Wyoming Stock Growers Association Convention

#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk

This past week was a short one on the ranch. The beginning of the week was spent fencing. I was tasked with checking and repairing fence. The pasture I was working on is rather large in size and the west end of the pasture is known to be a little rough. As I began working on the fence, it was apparent the winter weather was not kind to this fence. Quite a bit of time was spent replacing rotting wood posts, missing clips, and stretching wires. Though my day was spent in the sun for hours on end, as the evening came, I got to watch antelope and deer run through the neighboring hay fields. Watching them made the time our there much better.

Gwen and I left early Wednesday morning towards Riverton. It was the Wyoming Stock Growers Association Convention (WSGA) and I was asked to go. On the 3 ½ ish hour drive, I saw different landscapes of Wyoming and learned some of the different challenges ranchers face based on their location in the state. While I was at the convention, I was able to sit in on various committee meetings, hearing first-hand from ranchers about some of the challenges they faced this year. They spoke about the impact of elk, wolves, and bears, which was never something I had considered to be challenges until being at those meetings, specifically the WSGA Wildlife Committee meeting. Working with the Wyoming Game and Fish, the committee discussed increasing elk population regulations and working to bring down the overpopulation of elk.

Along with the Wildlife Committee, I was also able to sit in on the Brands Committee. There were two senators present during this meeting, Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso. They discussed with ranchers about problems the ranchers were experiencing that needed to be taken and addressed in DC. It was reassuring to know that the Senators are listening and working to help the commonwealth.

While at the WSGA Convention, we were able to go to the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois. This is a fairly recently opened museum dedicated to restoring and displaying retired military vehicles. The museum is funded by a doctor who pioneered cardiology practices. He decided to turn some of his money back into the community.

Submitted by: Jaxon Ondracek
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team