South Dakota Ag Connection - South Dakota Stockgrowers Wrap Up Convention and Trade Show

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South Dakota Stockgrowers Wrap Up Convention and Trade Show
South Dakota Ag Connection - 11/13/2019

The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association wrapped up another convention and trade show where Scott Edoff of Hermosa was elected as the new president by the membership.

Immediate Past Pesident Gary Deering was responsible for pulling together the convention.

"Convention attendance was up, and everyone had a great time," commented Deering. "After 128 years this convention continues to get bigger and better each year," he added.

Some of this year's highlights included electing new leaders for the organization.

"I'm humbled by the confidence of our members to put me into this position," stated Edoff. "I look forward to serving this great organization and meeting and listening to as many members and supporters as I can."

Edoff previously served on the Board of Directors since 2004 and for the last 2 years as vice president.

Scott is going to be a great leader for the Stockgrowers," commented Deering. "I am very excited about the direction of our organization."

Vaughn Meyer of Reva was elected to serve as the new vice president. Vaughn has previously served on the board of directors and as a regional vice president.

"Vaughn is an outspoken advocate of independent ranchers and property rights," said Edoff. "We are happy he is willing to step up and help lead the Stockgrowers."

Les Shaw of White Owl and Liz May of Kyle were regional vice presidents and now also join the executive committee. New to the board of directors are Cory Levin, J.T. Rickenbach and Ross Cuny.

"We are very excited about our new leaders, but I'd also like to sincerely thank those board members who decided to step down at this time," said Executive Director James Halverson. "Mike Maher, Mark DeVries, Sandy Buffington, and Mark Tubbs have done much for this organization and will be greatly missed. I hope they will stay involved, the wisdom and experience they posses cannot be replaced."

Aside from electing new leaders, Pat Trask was honored at the annual awards banquet with the "Lifetime Friend" award, while Senator Ryan Maher, and WNAX broadcaster, Tom Riter ,were each honored as well.

"The banquet is always such a great time to get together and have a fun evening," said Deering. "We really felt these folks deserved special recognition for all the work they've done for the Stockgrowers throughout my tenure as president and for many years previously," he said.

The two-day event was also full of presentations and panels of speakers from all areas of livestock production. "Ramblings of a Conservative Cow Doctor and the 5 Undeniable Truths" by Dr. Krayton Kerns was a crowd favorite.

"That's the greatest speech I've ever heard!" was yelled from the audience as Dr. Kerns finished his presentation.

Many folks specifically came to hear from world-renowned teacher and speaker, Dave Pratt, formerly of the Ranching for Profit school.

"The panels that (past) president Deering was able to assemble were the best you'll ever find," said Halverson. "He worked extremely hard to get the best minds in our business to come here to Rapid City. You just don't get panels that include Karen Budd-Falen from the Department of the Interior, Dr. Dale Grotelueschen from University of Nebraska, and all the top staffers from the D.C offices as well as all the rest of the knowledgeable panelists we had here every day."

The trade show was also a hit. "We had many new vendors this year," said newly elected region 1 vice president Les Shaw. "This event was bigger and better than ever and wouldn't be possible without all of their support. All of them (sponsors) that I was able to talk to said they had a great time and met lots of folks."

"I'm excited about where we are heading and to dig in and get to work on the issues our members feel are most important," said Edoff.

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