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
The 
We haven’t played the Guess Whose Boots? game in a long time here on AgWired, but since I have been taking lots of photos of boots here at the Cattle Industry Convention, we decided it must be time.
These two guys – still current president Bill Donald of Montana and soon-to-be president J.D. Alexander of Nebraska – are just about as different as night and day. For example, while pony-tailed Bill is most at home riding the range on horseback, J.D. prefers taking to the highway on a Harley. But the two have become fast friends over the past year serving together on behalf of all cattle producers.
As Congress considers a 2012 Farm Bill, the 
According to 
The goal of NCBA is to raise $1 million per election cycle – every two years – and they need to step up donations to meet that goal this year. The live auction raised over $60,000 and the silent auction at the trade show will help as well, but a guy named Jack Daniels is also helping to put some money in the pot during the Cattle Industry Convention. 
Kyle Bauer, general manager of 
AgWired, with our parent company ZimmComm New Media, was proud to sponsor the NCBA Excellence in Communication awards for the second year of their existence. The awards recognize communications professionals from NCBA state affiliate organizations and cattle breed associations, as well as an agricultural journalist. The recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Communications and Public Relations for a state affiliate is Carmen Fenton, director of public affairs for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) and for a breed affiliate is Angie Stump Denton, director of communications for the American Hereford Association (AHA). 
At about 9:00 this morning, Jesse Womack from San Antonio, Texas was filling out an on-site registration form to attend his very first Cattle Industry Convention. 
Less than an hour after he registered, Jesse joined