big as the region it encompasses.   

            Paul Engler agrees with that assessment.  Engler, 2002 chairman of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA), was one of the first cattle feeders in the area and has seen Cattle Feeding Country grow from just a handful of feedyards to an economic giant that produces a third of the nation's fed beef and pumps billions of dollars into the economy. 

            "When I first came to the area in 1960 with the idea of building a feedyard, there weren't very many cattle on feed," Engler remembers.  But changes were afoot in the cattle industry, and within a few short years, feedyards began springing up throughout the area, changing the economic future of a region that later would be known as Cattle Feeding Country. 

            As feedyards grew, cattle feeders needed an association that would serve their needs and help guide their future.  So, in 1967, 10 visionary cattle feeders met in Amarillo, put $500 each in the pot, and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association was born. 

             From that beginning, TCFA has grown to be one of the most influential cattle associations in the nation.  "And over the past 35 years, TCFA has offered a wide variety of services to its members and has scored many significant victories on their behalf," Engler said. 

            One of the first services TCFA started was market information and to this day, it's a valued service by members.  "I think we all counted our blessings that we had such a strong market reporting system and personnel in place when the government came with Mandatory Price Reporting and all the problems we had with that," Engler said.  "We were able to count on TCFA for our market news." 

            Legislative and regulatory representation is another area that TCFA has placed considerable importance.  "Our officers, directors and staff have traveled to Austin and Washington and have spent untold hours on the phone and in person, discussing the political and regulatory situation in the cattle feeding industry.  Out of those efforts have come many valuable things," Engler said.  These successes include:

               "In addition, TCFA has pioneered a number of important programs that have helped cattle feeders in the area," according to Engler.  "TCFA was the first cattlemen's association to implement a Beef Safety and Quality Assurance^SM Program.  In addition, TCFA was ahead of the curve when it began its environmental quality assurance efforts for feedyards and helped write the first Pollution Prevention Plan for animal feeding operations.  And from the early beginnings of the cattle feeding industry, TCFA has had an employee safety specialist on its staff-a unique and very valuable service that no other cattle association offers." 

               The past 35 years have been eventful for cattle feeders, Engler said, and the industry continues to change and adapt.  "I'm very proud to have been a part of the cattle feeding industry from the very beginning, and I'm very proud to be a part of it now.  And I'm looking forward to many, many more years of seeing cattle feeders be a significant part of the region's economy, being a significant part of their local communities, and being a significant player in local, state, national and international policy decisions.  But most importantly, I'm looking forward to many, many more years of producing a wholesome, nutritious product that consumers worldwide will buy and enjoy."