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South Carolina Angus Association
News
South Carolina Angus News, July 9, 2005 by Windy Bartee, secretary SCAA
School will soon be back in session. Summer seems to fly by and gets shorter and shorter. Now in South Carolina many of our public schools start near the first of August. We are no longer an agricultural society where the children were needed at home to harvest the crops. Of the farms left, hardly anyone grows cotton now. If they do, they use a mechanical picker that leaves too many of the cotton bolls in the field.
The “good ole days” is soon becoming part of our history. As our history gets longer and longer, the school's history classes have to omit something to get in other topics. Many of our citizens no longer realize how their bountiful food in the U. S. is produced. Fewer and fewer have any knowledge of our farm way of life. We need to keep our brothers and sisters from the city informed whenever possible about their food production.
Ag Tourism educates about farm life in South Carolina
Recently the Heritage Corridor Farmers Association hosted a conference on Ag Tourism at the Wild Turkey Federation in Edgefield, SC. Many farms and Ag related businesses are augmenting their incomes by entertaining tourists interested in learning about the old days on the farm. Ag tourism also promotes education of farming and agriculture. Nostalgia for the old way of life on the farm brings some tourists out for a visit. The biggest negative is that you have to be covered by appropriate insurance and protect the guests from hazards and dangers on the farm, such as kicking and biting animals, or drowning in wells or ponds, not unlike dangers of city living with pit bulls and swimming pools. More and more city people are interested in living and working like “the good ole days” and paying for the opportunity. A web site for more information is www.sc-heritagecorridor.org.
Speaking of history, the American Angus Association recently bestowed an honor to one of our Angus farms. Angus cows are a part of the history of South Carolina, thanks to the McPhails and their father and grandfather. W.H. McPhail.
- Tokeena Angus Farms Awarded Historic Herd Award
Tokeena Angus Farms, Seneca, S.C., has been presented the Historic Herd Award by the American Angus Association. W.H. McPhail purchased his first Angus cattle in the early 1930s, and joined the American Angus Association in 1937. Mr. McPhail helped form the South Carolina Angus Association and served on its board of directors for many years.
In 1968, three of McPhail’s sons assumed the management of the farm – Walter H. II, Floyd and Steve, and in 1969, they conducted their first production sale. Today, their brother, Neil, manages the Angus herd, which includes more than 150 cows. Tokeena Angus believes strongly in using performance records and since 1993 have held sales to market the bulls that go through their on-farm performance test.
The American Angus Association presents the Historic Angus Herd Award to Angus herds that have been in the continuous production of registered Angus cattle by the same family for 50 years or more.
The American Angus Association is the world’s largest beef breed organization, providing programs and services to thousands of commercial producers and more than 34,000 regular and junior members nationwide. For more information go to www.angus.org or call (816) 383-5100.
South Carolinians participate in Angus shows this summer.
Some of our newer Angus breeders are taking our South Carolina Angus to other states and spreading our fame. Ted Bourne showed his Angus in Perry, Georgia at the Southern National on June 10-12. Against some stiff competition, he won his class. Gene Pruitt took Katie and her heifer there to show in the junior show. Katie won second in her class. Showing her ability in showmanship, Katie placed fourth in her showmanship class.
Ann Blumer, the president of the South Carolina Junior Angus Association, plans to travel to the National Junior Angus Show in Denver, Colorado on July 17th. As the South Carolina Angus Queen, she will be expected to assist in giving out the ribbons and attending the Queen’s breakfast. Ann qualified to represent South Carolina in the showmanship contest along with James Kellett. The National Junior Angus Association allows each youth to compete in the national showmanship only once. Thus many youth elect to wait and compete on the national level when they are closer to 21 years old and the end of their eligibility. Once you are 21 on the January of the following year you are no longer allowed to compete in the junior Angus events. You might say, “The good ole days are past.” Most of the time the youth don’t realize they are living in the “good ole days” until it is too late.
New SC Angus Association Directory is under production.
This summer has been busy gathering together the new directory for the South Carolina Angus Association. If you would like to have an ad placed in the new directory, please contact Windy Bartee. A one page ad is $150.00 and a one-half page ad is $100. All members that have their dues paid by August 15th will have their name, farm name, address, phone numbers, email and other contact information published as part of the S.C. membership. The dues are only $20. Please send to Windy Bartee, Secretary, SCAA, 1717 St. Paul Church Road, Clover, SC 29710.
Our directory helps us keep up with our membership and is a useful reference tool to pass out to cattlemen that may be interested in purchasing Angus cattle. Get your name and farm in the history of the Angus herds of South Carolina by sending in your dues. Other benefits are being eligible to use the web page for banner ads at $50/month, receiving a copy of the “Angus Topics,” selling Angus at the March Carolina Angus Futurity, and the opportunity to get to know other Angus breeders in South Carolina.
Enjoy and live every day with your Angus to the fullest. These days will be someone’s “good ole days” and hopefully they will be yours too.
If you have information that you want included in the SC Angus news, please contact Windy Bartee at 803-222-7533 or tumblet@earthlink.net.
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