They were excited yesterday when attendance at the Cattle Industry Convention beat the old record of 6,862. But people just kept coming in and registering on-site after that – adding at least another 1200 to the total by Friday afternoon. The last I checked, attendance was over 8,100.
People were still signing up when I passed through the registration area after noon today. I talked to a few of them and most were from somewhere in Tennessee, like Retha and Johnnie Marlin who drove down from Springfield, which is just about 30 miles due north of Nashville.
“This is our first, we just heard about it,” Retha told me as she was waiting to get their name badges. “Next time, we’re going to Tampa and we’ll go for the whole thing!”
The Marlins own J&J Farms in Springfield where they raise feeder cattle and ship them to Kansas. “My husband’s a banker and we’ve raised cattle for years but hopefully when he retires we can just do this full time,” said Retha.
Listen to or download my interview with Bill here: Cattle Industry Convention Attendee Retha Marlin