President ’ s Message
History and People - 50 Years of NALF
By Gary Fuchs , NALF president
History records that during the spring of 1968 the North American Limousin Foundation was formed . Specifically , on May 6 , 1968 the first preorganizational meeting was held , on June 20 , 1968 the Foundation was incorporated and on June 21 , 1968 the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws were adopted .
This month , as I considered what to share in this forum , I decided to look at some of the history of our great breed . I took time to read again from the book The History of Limousin in North America . I was reminded of many things about the first years of our breed in North America . It was interesting for me read about the excitement that breeders had getting the first bull to North America , the first calves and the way that Limousin cattle were promoted .
At the Fort Worth open show , in late January , the judge mentioned several times how he was impressed with the quality of people and breeders involved with the Limousin breed . The statement he makes now in 2018 is the same as we find in the people that brought Limousin cattle to North America and started the North American Limousin Foundation in 1968 .
As I read about the effort to bring Limousin to North America ,
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I learned about the men and women who worked on this project and their dedication to doing something special for their herds and the beef industry . These people could see that Limousin cattle were special and they worked tirelessly to get them to this continent . It is amazing to see how many miles were traveled and how many hours were spent to get the first bull into the quarantine station , out of quarantine , to get semen collected and distributed . Each step of this process was done with great care for Prince Pompadour and with sincere consideration to each person that invested in this project as a Founder Member of NALF .
. . . they were going to have to prove the value of Limousin cattle to beef producers . . .
The people that brought our cattle from Europe seemed to be constantly aware of the future impact of decisions that they made . Even the naming of the organization was carefully considered with the future in mind . A quote from the book states “ the use of the word Foundation would distinguish our organization from the older breed associations and might also give us some future promotion advantage .” I encourage you to consider the word Foundation in our name and the meaning it has .
I also found it interesting that the press release on June 22 , 1968 announcing the formation of NALF stated that “ an international beef cattle research project was launched here last Friday with the formation of the North American Limousin Foundation .” The people involved in this project knew that they were going to have to prove the value of Limousin cattle to beef producers on this continent . Research and record keeping were important consideration in the organization of NALF .
I often mention the excitement that surrounded the first Limousin cattle in North America . Recorded in the book are several examples of this excitement . During the summer of 1968 the first cow in the United States was artificially inseminated to a Limousin bull . The book records that nine people were present to witness this event . Throughout the early 70 ’ s there are many examples of the excitement surrounding the breed . The excitement many breeders demonstrated with the birth of their first 50 % calves , the number